<p>Yale’s residential college system is great, and I agree that it is one of the most appealing things about the school. Harvard also has residential colleges, but students are not assigned as incoming freshmen. They form groups who state they wish to room together after the first year, where–like Yale–they live in freshmen housing, and those groups are assigned to colleges. I prefer the Yale system because they colleges are crafted to represent the entire student body and avoid cliquishness. Rice also has residential colleges that I am told resemble the Yale model, but I’m not familiar with them. Rice is a wonderful school that you should look into. Other colleges have been putting something together to resemble residential colleges in recent years–Princeton and Williams are examples–but unlike Y and H, they were not built that way to start with.</p>
<p>The UC process is automatic. You apply to the UCs you want, and if they all reject you and you are in the top of either california residents (statewide path) or of your school (eligibility in the local context, or ECL), then they will find you a place if there is space still available. Generally, there is space available at UC Merced. However, you can check your eligibility at a calculator.</p>
<p><a href=“http://admission.universityofcalifornia.edu/freshman/california-residents/admissions-index/”>http://admission.universityofcalifornia.edu/freshman/california-residents/admissions-index/</a></p>
<p>@Consolation I took a look at each college’s websites that you mentioned, and I really like Yale and Rice, but they are both extremely competitive and Rice’s applicant pool appears to be very self-selecting. It seems like a truly wonderful school, makes me wonder why it doesn’t carry the same prestige as Stanford, MIT, etc.</p>
<p>@ItsJustSchool That is really great to know, thanks for the info! According to the link you provided I am eligible, and UC Merced doesn’t appear to be a bad school by any means. However, one of my teachers had mentioned that the ‘‘9% rule’’ only applied if there were no D’s and F’s on one’s records. Do you know if there is any validity to this statement?</p>
<p>Rice is a fantastic school with enormous prestige among people who matter- grad school admissions committees, employers across a wide range of disciplines, etc. Don’t let the opinions of 17 year olds determine your path forward.</p>
<p>I have to say Rice jumped into my mind immediately!!! And what a wonderful school for math and science (and everything else as well).</p>
<p>Just as an FYI, a friend’s son whom I helped with his application essays had a 33 ACT and he was accepted at Dartmouth, Cornell, UVa, and Columbia, and waitlisted at Harvard and Princeton.</p>
<p>And this was a kid with every advantage, not a kid with a compelling story like yours. Not a “sob story”: poor me, this is why I didn’t succeed in HS. But a story of triumph over adversity. You DO need to make sure they know you went to 7–is that the right number?–schools in one and a half years, and that part of that time you were in foster care. They will look at that and then look at your subsequent achievements and be impressed. As they should be. </p>
<p>An application needs to put forth as vivid as possible a portrait of the applicant. Yours should include your intellectual drive, your honorable nature, AND what you went through at the beginning of HS. This is the full picture of YOU.</p>
<p>Sure, schools like Yale and Rice are reaches. You are very smart to realize that and not get your hopes up unduly. But that doesn’t mean you shouldn’t apply. </p>
<p>As long as you have taken and passed (C or better) all a-g classes, and you meet the index, it does not matter if you had Ds or Fs. I have a very hard time believing you have such a high GPA with Ds and Fs on your record. Just a comment- it doesn’t affect my life either way.</p>
<p>@blossom Oh I wasn’t saying I wasn’t going to apply because of its lack of prestige among people my age, it just appears to be such a great school that it’s difficult to grasp why it isn’t held to the same esteem as other schools of similar caliber.</p>
<p>@Consolation I’ll definitely apply to both Yale and Rice, although my chances are slim it’s better than not trying at all. I’m not sure that I’ll be able to portray a full picture of me in just 650 words, to be honest.</p>
<p>@ItsJustSchool </p>
<p>From the UC Website:
“For freshman applicants, if the same (or very similar in content) course in which a D or F grade was originally earned is repeated and a grade of C or better is earned, the original grade will not be included in the GPA calculation.”</p>
<p>Since those "NM/F’s’’ from 10th grade aren’t included in my GPA and I took an honors, AP, and college course, it is a little over a 4.0.</p>
<p>Unless the common app has changed drastically, you can submit two significant essays to almost any school: one in the personal statement, and one in the additional info section.</p>
<p>
</p>
<p>I’d say these 90 posts give good grist for that mill. It’s amazing what can be said in few words, and you have some digested fodder already started by going through this online therapy session. Less than a week and look at the conceptual/cerebral progress you have made! Brava!</p>
<p>What is your cumulative GPA over all 4 years (according to your official transcript)? And what is it over 10th through 12th grades, since that’s all the UCs look at? I can’t remember whether your bad grades were in freshman or sophomore year.</p>
