Hello world of College Confidential,
I am a freshman in a very, very competitive Michigan high school. I currently have a 3.1 GPA (for reasons I will explain in a moment) and have taken one honors class. Next year, I plan on taking one AP class and two honors classes. I am also studying for my SAT now as well.
The reason my GPA is so low is because of my last concussion. I could not spend a whole day in school and had to leave early. My teachers didn’t give me any extra time first semester and so homework was not turned in on time. I ended up with a 2.67 GPA first semester, but this semester, I am on track for a 3.6 GPA.
I plan on getting a Computer Science degree in college. These are the schools I was planning on attending…
-University of Michigan Ann-Arbor (Go Blue) (#1)
-MIT (#2)
-Northwestern (#3)
-Illinois (#4)
-? (#5)
I am hoping my story will give me a good chance, because I have watched tons of videos and read loads of articles about how admissions people like personal stories, about down times in your life and how you picked yourself back up. Please let me know if I have any chance of making it in to any of these schools. Thanks 
It isn’t a great idea to pick your college list as a freshman. You aren’t allowing for what your transcript through Jr year will look like and pick colleges that are in reasonable range. You aren’t allowing for change of interests. I don’t know if you are allowing for affordability.
In general it is a waste of time to focus on college admission minutiae now as details can be dealt with later. You shouldn’t pick college essay subjects as a relatively immature freshman, when as a Jr you will have better perspective, a sharper intellect, more maturity. What happened in freshman year should be of little interest because you will have a couple years of more recent things to talk about. Hopefully freshman year will be a sentence in ‘other info’ to note that you have a severe concussion and reduced hours to aid in recovery. If not, if you do nothing for 2 years, have no interests to discuss or accomplishments to be proud of that is not strong. The better attitude to take is to do what you can now to be the best student you can, to develop your interests outside class, to be motivated and engaged. College will be there. Little at a time you can learn about different colleges and what they offer. Even if you don’t think you are interested, it will help you define and refine what you do like.
UT is good for computer science
Come back later when you are junior year, it’s too early to tell.
Ok BrownParent…
First off, I had my dreams CRUSHED when I wasn’t able to play soccer anymore. I had been playing since I was six and that was my life goal. Secondly, I am a very mature freshman. I don’t really know how you could say something like that because you do not even know me, but whatever you say. Thirdly, I volunteer once a week at a humane society. Next year, I also plan on doing cross country, bowling, and track. My Jr. year will mostly consist of AP classes.
And mco1997…
I have heard that UT is good for cs. The only problem I have with out of state public universities is their out-of-state tuition. Thanks for your feedback.
@ColoFTW, @BrownParent is one of the most thoughtful & informed posters on CC- not one of the bashers. Her/his key point is: no matter how mature you are as a Freshman- even if you are the MOST mature Freshman on the planet, there is something wrong if you don’t grow and evolve over the next 2 years, or if the most interesting thing you have to say about yourself in 2 years is that you had a concussion in 9th grade. (btw, the ideal way to deal with that is to have your GC or recommender write about how impressively you recovered from that set back, rather than making it a ‘look at the hardship I have overcome’- not least b/c whatever you have heard, AdComs get so many of those stories- and not to be unkind at all, but yours is not in itself going to stand out (that is not to say that it might not be part of an essay, but if it is it is more likely to be on how that event turned out to be the catalyst for X thing that you are doing now).
Another MIT post, really worth the read: http://mitadmissions.org/blogs/entry/there_is_no_formula
To add to Collegemom3717 The Classic: http://mitadmissions.org/blogs/entry/applying_sideways
This reminds me of something that happened a couple of days ago. I was working on my graduation speech with the salutatorian of my class. He was struggling to figure out what to write, and so he opened a letter to his future self that he had written freshman year in hopes of finding inspiration. Now, he’s someone I would consider to be mature – class president all four years, heavily involved in athletics and the community, and an all-around respectable person.
But the letter that he wrote to himself made him and I laugh. He was so convinced that he would go into a specific major that had nothing to do with what he’s currently planning to study. He’s going to his top choice school, but it’s somewhere that wouldn’t even have been on his radar freshman year.
I understand that this is anecdotal evidence, but it’s hardly an isolated incident. While I would consider most of my friends to be fairly mature (although that in and of itself may be a sign of my immaturity :P), almost none of us are attending the schools we thought we would go to this time last year, let alone freshman year. I’m not saying this to be condescending, OP, but rather to try to explain that BrownParent is right – none of us can predict what you’re going to want out of a college when the time actually comes to apply.
It’s great that you’re thinking about your future at this point. Exploring majors and visiting campuses can help you learn a lot about yourself, and it can give you a good idea of what you do or don’t want from a school. But you’re going to undergo so much in the next few years that you can’t even begin to guess at. And the things that seem important to you right now – even your concussion – may not mean a whole lot in two years’ time. So it honestly might not be in your best interest to ask about these specific schools. Instead, focus on your grades and on pursuing extracurriculars that show what you love. Those are things that’ll be important no matter where you end up applying.
(and all that being said, your list as it stands is very reach-heavy, no matter what your GPA or SAT scores end up being. Make sure to pursue safeties and matches as well; there are many good, affordable schools out there for CS.)
Best of luck with the rest of high school.
Please don’t make a college list now. Spend the next year and a half doing as well as you can in school, getting involved in activities you are passionate about. In your junior year work hard to prepare for the SAT/ACTs. Only then should you start with a college list.
Thanks for the advice everyone
First of all, let me say how sorry I am that you are not able to continue with soccer. As Mom to a very passionate soccer player, I know my son would be devastated if he were no longer able to play! I’m glad to see that you will be running cross country- soccer players often make wonderful runners. XC is the one sport that my son seriously considered aside from soccer. Best of luck with it!
As far as your suitability for various schools, BrownParent and others are correct. No one is making a judgement about your maturity. It’s just that so much will change in the next couple of years. You may discover new interests and new priorities. It is impossible to generate a list of schools without a complete list of stats. Testing (ACT/SAT) may play a big part in the admissions picture, depending on where you choose to apply, and your senior transcripts will also play a big part. Just keep doing what you are doing to increase your GPA and keep an open mind as far as areas of interest and what you might be looking for in a school. You can always use admissions essays to explain your low GPA, but you may find that when the time comes you will not need to.