<p>Ok, here is the deal, I was a terrible HS student in terms of academics. I was very involved in sports and EC's. I didn't go to college right away because I had a 2.0. I worked and then made one of the greatest decisions of my entire life, I joined the military. </p>
<p>I served for 6 years and I was chose not to reenlist because had been critically injured in Afghanistan and it took me a year to recover, at the same time I lost my brother in Afghanistan. </p>
<p>I have since attended two schools, for a year each because I had no chance of getting into any school with my HS GPA. I earned a 3.5 since and I am applying to Ivies,Georgetown, Vandy, Miami and UT-Austin. Miami and UT-Austin are my safe schools. I started my own non profit, I was board on a charity that that raised over $40,000 last year on a single event and I am also a mentor for the Tragedy Assistance Program for Survivors. </p>
<p>I feel as if I have no chance at most schools because of my High School GPA. I am 28 and it has been 10 years but will these top 50 schools judge me on my poor academic HS record? Do I even have a shot at an Ivy? Does anyone have previous experience like mine trying to transfer to a top school? </p>
<p>For most schools, not sure about Ivies, if you have over X number of units completed at the college level, your HS grades are irrelevant. Generally speaking it’s usually about 50-60 semester units. Check out the transfer sections on the websites for the svhools you’re interested in, and it will let you know whether or not HS grades will be factored in. </p>
<p>I know Yale has a program for more non-traditional students, I believe its called the Eli Whitney program. The admission standards are no less rigorous, but they’re a little different.</p>
<p>Thank you for your service. Like the above poster mentioned, if you can get enough college credits, (enough depends on which school) you become classified as a transfer student, and no one cares about your high school record. It looks like you have done well in college, so best of luck getting in somewhere good! </p>
<p>Yes, if you qualify as a junior-level transfer (usually about 60-64 semester credits by the time you transfer, including the frosh/soph level courses for your intended major plus basic general education like English composition and math), then your high school record is of lesser or no importance for transfer admissions.</p>
<p>If you have insufficient credits or course work for your intended major, you may want to enroll in a community college to complete the needed course work before transferring.</p>
<p>Public schools do tend to be more transfer-friendly than highly selective private schools. Some of the latter are more transfer friendly than others (e.g. Columbia and Cornell take a significant number; Princeton takes none).</p>
<p>I don’t know if you’d be interested, but you might want to PM @keyskuld. He’s a veteran who transferred into Amherst College last fall. He was very polite to me when I asked him a few questions and I think he’d be more than happy to help out a fellow veteran.</p>
<p>You have a lot to be proud of and I’m sure there are a number of elite schools that would love to take you in. Your veteran status will give you more leverage than you think.</p>
<p>Thank you for your service! Former Veteran myself that has been through this process - was admitted to 5 top 15 ranked schools according to US News and am currently attending one ranked in the top 5. Very possible with a crap HS record! Feel free to PM me for more info and any other vets that may read this please feel free to do the same! </p>
<p>Thank you to everyone who responded, I appreciate the advice. I hope everyone had a great holidays and I will let everyone knows how the applications turned out in a few months or so. </p>