<p>I agree that your situation is not parallel to the one in the link you posted (I also only read the first page so I don’t know if more details were given on later pages). That was a clear case of a student profiting from a case of mistaken identity and then being asked by the GC to collude in the really rather unethical course of action that the GC wanted to pursue. In this case, there is no mistaken identity – you are not trying to pass off another student’s transcript as your own. You told your GC that you felt your transcript was inaccurate, and the GC said that it was. You’ve done what was ethically required of you.</p>
<p>You asked “So there is no chance that if I don’t send in my transcripts wherever I attend and they find out about them that I may be dismissed from school or have my degree revoked after I graduate?” I don’t think anyone can promise you anything that we don’t have control over – but I think it’s highly unlikely that once you are enrolled at a college, you would be kicked out or have your degree revoked after you already graduate. The one thing I think is a possibility is that when you list your former schools on your transcript, a college might contact those schools and discover that your records there do not match your transcript at your current school, and that might affect whether they accept you. However, I also think that that is a matter for the schools to resolve among them. They created this mess and they can figure it out. And it would not be a case of you being “found out” or of you doing anything unethical – as I said, you’ve already asked to have this resolved and you were told that there’s nothing to resolve.</p>
<p>They would call the current GC before anyone else, IF anyone else. You will work with this current GC.</p>
<p>Did you fit in rigorous classes, in jr and sr year? I thought you previously said you have no AP scores because, at this hs, you have to take the class in order to take the test. ? Also, if you quote GPA here, show unweighted and weighted.</p>
<p>@dustypig My UC weighted GPA is either 4.13 or 4.29. My cumulative unweighted GPA from 9-12 is 3.97 and my weighted GPA should be at 4.35 when the semester is over. I had bad grades both 9th and 10th grades, but my 9th year grades were the ones that were changed.</p>
<p>I worry that if admissions do contact my previous schools and notice the discrepancies, they’ll assume I did something to change my record, such as hacking into the school system or something.</p>
<p>@lookingforward I was only able to take one AP class junior year, which I will ask my GC to explain for me. I enrolled in my current school around April in 10th grade and class sign-ups take place around February so I was only able to take classes that weren’t yet filled. This year, I am taking five AP classes.</p>
<p>My one son went to two high schools. He had to contact his former high schools to send official transcripts to the colleges on his list. The high school he was attending, though they had his transcript from his earlier high school, would not send out that transcript and their transcript only had the grades for the courses he took and was taking there. However, that does not mean every high school operates that way. Also, I have no idea as to whether or not every college requires transcripts directly from the source school. </p>
<p>THis is just my opinion: I would gather what records I have in terms of grade reports and transcripts from all of your high schools. I would sit down with parents and tell them that your current school appears to have the wrong grades, transcripts courses for you from all of your previous schools. I would then set up a meeting with the counselor, taking what you have in the way of transcripts, and show what you have. I would also contact every single school attended and ask them for your transcript in college format. Many schools issue their transcripts to colleges in a certain format where extraneous info is not included. Also colleges tend to want just year end grades, not the full spread of quarter grades, exams, semester averages, effort grardes, comments, etc. </p>
<p>This way, you now have copies from your actual schools a they have your grades and courses. If they do not mesh with your report cards–keeping in mind that college format may not have all that info you have, then you need to contact that school and see what they can find. </p>
<p>When you apply to the colleges, you can find out whether they will take the composite report card from your current high school or if they want the actual college format transcripts from each school. Call each admissions office and ask.</p>
<p>I suggest you add some school to your list that will accept you with your actual grades. </p>
<p>IMO, it’s important you get this mess in order right now, so it does not come back in the future when you are in a time crunch or something truly important is at stake, and squelch such opportunity. </p>
<p>We understand you’re trying to include a “worst case” view.<br>
But adcoms work fast and don’t have much leisure to go hunting down every last detail. IF they contact anyone, it would start with the present GC. IF you and this GC are in accord, I don’t see why they would go further than that. To me, the key is your interface with the current GC. </p>
