So a while back I attended a good State school which was strong in Computer Science and well I failed horribly with a (1.8 gpa 2 semesters). I went to a failing high school and did relatively well there. I was a part of the schools first graduating (and unfortunately last). The school is located in the slums and it was poor. It had no AP courses nor did it have a physics course. It had no computer science courses either but that was something I was really interested in. It did have a contract with a local community college. So I took as many courses associated with the community college as possible as I was seeking challenges at the time. I didn’t really compete with anybody but at the same time I was competing but not in the sense of grades. Its about kissing up to the teacher more and I was reclusive at the time. I rarely talked. I had the thought that if I said something stupid I’d looked stupid or if I kept answer questions I would look like a stuck up nerd. of course there are teachers that were really close to me and I was thankful for that. I was ranked top 10(not percent) in our graduating class. Unlike most people in my high school, I had one mindset. I wanted to deliver the most cumulative all-rounded package. Like SAT, GPA and ECs because I found out about College Confidential early back in the day. So I tried to achieve all kind of things, and set goals for them.
I wanted a 2100+ SAT Score. I wanted close to a 4.0 gpa as possible. And I want to strong EC background. My School’s SAT average was 1350 which was really low. we had a graduating class of 64 people. During my PSAT I scored a 103 aka(1030/2400) and during my last time I took my sat I scored a 1920 and I scored over 150 points higher than the second highest student in my school. I was president of the Key Club and the Science Club. I became Vice President in my school. I had almost 200 hours volunteering at the library. I ran track and played varsity soccer. I learned dancing on my own in the duration of my high school and did really well in the talent show. I did some services at the food bank. I got our school to partake in some marathon events. I was happy at the time because there weren’t competition in my school. It wasn’t until my last year did I realize there is a much bigger world out there. I had some top choices like Carnegie and John Hopkins, (i had been wait listed in Carnegies’s art school) and had my third choice too which was a pretty good state school in computer science. I had 4 letters of recommendations because I requested them early. So I attended the state school with a small scholarship and I dormed. I thought I was ready for the task because I did pretty well in highschool with a 3.5-3.6 Gpa. So I took 16 credits because thats normal. I took Classical physics I (Calculus based) ,Calculus I (placed based on placement exam), an elective English Course, CS 101 course and some 101 course which introduces a section of the college you represent.
1st semester:
Calculus based physics - W
Calculus 1 - D
English Elective - D+
CS 101- B-
School 101 - P(pass or fail course)
16 credit course load
2nd Semester:
Writing 2 required course: D+
Calculus 1 - (retake) B-
Sociology Course - D+
CS 1 - C- (much more accelerated than I expected)
School 102- A
15 credit course load
I was put on Academic Probation and I had a form during the summer to fill out if I wanted to return to the fall. I was really depressed but I tried to take classes for free online using those MIT classes and stuff but I could not get anything to work. I was really depressed. I didn’t know how to really use school resources. I tried talking to professors and going to tutoring sessions but that wasn’t enough. But I always felt I was missing something. Like for example during my Physics class, People were talking about them getting 3s-4s on the AP physics and their credit not being accepted. I have never even taken regents physics. I felt left out when professor left some references about high school physics content like “remember…” I didn’t have the environment where I could ask the professor “What do you mean by that?” I get it the professor won’t ever remember you if you go to a class where there is 600 students in one lecture hall. I was mesmerized by that. During lab sections, I didn’t know what to do. I never knew how to write a lab because our highschool never had a lab. We never had to write lab reports and the school assumed that you already did. I am not a dumb student. So after not filling out the form, I don’t have the options to go back to that state school. I was feeling depressed because I had friends who believed in me and who thought I was bright when I got there. I just felt destroyed. It was a weird feeling. 4 years of build up confidence and 1 year to totally tear it down.
So first half of my semester I was depressed and didn’t give it my all. But one thing to note is that I decided to attend the 2 year college that my high school was associated with so I started off with 28 credits. the credits from high school transferred over I had 1 C+ and 2 B+ and some other programs in my high school that gave me some credits in the 2 year school. I took 19 credits though, I had Calculus 2, Computer Science I, An photoshop class for Art Credit, Writing 2, and Engineering Physics 1. They were extremely late and early. 4 days a week, from 9 am to 8:50Pm. I was depressed(felt like suicide almost) and not working as hard as I could but I still attended nevertheless. I started working hard when the test came (and I guess that’s pressure and adrenaline rush). I had bad study habits because my high school had none. I didn’t have to study in high school. But in college thats when it hits you if you haven’t studied before the right way. So I crammed, watched a lot of tutorials. Did some problems. First round of tests (respectively to how I named the courses 65, 100, 100, 87, 82) and I received little set backs and motivation and I worked harder than ever) Eventually having bad tests in Calculus and some classes. My Entire last semester is this:
Writing 2 required course: B+
Calculus 2 - C+
Engineering physics - B+
CS 1 - A (much more accelerated than I expected)
Photoshop Class- A
19 credit course load
Highschool earned Credits + Last semester - 3.3GPA
Last semester Credits earned only - 3.49 GPA
I worked really hard creating a better scheduled system(not great though)
This semester I am taking another 19 Credits -
I feel more confident:
Calculus 3
Engineering physics 2
CS 2
Microeconomics
Discrete Math
(Recently I learned How to read a physics textbook for the first time and I studied for a physics exam in under 10 hours and I feel confident (first time ever))
I also got an internship at some good tech companies because I created a good software portfolio
I won 2 Hackathons which are programming competitions this year. (one at cornell grad school which competes with alot of grad students from there and other prestigious schools and one at some tech hub and won 1000 dollars as a team) I also attend in a class where they teach various programming for free which is pretty well known (I got in because of a pre work assignment.)
I also created a new academic regime where I am able to build on new technolgies and work all on my own.
I also have a unique website which demonstrates my talent to utilize new technology)
I also managed to develop a chrome extension that is going to be on chrome store soon in a week thats really cool :)!!
I really want to apply to:
Cornell University
Carnegie Mellon
Columbia
RPI and
NYU (not really)
Can somebody make some suggestions so I can stand out as much as I can from a pool of applicants
Oh my safety is back into the old school(because I can just fill out that form)