| Can an ex-slacker transfer to Penn?
I used to be a chronic underachiever. I went through high school cutting classes, getting high, and generally not caring about anything. My aimlessness continued after I barely graduated with a C- GPA. I spent my first year after high school working in my grandfather's factory. After that, I attended a state school and dropped out after failing two classes in two semesters. My GPA was a 2.4. I spent the next summer and fall semester wandering through the US looking for work. At the start of this year (2012), I woke up and realized that I was wasting my life. I immediately went back home and enrolled in CC classes. I got straight A's this past semester. I'm now taking a full semester at CC this summer and I'm expecting to get straight A's this time as well. I fell like a savant now. I've taught myself three programming languages, learned Jazz guitar, taken five MIT opencourseware classes, and have become proficient in Portuguese- all in the span of less than six months. Needless to say, I have fallen in love with academia and the acquisition of knowledge. Right now I'm heading to a different state school in the fall where I'll be studying English and Poly Sci. Penn would be perfect for me. Is there anything I have going for me that could improve my chances? Is my story unique since almost all Ivy leaguers have been getting straight A's since kindergarten? I'll have my GPA to a 3.3 by this December. This will mean 3 semesters of straight A's. I know that's incredibly low, and I know that 3 semesters isn't a lot. By the end of the 2012-2013 semester I will have about 80 classes (still transfer material since I am pursuing two majors). Is Penn a good school to shoot for in my special circumstances? Should I go for a lower school like Vanderbilt, Boston College, or Texas (I'm a Texas resident)? The state school I'm going to in the fall isn't very well known for academics...
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