<p>It is never too late to get your life back on track!</p>
<p>My high school record was all over the place – I received a 4.6 one semester and a 1.8 another. Also, I failed a few math classes. All in all, I finished High School with a GPA in the high 2’s. I don’t know the exact number because I was too disgraced to look! I hated the academics in high school and rebelled by reading in class, interrupting when teachers made mistakes, etc. Basically, I was a jackass to my teachers and wasn’t willing to play the game. I did pretty well on my standardized tests: 800 M, 670 V, 800 Math IIC, 800 Physics, 800 Writing. </p>
<p>I left High School a year early by taking the California High School Proficiency Exam. I went to a CC for two years and slowly increased my GPA. My first semester GPA was a 3.0, but I ended up with a 3.7. I was still bored – but things were improving. </p>
<p>I transferred to USC and realized pretty immediately that math is rad. I jumped into the math scene and ended up graduating Phi Beta Kappa with a 3.92 GPA. I am now studying math/statistics at Stanford and I am deciding whether I want to do a PhD or accept one of a few job offers from Hedge Funds.</p>
<p>It is never too late to turn things around. Find something you are passionate about and run with it!</p>
<p>It is now time for my unsubstantiated sweeping generalization of the day: America’s primary education system is broken – but not beyond repair. Let’s fix this mess and turn things around.</p>
<p>This was a long time ago, but I graduated from HS with maybe a 2.5. Started off at SUNY-Cortland, after freshman year had a 3.9, transferred to SUNY-Binghamton, graduated with a 3.8, Phi Beta Kappa, then went to law school at UNC-Chapel Hill, graduated with a 3.3 (top 20%), passed the bar and have been practicing law for many years. So don’t let a bad HS record convince you you can’t succeed!</p>
<p>One more thing. Once you are out in the working world, nobody cares what your GPA was in high school, or even in college or law school. They care a whole lot more about what kind of human being you are and whether or not you do a good job.</p>
<p>I have just sent in my last application (Applying as a transfer to Boston University/New York University/Vassar College/University of Pittsburgh). I was suspended from my first university with a 3.4 GPA for underage drinking. now in community college, I am taking very difficult classes and have a 3.72 in CC, have taken honors classes, and got involved in many different ECs and whatnot. in just a few months I will be back to show how far hope can take a person. Wish me luck.</p>
<p>Well I haven’t gone to college yet, I’m actually a senior in high school and I’ve just been freaking out about getting into a good school. I’m most likely going to go to UNLV, the local university where I live, and then try to transfer to a better school. I have a 3.0 unweighted and a 4.0 weighted right now with a 1530/2400 on the SAT. The stories i’ve heard here are very motivating indeed and I myself hope to create my own.</p>
<p>Wishing AdamM412 good luck, per request ;). Also to all other current hs/currently attempting to transfer college students.</p>
<p>And thanks, gregsmom, for adding the perspective of some years out in the workplace. It’s not just about turning around poor hs performance to get into college. It is, indeed, about who you are once you leave college - character, work ethic, creative thinking…</p>
<p>Of course, having the character to turn around a poor hs performance. That is the beginning of showing what kind of person you are.</p>
<p>that’s kinda what I’m trying to do. My GPA in high school is 3.2, because I don’t do homework because I thought I have better things to do in life…
but in college, most stuff will be assignment + test + reading, homework are out, my GPA will increase by a lot.
