What are my chances of turning a dismal past into a bright future?

Chance Me / Match Me!
1

<p>Without boring you with countless details i have set my eyes on UC Davis. The only problem is that i have not taken education seriously until recently</p>

<p>Currently i'm deployed in Afghanistan, i've received my Combat Infantry Badge and earned "veteran" status.....that's pretty much all i have going for me. Or at least that's what i believe (hence, this forum). In high school i was a terrible slacker and procrastinator and barely got by. My GPA was probably around 2.5 and i doodled on my SATs. Before deploying, i re-took the SAT and scored 1800 (Reading - 610, Writing - 610, Math - 580)</p>

<p>I plan on studying up for the SAT and retaking it to raise my score, but have i already doomed myself by completely screwing the pooch in high school? Any and all opinions would be greatly appreciated.</p>

2

<p>I’m no expert on the UCs, but I know a lot of schools might take “outside” things into account-- in your case, that you served in the military, which is quite a life experience. I expect if you did your essays on how you changed and matured after high school you’d have a much better shot. If not, I know California has a really good community college —> UC transfer program that you could check that out. You save a lot of money for 2 years or so and then get a guaranteed transfer if you maintain a certain GPA.</p>

3

<p>well if i can’t get in during my original request, then this sounds like my only alternative. i’m hoping someone has some kind of advice on how to better my chances (Ex: better SAT scores or ECs like community service or something?)</p>

4

<p>bump 10char</p>