<p>im gonna write a book about you</p>
<p>Your story practically made me cry. Itās so good to see that you turned everything around for you.</p>
<p>Through much of school I was a slacker, and like you: āAll the potential in the world with zero motivationā. Also like you, I can understand your pain from the death of your best friend. One of my closest friends died of a brain aneurysm when I was fifteen. Devastating.</p>
<p>No one else in my family graduated from college (some not even high school) and my mom was in and out of jail for drugs most my high school time. I lived with my grandparents and my sophomore year I started to improve in school, but then she went back to jail again. And to top it off she gave birth to my brother, whose fifteen years younger than me. With her gone we had to raise him, which I put a lot of effort into since my grandparents are considerably older. I started to get unmotivated and suddenly didnāt care about my future (which I now know was mostly due to depression, which Iām finally getting treated for). I lost someone I loved. I felt like I was going nowhere. I began cutting more, and just caring less about everything. Anyways, I graduated high school with a pathetic (get ready, itās really bad) 1.7 GPA. I only signed up for CC that fall because it seemed like the logical thing to do and so I could at least LOOK like I was doing something with my life.</p>
<p>My first semester I bombed; I failed one class and got a D in the other. My depression sort of coasted along, hiding somewhere, so I felt a bit better and managed to do considerably better the second semester, my lowest grade being a C (still not all that great, but good compared to what I was used to). I got tired of feeling like I was going nowhere. I got sick of not being able to imagine a future for myself. The summer came and my depression came back with a vengence; it was the worst Iād ever experienced. I began wanting to kill myself for the first time ever. I started cutting again. I began to withdrawl from the few people iād managed to stay in touch with and barely talked to anyone. It finally got down to the point where I was so messed up I just quit my job, went home to get some things, and got into a scremaing match with my grandparents where I wound up driving off and leaving my phone at home. I showed up to my best friendās job with every intention to tell her goodbye before I was to go and kill myself. Her co-worker, who was ironically a girl whoād hated me in high school, saw how hysterical I was and managed to talk to me, telling me how she could relate and sharing her own story about her attempt at suicide. She convinced me to at least wait because there was always time to do it at some other point. She even got me to call home and tell them to come pick me up so that I wouldnāt be tempted to drive anywhere else. It was hard admitting to my grandparents what I was feeling and what Iād done to myself, but they handled it a lot better than I thought they would. They told me that I shouldnāt have had to jeporadize myself in efforts to be strong for everyone else around me. They helped me to get a therapist and some help. Depression is one of those illnesses where people canāt see it, so they think itās as easy to get rid of as the common cold. Thatās not right in the slightest, and anyone whoās dealt with it can tell you. When you have depression you basically have to battle your own mind at every waking moment of the day. Itās tiring, it takes your energy, and you just donāt feel as if you could do anything even if you tried.</p>
<p>That was a long ramble and Iām sorry, but the point is that I realized while some things are hard to get over I at least had to TRY. I retook some classes I did badly in and did well in the rest. I have a 3.4 GPA and I know a lot of you think thatās horrible, but for me itās just fine for now. Does that mean next semester I wonāt do anything to improve it? Heck no. But Iām not going to mope about it now, especially not when this is from the girl who graduated high school with a D average. Iām applying to VCU, UNC at Wilmington (which is going to be a stretch due to a math requirement that Iād probably have to work out, but whatever), and a few others. If I get in, iāll be the happiest person in the world. If I donāt, thatās okay. Because Iām finally trying. Because for the first time in years, I can finally see a future for myself and I know itās more than this. I know I can have so much more than what there is now if only I work for it. itās one thing for people to tell you but itās another to discover it for yourself.</p>
<p>That was horribly long and I am in no way trying to cover up for my school performance. Depressed or not it was still my mistakes and I take full responsibility of them. But I wonāt let the past stand in the way of my future any longer.</p>
<p>Umā¦the end. haha.</p>
<p>in high school.
freshmen year - 4.0
sophomore year - 4.17
junior year - 2.0ā¦?
senior year - 1.0ā¦?</p>
<p>4 years of Football, couple clubs, 4 years symphonic bandā¦ etc
internships at various places.
