I won’t bore you with nonsense and I hope someone can help me but I want to explain my situation fully. I had a very poor high school career. I struggled a lot with personal issues and made a lot of poor decisions. At the end of my time in high school I had to drop out and only managed to graduate with my class because of a program dedicated to helping senior drop outs so they can graduate with a high school diploma and attend graduation. I have had a dramatic change in my surroundings and a breakthrough with my life mentally and I have matured vastly over the past months and I rediscovered my passion for literature and I have made the decision I want to be a writer. I was wondering if my time at community college goes very well if there is any real hope I could ever make it to a private university? I want to do something with my life and I think I potentially have something to offer and even though my high school career was awful two of the years I did well taking honors courses and even being apart of the “talented and gifted” class. If I was dedicated is there hope to ever go somewhere like Columbia? What would I have to do? Thank you for any response I get whether good or bad.
You don’t need to go to Columbia to be a writer. That is a wonderful goal for a number of reasons, but in reality, a career as a writer is more dependent on how much time you are willing to spend perfecting your craft rather than the education level you obtain. I have a couple of books published with a major publisher (under a different name than I use here), and while I do have an undergraduate degree, it didn’t do much to help me become a better writer. Your best bet is to obtain a degree, 2 year or 4 year, in something that will give you an income while you are writing and attempting to be published… Most professional writers I know work at other jobs, or at least have worked at other jobs for a number of years until they have several books published. Explore your interests, experience life, join a writers’ group, accept criticism, read broadly, and write, write, write. Good luck!
I know a guy who went to a state school for two years, then went to Columbia.
I suggest you take the SAT and/or ACT and see how you do. If you are in NYC, consider a CUNY.
Certainly many people transfer from CCs to private universities, but the best bet is to find a CC that has a relationship with one or more four-year private universities. The American Honors program might be of interest to you.
Getting into Columbia is a longshot for most anyone and the chances would be slim (not impossible) from a CC. However, there are tons of amazing colleges and universities out there both public and private that can help you achieve your goals. Work hard in CC and you should have a number of good options.