and most colleges will be much happier with the GPA in college.</p>
<p>My High School GPA was about 2.4 with an SAT of 1120/1600. After two and a half years of college I have a 3.8, research work on the way to journal publication, internships with our national labs and yet I scored 1480/2400 when I retook the SAT in hopes of transferring to a school with the major I really want. I was rejected from the school.</p>
<p>I took the ACT in high school with a score of 22. It’s too late to transfer now since I’m almost done anyways. Hopefully the GRE won’t be the same.</p>
<p>My cousin was always very interested in going to the desert (sometimes with his girlfriend) and studying strange animals–but his parents thought he was nuts. He finished high school with about a 2.9 GPA or so, and his parents sent him to the local California CC to do a pre-econ major even though he had no interest in the subject. After his first semester, his college GPA was 1.67 (I saw the grade report on his desk by accident when we were visiting).</p>
<p>After a long talk, his parents agreed to let him take whatever major he wanted instead of pre-econ as long as the grades improved. He switched to biology/zoology–and quickly started doing 4.0s each of his next three semesters. He transferred to UCLA where he got his B.S. </p>
<p>Because of his interest in zoology, he decided to pursue first a MS and then a PhD in the subject (both at Arizona State). Shortly thereafter he was doing research in Sweden, then later at the Brookings Institute in Washington, D.C., and he is currently a department head over one of the zoology-related departments at the University of Washington (I won’t mention which one in case he doesn’t want his identity and background to be known).</p>
<p>Just shows that good things can happen if you major in an area you really care about.</p>
<p>I barely made it through high school due to a number of reasons (including lack of motivation). I just don’t think I was mature enough to be making big life decisions when I was 16-17. All I wanted to do was hang out with my friends and enjoy my childhood.</p>
<p>I started taking classes at my local community college after high school, got 60 credits with a GPA of 3.8, and I transferred to William and Mary. I will be graduating after next semester and my GPA is 3.4. I will be taking some time off before I apply to grad school. </p>
<p>I am very happy with how things have turned out for me, and I barely had to lift a finger in high school.</p>
<p>I’m hoping to transfer into Stony Brook. I have a crappy high school GPA (about 2.6/2.7 I believe, it was a 76 out of 100.) I have a 3.0 college GPA though so I’m hoping I’ll get in. Everyone pray for me!</p>
<p>Hey everyone,
Reading some of your stories really give me hope for the future. My situation is far less extreme from some of the ones I’ve read here, but I’m still planning on transferring. I’m a senior in high school with a 3.3 (unweighted) GPA (I know it doesn’t sound too bad, but I did get 2 C’s on my final report card my junior year). I was going through some things that distracted me from school work, but I have finally found my focus and I am getting straight A’s right now, even if it might not matter anymore. My grades right now and my 2200 on the SAT show me that I do have potential.</p>
<p>I just got into Rutgers Honors and I plan on going there in the fall. I still applied to some other competitive schools (Emory, Wesleyan, etc.), but my DREAM is to go to UPenn. How hard do you think it’ll be to transfer into there? And how long do you think I should stay at Rutgers until I apply as a transfer? Also, judging from what I’ve read here, high school grades/SAT scores don’t matter much when applying as a transfer, but if they do, how much do they count for?</p>
<p>Yes, they do matter. If you are transferring in as a sophomore, they matter more because you will only have 1 semester of college work on your application. It varies by school how much they matter for junior transfer. Impossible to quantify “how much.”</p>
<p>Hey guys,
I’m currently a junior in hs and i have a 3.3/4.0 gpa, decent SAT 1380/1600 and i dropped my ap classes cuz my life is dictated by soccer (No EC’s). I attend the 90th ranked HS in the country so I’m not in the top half of my class either. I’m a grade ahead in school so community college is an option. Most likely I’ll be playing soccer at a d-1 college but my dad is bent on my me going to a top notch university. My first question is, are you allowed to attend one year of community college and then transfer? And my second question is, are there any big colleges that I could get into with my grades if I try to get in my freshman year?</p>
<p>I have the deepest respect for everyone on this thread who have taken the intiative to make their lives better. I’m currently a senior in high school and I have a 2.5ish GPA with all honors and AP courses. Its not that I was a slacker or did drugs or anything like that. I did hardcore scientific research at RPI in my 10th and 11th grade years that took up a lot of time and energy. My grades suffered as a result but my research is now being published in one of the most prestigious scientific journals in Europe. I have applied to Cornell as my top choice and I know I won’t get in, but these success stories give me hope to balance undergrad research with my academics so that I can do really well in both and transfer.</p>
<p>anything can happen if you put your mind to it and actually push. i literally had a 2.6gpa and 1060 on the old SAT. i’m now chilling in my frat house at the #4 undergrad business program in the country.</p>