Never took SATS or ACT</p>
<p>Yeahā¦ my father got really ill and I had to be in the hospital a lot. On top of that, I gave up on school thinking that I couldnāt get into my dream school after I saw my bad gradesā¦ Started hanging out with the wrong people. But now I am at a junior college. Thank to God above, my father has gotten a lot better and I have changed my ways a lot as well.</p>
<p>Currently I am a sophomore at a CC in Northern California. I have a 4.0/4.0 GPA, I am a Student Senator, Business Club member, Iāve had an internship at a real estate company for over a year now(LOR from CEO promised). I volunteer at church to play guitar every sunday, and I also private tutor.</p>
<p>I am applying to USC Marshall, NYU Stern, UPenn Wharton, Johns Hopkins Carey, Georgetown. Hopefully I get into one of them ^^</p>
<p>Never give up! Try your best! You will never know how far you can go until you try!</p>
<p>Also, God loves you dearly, and I know that he will bless you abundantly for your deepest desires!<3</p>
<p>Great stories. Mines is different. IT is about how RACISM and DISCRIMINATION ruined my high school years.</p>
<p>As you guys can see I am an Asian American (South Asian really) so there is a lot of pressure on us as a people to carry the name and get good grades in school. Well I had a different situation. My parents are rich but they did not want to move to a better county because they wanted to spend more time with us and they wanted short commute hours to work. Before arriving in the Southeast, we used to live up north, I won tons of honors during my middle school years when I was up North (New York) and I was number 1 in my class. From 5th to 7th grade when we were in NYC, I would constantly score the highest on statewide tests and I would get the highest averages in all my classes.</p>
<p>Then my parents moved to the Southeast, here I faced a lot of new challenges. During my 8th grade years I had to go to a middle school which was in a poor condition. Most of the kids were poor and a lot were the hillbilly type who gave me a tough time by calling me racial slurs and some were just plain out rude. I saw in my 8th grade year for the first time in my life, a girl being beaten badly by her boyfriend. I was the kid who still managed to do good in the 8th grade but the bad influence rubbed off on me so bad that it stuck with me.</p>
<p>My parents wanted me to attend a magnet school, I tried not to make it in so they could move to the other county but I still made it in anyways. I had a really big dream of playing football but the local high school kids were against my ātypeā playing football and they let me know it (one threw a brick at my house window, the brick almost hit my mother). The magnet school I went to was top in the state (which is ranked in the forties when it comes to education).</p>
<p>When high school began I was frustrated and fed up, why couldnāt my parents move back to NY and give me the life where I was the top student? I was fed up with their ways so I on purpose tried to fail but a part of me still couldnāt do it. I ended up being a B student my first two years at a difficult magnet high school and I rarely applied myself (I ended up with a 3.1 GPA at the end of my sophomore year). At the end of my junior year that GPA went up to a 3.5, I managed to get ALL Aās in all 5 of the AP classes. I made a 5 on the AP Chemistry exam without even taking the class during the school year (thank you local bookstore!) and I made a 5 on all of my other AP exams except for AP European which I made a 4 on. My weighted GPA was well above a 4.0. I actually ended up doing better than the valedictorian.</p>
<p>Then senior year came around and I made ALL Aās the whole year, I ended up graduating with a 3.7 GPA (unweighted). My SAT score was a 2190 (1520 on the math and reading part, checked it today, I told everyone by accident that it was a 2130).</p>
<p>My parents were proud of me and told me that as a gift, they will take me to NYC for 2 weeks. They did take me there and when I was there, I met a girl who I knew back in middle school. I would always beat her when it came to grades (I was always above her). Well, I asked her where she was going and she told me that she will be attending Yale University, she asked me where I was going and I was speechless. If my parents would have stayed in NYC then I could have attended Yale University (school of my dreams). After hearing her say that I went back to the Hotel we were staying in and when my parents werenāt around I criedā¦</p>
<p>I looked up at the ceiling and said: āgod, why did you send me down there to live with a bunch of morons who hated me because I was ethnically different? Why couldnāt you just have given me a regular life?ā</p>