<p>Wow, OP, I just read from start to finish in one sitting. The advice here is solid and I like the addition of Rice for you too! </p>
<p>I cannot imagine why any adcom would contact schools that aren’t even on your transcript and even if they found them, I am willing to bet there are plenty of notes in your file about your hardship as seen by them. Based on what you have shared, it seems it would only help your case…</p>
<p>GOOD LUCK!! Can’t wait to find out where you end up!</p>
<p>@cptofthehouse What you suggested was what I was planning to do initially but most people are advising to just move forward so I’m not really sure what to do. I already asked my GC, adviser, and transcript clerk if I would have to send in every transcript and they said no because my current transcript includes all semesters. I suppose it couldn’t hurt to call and ask each school to see what they want, though.</p>
<p>@maidenMom Well I’m going to list every school that I was enrolled in on my application so they’ll be able to contact them. </p>
<p>This is getting confused and confusing. If your GC said your current hs transcript includes all semesters, don’t go backwards. </p>
<p>I think the most important thing is to be consistent. First of all, I certainly would NOT provide transcripts for the other schools. On the other hand, I can understand that, regardless of whether you could get away with it or not, it would feel ethically iffy to only list your current school and claim that you had been enrolled there since September 2011. So, here’s what I would do:</p>
<ol>
<li><p>Under “most recent secondary school attended,” list your current school, and fill in the actual dates that you were enrolled, reflecting a start date of mid-sophomore year. </p></li>
<li><p>Do not list ANY of the other schools under “list other schools attended.” </p></li>
<li><p>Instead, in the line that says “If your education was or will be interrupted, please indicate so here and provide details in the additional information section,” write “was interrupted.”</p></li>
<li><p>In the additional information section, write an explanation. </p></li>
</ol>
<ul>
<li><p>Do NOT go into detail about the exact nature of the discrepancies on your transcript. </p></li>
<li><p>DO go into detail about the family situation that prevented you from attending school.</p></li>
<li><p>DO make it clear that you attended four schools in a semester in a half, and were then out of school entirely at the end of ninth and beginning of tenth grades. </p></li>
</ul>
<p>-DO make it clear that, while your education was highly interrupted, you supplemented gaps with self-study, MIT online courses, etc.</p>
<ul>
<li><p>DO say that the grades for your first three semesters of high school that appear on your current transcript were determined by your GC on the basis of evidence of mastery of subjects, and that your high school is satisfied that you fulfilled all the graduation requirements.</p></li>
<li><p>DO say that your GC advised you that your current transcript is the only one that needed to be sent, as you didn’t attend any previous school for long enough to obtain meaningful grades.</p></li>
</ul>
<p>I think this is the best answer for a few reasons. It is not a lie, so you can forget any worries about misrepresenting yourself. On the other hand, it doesn’t involve sending in transcripts from your old schools that will be entirely unrepresentative of your performance, and will probably confuse adcoms to boot. It also avoids over-the top, self-blaming explanations that may well give adcoms the wrong impression about you - when you first started posting in the thread, based on what you were saying, my assumption was that you had done poor work in previous schools and flunked out, when in reality, you were effectively prevented from attending school at all. Not sending in the transcripts, while explaining that the grades for the first three semesters were assigned after the fact by your GC fulfills the demands of honesty while minimizing the risk of torpedoing your application because some admin didn’t want to take the time to look closely enough to figure out why you have four transcripts from a single year all, perhaps, saying you failed all your courses for the year. </p>
<p>Basically, you are leaving the decision in their court. It is possible that the committee will decide that, because they can’t trust that you’ve really completed freshman bio to their satisfaction, they will automatically disregard your application. Far more likely, they’ll treat you as a special circumstances student, and won’t think twice about a lack of transcripts that you’ve amply explained.</p>
<p>One more thing: Don’t call the colleges you are applying to in advance. When you call, you will likely be talking to a relatively low-level administrator. You may not explain yourself terribly clearly, and even if you do, he or she may be looking for the easiest answer possible, which is “of course send all of your transcripts.” This simply doesn’t make sense under the circumstances, and I think you’re better off doing as I suggested and assuming they’ll overlook the lack of transcripts after an explanation than being told to send in the transcripts and either scrambling to find them at all or hoping they’ll take the time to parse the grades. </p>
<p>Good luck, and please, please stop stressing over this!</p>
<p>I second apprenticeprof’s approach.</p>