Hey everyone, I am about to start applying to colleges very soon and I have come to find out it comes with a lot of stress.
So my situation isn’t like a lot of other peoples so let me explain.
I grew up with my father serving in the US Army, so every 2/3 years my family moved either to a different state, or country around the world, and this threw me off my feet academically, I had to switch state curriculums a lot and it caused my grades to severely suffer, it isn’t easy when one state is learning something and you move to another state and they learned the same thing 2 years ago, ya know?
So basically I have a low GPA near around 2.5 which is honestly pretty terrible. Freshman, Sophomore, and Junior year I had all C’s, and some B’s, but my senior year I have gotten all strait A’s and I have been extremely focused on my academics and determined to get into a good school, I was wondering if colleges are going to look at my GPA, or if they’re going to look at my improvement seeing that I went from having C’s to Strait A’s in one year. I also scored a 1150 on the SAT, which I’m going to take another one in November which I plan on scoring slightly higher.
My college selection only includes schools with high acceptance rates, and I’m still having anxiety attacks on if they’re going to accept me or not with my low GPA. Heres the list in order of priority from highest to lowest:
West Virginia University,University of Mississippi, Arizona State University, Washington State University, Redford University.
I was wondering if I have a shot of getting accepted into just one of these schools, if anyone can give me some solid advice on how I can get accepted, or what I can do to increase my chances. Much appreciated!
Unfortunately, your GPA will deter your acceptance in to the colleges you selected a bit. However, your sat is on par with their requirements, and since you do have some time before November, I would really go all out and study for the next few weeks, if you can buy a sat book and constantly do the practice tests and after you finish do them again till you basically know the answers. A good sat score will show colleges what your potential is, while a GPA shows how you perform generally. I would recommend in your college essay you write about how you moved a lot and this was one reason for your GPA, but make sure not to make it a sob story (admission officers have enough feel sorry for me type essays), instead write on how it developed you, and how you were able to pull a comeback in senior year with straight A’s. Make sure to include any extra curricular you were a part of in your application. If any of these colleges are in your interest, choose the one you like the most and I would recommend early decision application. This means that you apply earlier than the normal applications date, each college has there own dates so be sure to check! Early decision does mean that if the college accepts you, you are obligated to go to that college though, its a binding contract. The benefit however, is that it shows the college you are really interested in them, which can improve your chances. Keep up the good work senior year, because colleges will ask for your final senior grades to make sure that you didn’t give up school after applying. I believe strongly that you can get in to college, people all start somewhere, but what makes the difference in success is not how smart you are or how talented you are, but it is your initiative, diligence, and will. A “smart” person who never pushes himself will only go so far, a person with a drive and a will can make anything happen. Never give up. Never let anyone tell you, you can’t. May God bless you and I hope you get accepted into your choice college!