Success Stories: Bad HS Record w/ Great College Record

Transfer Students
281

<p>I always suggest that students include things they have had to overcome, especially students applying as adult transfers. Your experiences, for any admissions officers with experience working with adult students, should clearly recommend you as an outstanding candidate. Students who have managed to get even a handful of good grades while juggling careers, military experience, and family life,not to mention the kind of obstancles you have overcome, are most likely to have outstanding future academic performance.</p>

<p>Itā€™s also notable that none of the national ranking systems give a hoot about transfer students. In other words, when schools agaonize over who to admit and how that will affect their US News, Princeton Review, etc etc ranking, they donā€™t have to worry about transfer students, no matter what their high school records were. This frees up institutions to treat transfer applicants in more rational and humane ways. Unfortunately, not all institutions do - some seem rooted in their ways and insist on applying freshman evaluation scales (that donā€™t even work that well for freshmen) to transfers.</p>

<p>So by all means - apply to transfer, and include the information. It canā€™t possibly hurt and SHOULD be a great asset.</p>

282

<p>I had no formal education prior to entering junior college at 18. Between the time I was 8 and 16 my single mother was involved in a cult. I more or less did what I could to school myself, while my mother worked. At 16, my mother left the group. I moved out and worked full time until I turned 18 at which point I decided to enroll at Santa Monica College in CA. After having never taken any form of an educational assessment test, I took the collegeā€™s placement tests in math and english. I placed two courses below college level in Math (High School Algebra) and placed at college level english. In two years and while working I completed all of my GE requirements + the two math courses I lacked. After being waitlisted by Amherst, I got an offer of admission several days ago. I maintained a 4.0 while at SMC over the two years. Hard work pays off:) Keep sharing your stories!</p>

283

<p>Wowā€¦Thatā€™s amazing! Best of luck to you.</p>

284

<p>secondthird,</p>

<p>Wow, that is a seriously wild story. Congratulations, that is so exciting.</p>

285

<p>I wasnā€™t the most driven student in Highschool. I really enjoyed it, had some good experiences, but was incredibly lazy when it came to school work. My GPA just didnā€™t strike me as being all that consequential. I guess up until recently I never bothered considering the future much. </p>

<p>Anyway, I ended up with something like a 3.2. Fortunately, a good ACT score got me acceptance at my local state school (The University of Minnesota,) but was not enough to earn me anything close to acceptance at what I guess was my dream school, Upenn. </p>

<p>Anyway, I didnā€™t have a real great time at the U of M and was having a tough time dealing with the transition from HS to college. I ended up getting diagnosed with depression, so I guess you could say I wasnā€™t that happy. I ended the year with a 3.92, which was good enough to earn me an acceptance at NYU.</p>

<p>However, instead of studying at NYU I decided to go abroad. While I was abroad, I applied to UW-Madison, a relatively selective state school, was accepted there, and ultimately made the decision to go there the following semester.</p>

<p>Well, my time there wasnā€™t great. Not going to lie, Iā€™m not a great fit for that school. I think itā€™s def. a problem with me, and not UW, just to make that clear. And besides, I still had some unfinished business to take care of.</p>

<p>I dunno what made me apply to Upenn. In less than 2 years, I had already transfrred once, as well as studied abroad. I know all reason would suggest I stay put, settle down, and focus. But I guess it was just a combination of me being unhappy at Madison, as well as a personal quest to get accepted to Upenn. Iā€™m not going to lie and say that the initial rejection didnā€™t sting. I mean, obviously I didnā€™t expect to get in with that HS gpa. But iā€™ve always been a pretty competitive person, and I donā€™t like to lose. Being rejected felt like losing, and even if I deserved it, I wasnā€™t going to give up that fight if there was still a chance. </p>

<p>After three semesters of college, I had a 3.96 and what I figured was a good a chance as Iā€™d ever have. I applied, and was eventually accepted. Iā€™ll be going there next fall, and hopefully remaining there for the next 2 years.</p>

286

<p>3.6 HS GPA and 27 ACT. Pretty big slacker but had decent ECā€™s (mostly athletic accomplishments. I went to a small, non-prestigious LAC and have since been accepted as a transfer to EMORY!!!</p>

287

<p>thats with a 3.85 college gpa btw</p>

288

<p>I finally get to write my story here. So I will start off by saying that I was a huge slacker in high school. I did really well my freshman year but once I started playing football and hanging out with the wrong crowd, my grades took a big dip. After my sophomore and junior year my GPA was 2.2 (unweighted). Mostly I was poor, working for a living and unmotivated and it wasnā€™t until my senior year that I began to push myself to do better. I got an 1180 on the SATs, and graduated with a 2.4 (unweighted), 3.1 (weighted).</p>