<p>My dad calls my name and then he comes in and sees me cryingā¦
He says the following to me:</p>
<p>āI know you, you are the kid who graduated at the top of his class in elementary school and made the best and brightest look average. I know you, you are the kid who put up with the most brutal racist treatment and put up with the most racist kids but yet managed to walk on both legs. You went to a good high school with good kids but son the environment outside of it was hell itself. Son, I know you think its your fault but its not, it was my fault and as a father I beg for your forgiveness. I know that I should have kept you in NYC but I was too lured by the low cost of living down south. I know that I should have done better as a father, I know that you wanted to get into Yale. Look, you do good your first two years of college and then transfer for your final two years, I will pay 600k if I have to so you can attend Yale. I know you deserve it more than any other kidā¦ā</p>
<p>I still remember that long speech. Right now I am a freshman at Armstrong Atlantic and I have a 4.0 GPA. I hope my dream of attending Yale University comes trueā¦
I hope that I get to attend Yale or Columbia, because after all I have been through, the good lord could at least give me a chance to compete with those kids. I have a boulder on my shoulderā¦</p>
<p>I was accepted into</p>
<p>Armstrong Atlantic
Georgia State
UNC Asheville
Penn State University (University Park)
Pace University
George Mason
James Madison
and University of Oklahoma.</p>
<p>Out of state tuition was high, didnāt get many scholarships and my family was in a tight situation due to the recessionā¦</p>
<p>My mom and dad told me that they were proud of my 4.0 GPA and that they are doing all they can to research ways of getting me into Columbia or Yaleā¦</p>
<p>Schools I want to transfer to</p>
<p>Yale
Columbia
Cornell
Brown
Dartmouth
Georgetown
NYU
Boston College
Boston University
Ohio State
U Conn
Carnegie Mellon
and UPenn</p>
<p>basically any school in the Northeast, I am obsessed with that region. I hope I get to live there one day because heck, a year in the Bronx is better than a week in Hicktown (no offense to anyone).</p>
<p>I consider myself a failure because had I not been corrupted by the bad kids my 8th grade year and what not, I would have probably been a valedictorian or honor grad somewhere and I would be entering Harvardā¦</p>
<p>I could speak English fluently when I was 12, before them my English was trash (I had lived in too many countries). Still I managed to hang on learning English and finally communicating with my classmates was a huge step for me in life. Hopefully I get another one.</p>
<p>i was personally told by the yale dean of admissions that i belonged at yale when i was 13 or so. we met somewhere on vacation, and i didnāt know who he was, but then he talked to my parents and told them to let me be all that i can be. </p>
<p>needless to say, that didnāt happen. i did tons of drugs all through high school and barely graduated because i was absent so often. i ended with a 83/100 gpa (with grades ranging from 55s to 105s) and got lucky by being accepted to a SUNY by my house. i got my act together and now iām going to cornell next semester. itās not yale, but itās the only school i loved enough to try for, and i really do love it. i plan on working hard there, too 
it can be done! just find where you want to be and make it happen.</p>
<p>manā¦
you guys give me hope!</p>
<p>Iām not a success story, but I did graduate from HS with a 1.9 gpa! Now Iām at a CC in L.A. and have a 3.35 with 22 units. </p>
<p>Not trying to get into USC or UCLA so my grade average is good enough for me. I am aiming for either CSUN or CSULA.</p>
<p>This thread makes he happy.</p>
<p>I graduated from high school three years ago with a 2.1 GPA and got a 1350 (out of 2400) on the SAT. Now I just finished the first semester of my sophomore year at Western CT State University with a 3.79 semester GPA, and a 3.5 cumulative GPA. Iām currently in the process of applying to Uconnās engineering program, (my university is a rather small liberal arts school with no engineering or physics program) and hopefully, my dreams will come true. If not, maybe Iāll have better luck next year or at another university.</p>
<p>Also, I should mention that I was absolutely ABYSMAL at mathematics in high school. I was in level 2 classes (out of five levels, the fifth level being honors) which is about a step above special needs classes. I can still hardly believe that Iāll be in Calculus II next semester.</p>
<p>My god, looking back at it, my story was long as heck on this thread!</p>
