Thank you for the reply, I appreciate it.
I understand both schools are definitely reaches. At the very least, I’ll apply and see if I can get a fee waiver. Worst case, I get a rejection letter and spend another year at my CC building my application for the next admissions cycle.
I’ll definitely apply to some state schools, like Texas A&M or UT Austin, maybe Rice too. Admittedly however, the programs for my specific interest at these universities leave a bit to be desired (I got in as a freshman at A&M and while the ECCB program is exciting, there’s clearly a big focus on Texas ecology, whereas I happen to be more interested in Asian and African megafauna).
I’ll be scheduling an appointment with an advisor at my CC as soon as possible. I know schools like students that demonstrate academic improvement, I was hoping that, by demonstrating that as well as clear interest in each school (something I think I can do), I could make my application stand out a bit.
Regarding essays, my only struggle is weaving in my personal background (not to make excuses, but my families extenuating circumstances I find fit the “challenge” prompts rather well and I tend to be inclined to write about them a bit), my current experience as a full time college student and employee, and my demonstrated interest in these schools. I want to write about all of these, but I also want to make sure each gets its proper due. Would you have any tips?
I appreciate your optimism in the last paragraph. Admittedly, to some degree I feel a bit down about the fact that all my peers are in proper universities, and I’m stuck in CC at the moment. I know it’s temporary and that, given proper effort, I’ll make it to a standard university in time. I suppose I just want that to be sooner than later, and I hope that, by applying to these super reaches, I can maybe get the financial aid to make it possible. That being said, this is by far and away not the main reason for my interest in these schools.