<p>Hello,</p>
<p>I am a high school sophomore from Ohio who has been recently looking into and researching colleges. It was just a few weeks ago when I realized how competitive college admissions are, and I’ve been worrying about it of late for a number of reasons.</p>
<p>I’ve been skilled with computers since I began using them. I created a professional-looking website for my dad’s business when I was 12 years old. It wasn’t one of those drag-and-drop site builders either, I coded it. One of my teachers in a computer class I took last year personally told me that I have a career ahead of me in the field, not to mention that I love computers and enjoy using them.</p>
<p>I would like to study Computer Science in college without having to move an extreme distance from home or pay an extreme tuition. That being said, The Ohio State University in Columbus has drawn an interest from me. Their Computer Science program is the best in Ohio, #28 in the United States. Being an in-state public school, it is not relatively expensive either. After reading about OSU’s admissions process and statistics, I’ve realized that it will be difficult for me to get in unless I perform extremely well for the remainder of this year and next year.</p>
<p>I performed suboptimally freshman year because of experiences with a bad teacher (who was fired immediately after the school year ended) whose class I finished with a C average. Also, I didn’t realize the importance of my grades at that point in time, and didn’t put much effort into my studies. My final GPA that year was a 3.2. (3.197)</p>
<p>I’m quite an introvert and haven’t been involved in any extracurricular activities or volunteer work during my high school years, which I’ve heard can be a detriment to my application
strength. My parents are divorced, and the parent who I live with is away at work for most of the day. I am fifteen years old, and therefore too young to drive. Because of this, I’m unsure how I’d be able to get involved in community service, for I am stuck at home. None of my school’s few clubs draw a particular interest from me either, and I don’t want to join a club that I don’t have a genuine interest in.</p>
<p>Before reading about how the process of application works, I figured that even if I didn’t do very well freshman year, I’d have three more chances to pull up my GPA and redeem myself. Then, I learned that most people apply to colleges during the first half of their senior year, with a three-year transcript. This means that I am less able to redeem my GPA, and only have this year and the following to do so. </p>
<p>On the bright side, I have the opportunity to get my final GPA this year up to a max of either 3.67 or 3.8, provided that I get the necessary quarterly grades and do well on my finals. I have straight As for this nine-week quarter at the moment, and I am four weeks in. I believe that I am capable of pulling this off, and will put my best ability into achieving this. I’ve also read that upward trends in grades look good on applications, and if I continue to improve next year, I will earn that advantage.</p>
<p>I plan on taking 5 AP courses throughout my high school career, two next year and three senior year. Doing well along a rigorous courseload will work to my advantage. My school also grades along a 93-100 A scale, as opposed to 90-100 and tests are 80% of my grade weight, although I’m not sure if those two factors will help me out at all.</p>
<p>I’ve always been a good test-taker, and I’ve read that OSU cares a lot about ACT and SAT scores. I will commit to studying hard for those tests, and take them sometime next year.</p>
<p>If I am able to enter and complete every course on the tentative schedule that I have established, I will exceed the college prep course requirements for every subject.</p>
<p>My fear is that I will not be able to get into OSU with my predicted credentials by the time I apply, as I’ve seen people with 3.5 GPAs, 27+ ACTs and good ECs deferred and denied. But then again, after looking at acceptance/denial graphs on other sites, almost everyone with around a 3.2-3.4 and an ACT above 27 on the graph was accepted. I guess admissions are subjective and unpredictable, and maybe it’s just too early to be worrying about this.</p>
<p>Anyway, that’s my predicament. Thank you for taking the time to read through my word wall. Any advice would be greatly appreciated!</p>
<p>P.S. Sorry if this was posted in the wrong section. I wasn’t exactly sure where to put it.</p>