<p>I am from Miami and for college I really wanted to stay close to home. I only applied to two Universities (UM and FIU). I really knew I had no chance at UM but I applied anyways and was rejected and thus FIU was my only option. I am grateful though, that they gave me my first chance.</p>

<p>When I got to FIU, I knew I had to do better, and so I began to focus on my studies (although my laziness from high school still kicked in once and a while, and what should have been a 3.8 ended up being a 3.45 semester GPA). So knowing I could do better, I began to take rigorous courses, and get the best grades I could. During my sophomore year I met probably the most inspirational TA ever, and when I told her Notre Dame was always my dream school, she told me to apply.</p>

<p>So I listened to her, and worked really hard on my application. I applied with a 27 ACT, and 3.4 or so GPA. I knew because my GPA was quite low that I would need to show in other ways that I was qualified. I worked long and hard on the application, but I never expected in my wildest dreams to actually be accepted; yet last week I received a call that I was admitted to The University of Notre Dame as a sophomore, and just yesterday the long awaited packet finally arrived. I thank god everyday that Notre Dame gave me this opportunity, and I am so grateful for all the people who I have met in my life that have helped me along the way. </p>

<p>I know for a fact that if I can change my life aroundā€¦ anybody can! ItĀ’s never too late, and I wish everyone in the future with a similar situation good luck. </p>

<p>-GO IRISH!</p>

289

<p>I had a sub 2.5 GPA in HS and hardly graduated due to poor attendance. Just finished my first semester at a CC with a 4.0 taking the maximum number of classes the school allows. </p>

<p>I was accepted to Columbia GS this week.</p>

290

<p>Awesome es four. I hope my story mirrors yours soon. :slight_smile: </p>

<p>You only went for one semester? Wow. How many classes did you take?</p>

291

<p>What a great story CCG. Congrats to you, es four and other recent posters on this thread. I love this thread.</p>

292

<p>Thanks Andale, your advice to all us transfer has been incredible to say the least. I too love this thread, I think it gives us all hope and shows the reality that anything is possible.</p>

<p>Also just to make clear something about my story. Notre Dame was always my dream school, but I did not apply as a freshman bc 1. OBVIOUSLY I WOULD HAVE BEEN REJECTED AS A FRESHMAN! 2. Like I stated above I wanted to stay close to home</p>

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<p>congrats CCG and es four, I am happy for your success!</p>

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<p>Olives: I took 5 classes and a lab, which was the maximum number of units allowed at my college. </p>

<p>Thanks everyone.</p>

295

<p>This is a very enlightening thread. I have posted elsewhere about my DD who has, shall we say, been lacking in enthusiasm in high school. She now is hoping to transfer into a more preferred college after a less preferred college. </p>

<p>I have heard that some colleges give very few good grades to keep too many kids from being able to transfer out. Or maybe thatā€™s not the motivationā€¦ Anyway, does anyone know where I could find info about what the average GPA average is at various colleges? It would be very interesting.</p>

296

<p>I dropped out of High School sophomore year because I was so depressed I couldnā€™t go anymore. I did independent study to get my diploma. I graduated with a 2.2 GPA. Tried to make a career racing motocross for two years. Couldnā€™t. Went to community college. Got a 4.0 GPA on the honors program. Gave a speech for the honors program on overcoming depression. Debated with retired congressmen during congress to campus. Served as a judge on the student appeals committee. Volunteered with Food Not Bombs.</p>

<p>Got into Columbia General Studies. </p>

<p>I can still remember my high school dean telling me that independent study wouldnā€™t get me into a good college. There is nothing that will get you into a good college except yourself. I am just thankful that there are programs out there that appreciate non-traditional students and take a look at peopleā€“not just peopleā€™s accomplishmentsā€“during the admissions process.</p>

297

<p>My HS is ridiculously competitive. (Stanford is right across the street)</p>

<p>Freshman/Sophmore: 4.0
Junior Year: 3.0 GPA *Unweighted. I took a lot of hard classes/APs, specifically the most infamous math class at our school, and ended up getting a D first semester. Also, too much crap happened. </p>

<p>I have so many questions:
-Should I go to CC? (BUT If I do, my parents will KILL ME)
-Should I go to an okay-school where I could transfer easily? (Any reccomendations)
-Is it possible to transfer after one year at a college if I have a flawless senior andcollege freshman year?
-I really want to go to a school with a good accounting/business program (USC, Columbia, UPenn, UCBerkeley - lots of legacy, maybe Stanford). What do I have to do to get there???</p>

<p>PLEASE HELP ME!!!</p>

298

<p>Whoa. Take a deep breath and make your own thread.</p>

299

<p>Any international student (requesting financial aid) transfer success story?</p>

300

<p>LACtransferhopes
are you transfering into S as a sophomore or junior?</p>