<p>stories like this that make me really happy :)</p>
<p>Due to many family problems, I completely floundered in my unmotivated HS. It is a part of LAUSD, in a bad neighborhood, overcrowded, and has one of the highest dropout rates in the state. Anyway, I did awful there. I think I earned around 14 Fs and 8 Ds, the rest were Cs. Needless to say, I dropped out. I ended up entering a continuation HS at age 16, and started working part time. I barely finished, though I couldnāt even walk across the stage because I had to finish two more classes over the summer in order to be finished. Nonetheless, I became the first person to graduate from HS in my family.</p>
<p>My first semester at CC, I still did badly, and ended up overwhelmed with personal problems. I got 3 Ws and an F. After that I took the rest of the year off to work full time as a bank teller. I hated it.</p>
<p>I returned to CC the following year (2007) and attended full time for two years while also working 40 hours per week. I just finished my second year last month. I earned a 3.7 GPA and will be attending USC in August. I was also admitted to UC Berkeley, UCSD, UCSB, and UCD.</p>
<p>Moral of the story: If I can go from HS dropout to USC student, so can you.</p>
<p>interesting thread. I did okay in high school I had 3.5 weighted gpa. After high school I went to community college and I got a 3.38 my first semester. Second semester, I was hospitalized and I had a bunch of W and one F. I am trying to take classes this summer but I think they will end up in W too. And I still have to take the class I got an F in over again. What should I do? Will I be able to make a 4.0 next semester, like I really want to? What can I do to get a 4.0 next semester? I really want to work hard and do well, and I could use any advice you guys could give me. I am going to a university next semester but I really want to transfer to an elite university, so I need a great gpa and ec activities.</p>
<p>I dropped out my junior year of high school. I had all Dās, Fās, and very few Cās. In CC I had all Aās and Bās. My GPA was 3.65 on over 60 credits. I applied and was accepted to VA Tech for fall 2009. </p>
<p>I am non-traditional- my HS grades were from 15 years ago. </p>
<p>Anyone with questions is more than welcome to hit me up.</p>
<p>I do have a GED- for the record</p>
<p>bimp bimp bimp</p>
<p>I went to a really competitive high school and slacked off the whole time. Pretty much skipped my entire senior year but managed good enough grades to bring my weighted HS GPA up to a 2.9. The unweighted was around a 2.65 or so. At the time only cared about athletics. SATs were low as well (1120/1600)</p>
<p>After high school I got into a fourth tier university in Florida, so far I have a 3.85 with 40 credits. Iāve been alot more involved in philanthropic activities and hold some leadership positions on campus. Iām planning on applying to transfer to UNC-Chapel Hill, Wake Forrest, and NC State. Obviously I want to end up somewhere in the NC area and hopefully itās Chapel Hill haha. Wish me luck!</p>
<p>I went to a top-notch Catholic high school and slacked off due to lack of direction and failed attempts at being super popular. But then, late in my high school career, I realized that I was capable of more than I was letting myself achieve. Unfortunately I learned the err of my ways senior year, when it was too late. By then my best friends were getting their acceptance letters from Yale, UPenn and Rice and I began to feel the sting of guilt. But I was fortunate enough to be accepted into the UT CAP program, which I completed with a 3.67 GPA. In the fall I will be attending UT Austin in the fall. Iām excited about it, but I still think Iām capable of more. I would like to attend an Ivy League grad school if I am able. Does anyone else have Ivy League grad school ambitions? Any tips from those of you who have already achieved Ivy League status? Not that UT is a bad school at all, I understand UTās grad schools are just as good as Ivy League schools, but I suppose Iām superficial and wish to be known as an Ivy graduateā¦</p>
<p>Nice thread. :)</p>
<p>Lockwood, I am right there with you. I definitely have Ivy League grad school ambitions but I wonāt mind going to a school like Duke (which is just as good in my opinion) for grad school. For me itās all about reaching higher and I think taking baby steps to get their is fine.</p>