<p>Like you said Mindrust this thread makes all who read it happy.</p>
<p>I am ashamed to say that I once thought CC was for those who have no future but after reading a couple of post for the last hour or so I figured that Iāve been wrong this whole time! Props to all whoāve achived big and for those who will, as I hope to join this list very soon.</p>
<p>I cannot say Iāve been the best student, but I wasnt a slacker nor a complete mishap. Working nearly full time, really just doesnt provided enough time. Not working is not an option, epecially if you have to provide for yourself and pay college tuition. I know im not the first student to have been placed in this situation, nor will I be the last however it has proven quite dificult for me since I am horrible at time management. </p>
<p>I graduated HS as an A- student and average SAT/ACT scores I went on to a good school (A Poly) hoping Chemical Eng was right for me and turn out to be the last thing Iād ever dream of doing and had a horrible freshman year = 2.0 gpa</p>
<p>I transfered out just a week before classes began at the college I was attending, all the while questioning if what I had done was the correct thing (you know I had made close friends their and I didnt want to leave them etc.) however my decision was made and there was no going back. I couldnt afford going there for another 3 yrs just to expect the same results. </p>
<p>I am currently at St. Francis College, though I pay more I dont mind since I do feel its liberal arts curriculum is more āmeā than a standard Poly core. Currently after taking a semester here Iāve managed to get a 3.2 gpa. I can say that this improvement does feel great since it helps dust off part of that 2.0 drama last year.</p>
<p>I want to transfer to NYU since its my ideal LAC, though I do not now if what I have is good enough. I hope they see that my dedication and will to succeed. </p>
<p>Wish me luck! and luck to all on this thread!</p>
<p>I would like it if you guys would read my story and then help me out on my thread right here</p>
<p><a href=āhttp://talk.collegeconfidential.com/transfer-students/843744-possible-someone-who-did-average-high-school-excel-college.html[/url]ā>http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/transfer-students/843744-possible-someone-who-did-average-high-school-excel-college.html</a></p>
<p>wow, this thread has to be one big fiction novel, kids who do bad in high school do not get into the top colleges, period, if they do then give me reliable proof</p>
<p>
Spend some time reading this forum and youāll find lots of proof. Youāll be surprised how seriously top colleges will look at you if youāve demonstrated hard work and determination.</p>
<p>I graduated HS in the bottom 5th of my class and had terrible SAT scores. My HS ābabysatā a bunch of us just to keep us from dropping out and causing trouble on the streets.
Ten years later I graduated from MIT, then went on for a masters at Brown.</p>
<p>Anything is possible. Iām amazed at all the inspirational and motivational success stories found on this forum.</p>
<p>
</p>
<p>I graduated HS with a 3.071 GPA and got accept as a transfer student to Emory. So yeaāyouāre wrong. Then again, you probably think Iām lying just like everyone else in this thread.</p>
<p>People I am sorry but this stuff is highly unreliable for a person like me who is a top high school student and new to this whole college discussion board thingy. I was taught that you get high grades in high school and good SATs and then you go to good colleges, if not, then you go to mediocre colleges or community colleges. I thought that was it. As a student I have a hard time believing stories like this but I am young so maybe there are some things I have yet to see my self.</p>
<p>The story on the last page about the kid trying to get into Yale was pretty sad, unfortunately Yale only has a 3-4 percent acceptance rate for transfers, he wonāt make it.</p>
<p>The story by the essenar kid is one I have a hard time believing.</p>
<p>My point is this, why not use this thread to talk about the struggles you guys went through and get the point across to other high school students to not play around but take high school and SATs seriously so they donāt have to take the tough walk.</p>
<p>I heard Princeton donāt take transfers, but they undergrad programs the only reason they such a good school, why they donāt take no transfers?</p>
<p>Youth isnāt any excuse for being downright rude to people.</p>
<p>well sorry then, best of luck to yall in w/e you wanna pursue</p>
<p>
</p>
<p>I did it. I got accepted into UIllinois. I found out about a week ago and it was probably the greatest feeling ever.</p>