Another option is for you to ask your counselor whether you can stay for a 5th year due to missing almost 100 days of school (if I understand correctly, you were homeless - this is VERY IMPORTANT to report because you belong to a special admission category both for admissions and financial aid, but only your guidance counselor can check that.) If you can “not graduate” this year, you can take more classes to prepare for college and increase both GPA and course rigor. It sounds like you’d be taking a lot of remedial classes at a CC anyway, why not try and take them for free at your high school in order to make up for the years you were homeless?
If this isn’t possible, can you retake the SAT in January (and prep for it seriously beforehand)?
A high SAT score (at least above-average) would show that your current performance is more indicative of your potential, along with your current grades, than your past grades.
Are you currently in good living conditions?
@elefish92 , Walt Disney attended Metropolitan Junior College in Missouri, Steve Jobs attended DeAnza College. Not sure why that makes me arrogant. I was on welfare and lived in a trailer with no electricity for part of my childhood.
@arby423 , Many many people have had bad experiences in childhood and have gone on to have successful and happy lives. I think the main point is that you can shape your future. You don’t have to let past experiences keep you down.
You have had a lot of good advice here from all kinds of people. Just keep an open mind and explore all your options.
I find it very amusing, @elefish92, that you accused another member of not knowing what they were talking about.
You said:
From http://www.reed.edu/apply/costs.html
Oh yeah, that looks really tuition-free.
@Lindagaf Jobs spent 6 months officially and another 18 months unofficially attending classes at Reed. The calligraphy class he took there is what he constantly credited with his attention to detail in all the fonts Apple created. He did attend De Anzo for about one year, apparently.
As far as Walt Disney, before he was college age he attended a Saturday class at the Kansas City Art Institute, so elefish92 is both right and wrong on that, wrong in the sense that he did not attend it as an official degree seeking student, as one would infer from the statement made. It appears that the Metropolitan Junior College in Kansas City absorbed the Institute since then and that is where some of the confusion comes from. But again, he attended a single class on Saturdays. That is not what most people would call attending the college.
Fair point re Disney, but again, that highlights another aspect of attending CC. Many people attend CC because you can take classes that have nothing to do with gen Ed requirments for four year universities. People also go for certification in child care, realty, trade classes such as car repair and plumbing, ESL, adult Ed classes, and a whole plethora of other options. Hence the term “community.”
I volunteered for 18 months at my local CC, about 40 minutes north of NYC. Students were there for every resaon under the sun. Recent immigrants trying to gain fluency in English. Single parents trying to get professional certificates. White kids, black kids, Hispanic kids, some adults who started college as adults, you name it. Community college serves the whole community for a multitude of reasons. It is affordable and very flexible. I don’t know for sure, but I don’t think most people attending CC are just aiming for Associates degrees. My impression is that most people are either planning on transferring, getting certificates, or attending for something specific, such as ESL, or attending casually (Saturday clases in art:-). I would be interested to know what percentage are trying for AAs.
Seems we have digressed form the OPs point, but I truly don’t get the negative attitude that some seem to have towards CC.
OPs main issue seems to be money and a secure place to stay. Even a cc can be a challenge if OP doesn’t have a place to live.
When it comes down to it, I didn’t make this thread to argue about the benefits of Community College. I don’t think unintelligent people go there, I believe it is a good option. It’s just if I can find any 4-year uni. instead of CC, then I’m going to take that.
I just personally would rather go to a 4yr. I have no negative opinions on CC.
I just wanted to know if there were any universities out there, preferably Indiana, that I could have a chance in.
@austinmshauri I live in a single parent household, unemployed and I know very little about my father other than his name.
Money’s definitely an issue, but if I have to go into some debt to get an education, I’ll do it. Indiana has a great program, 21st Century Scholars, which I am enrolled in. They pay if not all, most of your tuition. That was one of the motivating factors for me to get straight A’s.
Could colleges take into account the fact I’ve worked hard to get my GPA up? I’ve taken three online classes this year, finished them with A’s, got A’s in Honors Math and Government and will likely get an A in Honors English, Math (again) and Economics?
@arby423, I think you have a chance. It depends on your home and financial situation.
Will your mom fill out the FAFSA? Are you okay living with her or are you home only temporarily? If you can get her to help with the paperwork, you have more options.
@austinmshauri shes gonna help me.
YOU are very limited in what loans you can take out. $5500 freshman year. This will severely limit where you can go. I wish you the best under trying circumstances.
@arby423 What about Indiana state University according to collegedata.com you might have a shot. A small one but a shot.
From what I know about Indiana State - with the ACT score of 20 or above, OP will very likely be admitted to Indiana State. Good safety option.
You always strive for the best so its good your applying and want to go to 4 year colleges that could accept you, but still I think you should go CC route. Idk if a lot of colleges would accept you with your GPA and you haven’t taken SAT yet so it’s gonna be tough. If you go to CC you save money and if you want to go to Ball State, you can transfer there or even another school after a year or two at CC. I hope the best for you as it seems you tried to bring your grades up and how you’ve been through a lot.
I’m just here to wish you well. You’ve already overcome great odds; stay focused on your future and your hard work will pay off.
So I will actually be going the CC route. Ball State denied me admission, but offered me into a program where they guarantee me admittance after I receive 24 credits (as long as I get a 2.0 GPA). This is actually a great opportunity, since I am in the 21st Century Scholars program, I already have to take 30 hours of classes and Ball State offers it’s transfer students a scholarship if they finished those 30 credits with a 3.5 GPA.
Congratulations. That sounds like you have a great plan in place, and you will be able to pursue your goal to attend Ball State as you attend your CC. Now, at your community college, take advantage of all of the resources available, and there should be many. I worked with at-risk students at a California community college (that had had its share of “famous” students) and our office had one goal - to ensure the success of our students. I knew students by name, I understood what challenges they were facing, they had a place to come on campus to talk, and I was even able to hire some to work as student assistants. The successful ones were not shy about asking for help, and I and those in my office absolutely loved helping them. Some of those students ended up becoming full-time employees at the college, and have had very successful careers (all earned at least their AAs, but many went on for additional degrees.) I worked with many students who went on to transfer to Berkeley and UCLA and one even went on to Stanford. A community college can be a great place to start, and don’t think for a moment that your classes are going to be easy. You will be in solid college classes every bit as challenging as at the university, maybe even more so if you have more professors than grad students teaching.
I only offer one piece of unsolicited advice: never judge the world or yourself based on feelings alone. You may feel like you should be enjoying more success, but only tangible facts will reveal whether that is true or not. It’s important to use your feelings as a gauge, but not as the final word about things. Keep yourself accountable by always dealing in facts. This would be the case for those who feel like failures - again, let the facts, not emotions, rule the day. We all feel great one day, and terrible the next, but if we made decisions based on those fleeting emotions, we would never get anywhere.
Again, congrats! Best wishes for an exciting journey at the CC and then on to Ball State!
This sounds like a good, solid plan, @arby423 . Wishing you the best at your CC and when you get to Ball State in a couple of years!
One day when you get your BA/BS from Ball State you will look back and remember those rough early HS years, how you got things together in your senior year, did great in CC, because you knew what you wanted for yourself and how you came into your own when you transferred to the 4yr college. You will be soooooo proud of yourself. Keep that image in your head while moving forward. Nothing feels better than being proud of yourself when you overcame obstacles! Best of luck