<p>Bquin21, Duke is definitely in league with Ivies in my opinion as well. Iād be perfectly fine with Duke, WashU or Rice, but thereās just something about going to one of the east coast Ivy league schoolsā¦ I think talking to friends who go to Yale and UPenn every day has something to do with it. Well good luck with your endeavors, I hope you make it into the grad school of your dreams. Do you know how much harder (or easier) it is to get into an Ivy grad school as opposed to undergrad?</p>
<p>i took a year off after i graduated from high school, moved to new york city where i explored and worked, moved back home, worked, spent spring semester '09 at a local community college, and was an intern for the barack obama campaign where i worked 9am-8pm everyday for 3 months.</p>
<p>my high school gpa is nothing iām proud ofā¦i never āfit inā because i was almost two years young for my grade and had the whole āeff youā attitude. however, i was highly involved in clubs in and outside of school, played drums, played rugby, and did a good bit of volunteer work.</p>
<p>high school gpa: 2.7
community college gpa: 3.8</p>
<p>i was accepted to prescott college (a small, private school in arizona) in the spring and up until this month i was planning on going there this fall. it suddenly hit me that i wasnāt doing what i wanted to do. i wanted to go to bard college. i have ever since i visited my cousin who was a student there 2 years ago. it just seemed like perfect fit for me.</p>
<p>so iām enrolled at another local community college this fall, where i plan to take a full course load and hopefully strengthen my college gpa further. also, i am looking into studying abroad in thailand, cambodia, vietnam, and laos for spring semester because i am a cultural studies major, with an emphasis on asian studies. this means iād be applying to bard for fall 2010.</p>
<p>i can write a mean essay, interview very well, and have exceptional letters of recommendation. i feel as though i would be a unique addition to bard college, and am hoping they will feel similarly. after taking close to two years off from high school, iāve truly realized how incredible being in school is. being in class, studying, and learning is where iāve found happiness.</p>
<p>so, hereās hoping bard will ignore my poor high school gpa and poor sat scores.</p>
<p>alsoā¦whatās everyoneās opinion about acts? i never took themā¦should i look into it?</p>
<p>2.9 HS GPA
11xx SAT</p>
<p>3.6 cumulative over 2yrs (which still isnt great, i slacked at the start of college)
going to USC Marshall now ;o</p>
<p>Itās comforting to hear these stories. This thread rules.</p>
<p>Geez, I really like this thread. So many of you turned your lives around! I just wish I can have one of my own success stories on here on day!</p>
<p>Graduated in bottom 5th of my high school class. Almost dropped out.
Went to 2-year auto mechanics school, then worked for 5 years as a mechanic.</p>
<p>Wanting something more, went to a community college and worked my tail off learning everything I should have learned in high school. Applied to lots of 4-year schools. Got into MIT.</p>
<p>What type of classes were you some of you taking? I have a 3.5 gpa however most of my classes are in math and physics courses. Calc based physics, multivariable calc, differential equations, linear algebra, etc. Assuming I have both an above average essay and recommendations, do you submit that I have a moderate chance of being admitted to schools such as Cornell, USC, NYU?</p>
<p>Lockwood. Getting into Ivy League schools for graduate studies is not any easier than out of high school. However, it is easier in the sense that you may have gained a greater perspective during college like alot of us on this thread. </p>
<p>Getting in depends on what you want to study. Grad school for a subject like psychology would depend on what type of research you made and GRE scores, while law school would be GPA and LSAT scores mostly, and B-school depends on GMATs and work experience a bulk load. </p>
<p>So it depends on what you want to study, but if you prepare early, then it is alot easier.</p>
<p>In that case, I will definitely begin now. For Biochemistry grad school, how hard will it be? Now that I think about it, Duke is a great optionā¦ Although I donāt see why I canāt shoot for Harvard. Bquin21, what major are you going to have, and what sort of grad school will you apply for?</p>
<p>Wanting to go to grad school only at an Ivy or equivalent is just foolish. The āivy leagueā name brand is much more of an undergraduate phenomenon than for grad school. There are a lot of less prestigious schoolsāmany of them are <em>gasp</em> publics-- outside of the Ivy League that have better graduate programs than many of the Ivies. </p>
<p>Lockwood, my advice is to stop concerning yourself so much with what other people think about your education.</p>