<p>I'm U.S. citizen by birth only (born to North African parents). I'm 26 years old and was outside the U.S. between the ages of 2-19. I was always at the top 1% in school but had all my education in Arabic, and except for some classes I took at the junior college to acquire some basic English skills after my return to the U.S., I was away from school since 1998. I learned English relatively quick, but not quickly enough to keep up with native speakers. I've been back in the U.S. since 2000 and, as I mentioned, beside washing dishes and delivering pizzas, I have taken few classes at a community college in the Midwest. I have a total of 49 credits and GPA of less than 3. After my 1st semester in college I start getting into expenssive unfortunate situations (Traffic tickets, no work...etc), went broke and, eventually, had to leave school.
Can I disregard those 'bad credits' and miserable GPA and restart as if I didn't attend college?</p>
<p>I realize I may have to start at a junior college then transfer.</p>
<p>Though my finances aren't as stable as I would like 'em to be, but I WANT TO START OVER!!! AND NOT ANYWHERE, I'm looking at no less than UC Berkeley, and no more than Princeton (unless it's unacheivable in my case). I can relocate to any part of the country if I have the slightest chance.</p>
<p>Darkhope, I didn't, and don't inetend to be humorous. And I didn't expect such rudeness on a forum like this.</p>
<p>Karan, according to my understanding, the SAT doesn't measures one's smartness.
I never had a chance to prepare for the SAT, therefore I would score low on it, and this is why I posted this thread: I believe that there must be a way to show what I can accomplish and how prepared I can become, but I don't know what it is.</p>
<p>Also, where I wen to high school, they don't keep transcripts except for HS. graduation year which I passed with 82% (GPA ~ 3.3). That system is very different from the U.S. so this was one of the best scores (top 1% in the country).</p>
<p>if you need financial aide look at the top universities that rank the highest for financial assets on us news...i think stanford caltech and hopkins are among the top of meeting ur needs gl!...again apologize for my mistake...there's so many people who post up jokes which seem to poke fun at a specific ethnic group...</p>
<p>Darkhope, my English may be good for an Ex-pizza boy, you're right! but not acceptable at all for the education I seek. Anyway, appology accepted, and I thank you for the advice.</p>
<p>"NOT ANYWHERE, I'm looking at no less than UC Berkeley, and no more than Princeton (unless it's unacheivable in my case)."</p>
<p>Colleges ask for what you have done while not attending college, and ask for what other schools you have attened. W/ a gpa of less than 3, you might want to look at places "less than Berkeley."</p>
<p>"Karan, according to my understanding, the SAT doesn't measures one's smartness.
I never had a chance to prepare for the SAT, therefore I would score low on it, and this is why I posted this thread: I believe that there must be a way to show what I can accomplish and how prepared I can become, but I don't know what it is."</p>
<p>I don't mean to sound harsh, bu there are many people w/ this status, and they have all taken such tests. The best way to show your capability is by having good grades and good test scores. Other stuff plays a factor, but not much.</p>
<p>Attending a JC and then transfering may be the best option here. If you take the SAT/ACT and perform decent, you could enter many 4 year schools.</p>