<p>Hi, my parents never really had a real role in my life so I was wondering if some adult or parent on here can give me some guidance. I just got my report card back and although I take 3 APs and all honors, I ended up not doing well. I got 2 B’s and 4 B+'s and I am devastated because I had done really bad my freshman year already [i’m a junior, a rising senior] so I need good grades to get into the selective colleges. I just feel like giving up at this point, my total gpa is a 3.3 and I’ve never heard of anybody getting into selective colleges with this type of gpa (unless they’re on an athletic scholarship). Should I just give up now and apply to a community college? <em>sigh</em></p>
<p>(P.S please dont tell me to aim to lower colleges. That is not a choice because of special circumstances). Thanks.</p>
<p>Firstly, your grades aren’t exactly in the tank - there are many students who would like to have your grades so don’t discount them. Don’t forget that some colleges (like the UCs) will pay attention to your weighted grades from 10th/11th in their GPA calculation (not 9th/12th) so you might want to calculate what that is given the AP classes you’re taking where the grades would be weighted.</p>
<p>There are plenty of colleges where you would be a safety/match and some where you’d have a shot as a reach. How ‘selective’ these colleges are will vary but is there a particular reason you’re only interested in what you might categorize as a college that’s so selective you’d be excluded based on your grades? It doesn’t really make sense.</p>
<p>You could also possibly go to a CC, do excellently, and transfer to a ‘more selective’ college if that’s your choice.</p>
<p>It might help if you indicated the particular colleges you’re interested in and why you might only want colleges you think are beyond your reach.</p>
<p>I am not sure what those special circumstances are that make only selective colleges available to you. If it is your parents now is the time to sit down with them and explain that those schools may not be realistic for you.
If you are earning Bs in High School, those selective colleges will prove very difficult even on the off chance that you were accepted.
I am not in favor of telling people to aim lower but I am in favor of looking for the right fit for the right kid.
A top school is not going to be a good fit for you. In my opinion.</p>
<p>It sounds like you believe there are only 2 extremes–selective schools or CC. Please consider the huge menu in between. Or start at a CC, do well, and move on to a top school. I know you’re disappointed, but don’t crash and burn here and make things even worse–keep working on your grades. Talk to your counselor if you have a decent one.</p>
<p>If you go to a community college, are you going to be able to transfer?</p>
<p>If going to community college means getting an Associate’s and then stopping, I don’t recommend that. Four years gets you a lot more opportunities to do different things with your life than two years does.</p>
<p>But if going to a community college while working and saving and getting ready to transfer is an option, then I think it’s worth considering. I spent some time as a grad student at what I have discovered is considered a “top” college here, and I really didn’t think it was worth the money for the gen-ed classes, except for a few students in specific majors.</p>
<p>Like the others, I don’t know what the special circumstances are, but you should really think about whether they make colleges you think you can get into <em>impossible</em> or just <em>very undesirable</em>. If it is that important to get into top-tier schools, then you’d better start figuring out what you can do to convince them that they want you despite your grades (which aren’t bad, but which admittedly do not guarantee you a spot at CalTech). At the same time, if it is not <em>literally impossible</em> for you to finish a 4-year degree after lowering your sights a bit (and if your parents are refusing to pay for anything but top schools, the you may want to explore getting a job, saving as much as you possibly can, and spending a few years going to community college part-time so you can switch to a state school for your junior and senior years; you can get a great education that way, and you’re probably going to squeeze more value out of whatever school you attend if you’re already working to pay for it at the time that you start), it’s time to start exploring schools and programs that have a lot to offer but aren’t swamped with stellar applicants.</p>
<p>I wish you luck, but I do hope you consider some of the options between the most selective colleges and giving up. There are a lot of them, and a lot of them have the potential to give you a lot of satisfaction.</p>
<p>Don’t count yourself out of a school until you’ve done some research. Meet w/ your GC and get some perspective. Also, I don’t know if application fee $ is an issue, but S is going to cast a wide net and we’ll see which schools bite. I think its worth the extra money (we won’t go overboard) to apply to some “reaches” and several matches - it wouldn’t be fun to deal w/“what ifs” later on. There was a list of schools that have free online apps, too.<br>
Look at the schools you’re interested in, make your list and start by asking some parents on cc for their opinions. Then ask your gc and other trusted adults/peers around you. The final decision will be your own - go for it!</p>
<p>OP, I’m very curious about how aiming “to lower colleges” is not a choice because of “special circumstances.” At first I thought your parents were giving you one of those “We’ll pay for an Ivy, or nothing” ultimatums, but you say “my parents never really had a role in my life.” </p>
<p>Can you explain, please? Of course there are tons of reasonable schools that would be academic matches, but I suspect there’s more to the story than that.</p>
<p>Kiddo, I’m gonna grump at you a bit. I suspect you knew all along that you were in the B’s this semester but were hoping against hope that the magic grading fairy would fix things between the last exam and the time that report cards were printed. So, take a deep breath and do some self analysis. </p>
<p>1) You clearly have shown some maturity to clean up your act since freshman year. Good!</p>
<p>2) You clearly have ambitions. Again, good – so long as they aren’t delusional (such as praying for an admissions officer angel who magically sees through your B transcript and instantly knows that Princeton/Harvard/MIT has always been waiting for you, only you, to darken their door and thus offers immediate acceptance plus wads of cash). </p>
<p>3) You are kinda a snob. What do you mean “lower” colleges? Are you talking about the kind of schools that Barack Obama, Steven Spielburg, Oprah Winfrey, David Letterman and Jay Leno attended? Check out the bios of a dozen people you admire. You will find that a large percentage of them went to small colleges. </p>
<p>If it is important to you to wear an Ivy League T shirt, you can either a) buy one online for $25 or b) work like crazy to have the grades, SAT scores and EC’s and teacher recommendations necessary for admittance. If you don’t like either of those choices, what about LEARNING MORE ABOUT THE WORLD??? There are 4000 colleges in the US. Many (if not most) have outstanding reputations in one or more fields. Go find a gem and quit crying because the jewel you find isn’t the Hope Diamond (which is associated with bad luck anyway). </p>
<p>Now I have spoken to you exactly the way I would speak to one of my kids. You asked for parental advice and mine is GROW UP. (and I send you a hug too. Sometimes all this is hard to swallow).</p>
<p>Your GPA will be looked at within the context of the classes you took and the GPA profile of the school you attend. At non-grade inflation school, a 3.2 is the crest of distribution curve. </p>
<p>And don’t whine; tons of students could only pray for the grades you received. And tons of colleges will welcome you. Your angst is of your own making.</p>
<p>Although I think your chances of getting into the most selective colleges with a 3.3 GPA are very small, I don’t think that means you should give up. You should always strive to do your best. Even if you’re going to end up at the community college, there is personal benefit to you in learning as much as you can and working hard. You’re at an age where it’s time to act like an adult, not a disappointed child. Just because everything isn’t going in the direction you’d hoped doesn’t mean it’s time to give up. I don’t know what your special circumstances are, but I can’t imagine you have no options between a very selective school and a community college. Do some research and you might find your options are much broader than you think.</p>