Hello there! Some background info:
After a somewhat lackluster performance in high school (at least by my standards), I’ve decided not to jump into university right away and instead opt to hone my academics and bolster my college resume in preparation for the 2020-21 school year (I’m a high school senior now). I plan on attending my local community college in order to save money and work on getting general credits out of the way and was wondering what else I should do and work on in order to optimize my chances of getting into some of the schools I’m looking at.
My Resume (as of now):
- Academics - GPA: 3.7 (mostly “A”'s, brought down mostly by “C”'s in science classes), and 3 AP classes; plan on working towards a 3.85 or better in CC
- Tests - SAT: 1290; plan on retaking, goal is 1350 or better
- Extracurriculars - Been in the school orchestra since 5th grade, been volunteering since 9th grade, been amateur writing on a (barely noticed) blog off-and-on for 2 years
- Interests - Business (plan on majoring in Business Admin.), writing, social studies/politics
Colleges I’m Aiming For (yes, I’m already aware that getting in will be difficult):
- USC, UMichigan, UCLA, NYU, etc.
- Going into business, the prestige of the school can be very important when it comes to job opportunities, so I would like to get into the most “well known” institution possible.
THAT ALL BEING SAID, my question is: how can someone like me (or any other student for that matter) make the most of their time in Community College in order to maximize our chances of getting into the best schools possible? What more should I do? What should I do that I’m not already doing?
P.S. Thank you for reading. If you have any questions or comments, please feel free to ask and reply!
Where will you be attending community college? For schools like UCLA and USC, California CC’s have a very streamlined process on which courses transfer over. If you’re out of state, it is a little more complicated, but not by much. In general, you just need to take certain prep courses as soon as possible. For business, this would mean talking calculus/business calc as soon as time permits. Getting a writing requirement out of the way is also important. As long as you take care of these core courses and perform well, you are setting yourself up for success 
You would then need to focus on taking as many general education courses as possible - it would definitely be in your best interest to complete these at a CC so you can focus on your major once you transfer. Many schools will not ask for your high school stats, so I wouldn’t stress too much about things like your SAT if UCLA or USC are your top picks - they will not ask for the scores. It’s a great thing to have a second chance. My high school record was non-existent when I applied for transfer. I was in the 9th grade for two months before I dropped out. I’m grateful that USC gave me a second chance Best of luck in this process.
@abcWarbird If you’re looking at schools with strong business programs, take a look at Emory. Solid southeast placement and not that difficult to get into.
Try and be an academic standout amongst your peers. Get to know your professors and develop your ECs.
Couple things from a successful CC transfer:
- Good call on going to community college!! I was much more lackluster than you in high school (3.2 GPA), and successfully transferred to Stanford, while getting myself in much less debt than my high school classmates.
- Where you're transferring from (map wise) makes a world of difference with some of those schools you listed. You could easily 4.0 at your CC and not get into any of the UC's as an OOS. I doubt I would have, but I didn't apply. It's very difficult to transfer into those OOS, not to mention expensive.
- Take some time and make a plan. It's good to have a general idea of schools you'd like to transfer to, but it doesn't need to be concrete. What you have there is good, but I would add some more safety schools also. They don't have to stay on the list for all two years, but just to get you thinking big picture. Research those schools too, and see how many transfers they take, how nice they are with credit, how nice they are with financial aid if that's needed, etc.
- For each class you are considering at your CC, check each school and see whether the course will transfer. I would even recommend making an Excel spreadsheet with each school and each class of interest. Mark an 'x' in the corresponding box if it transfers, and see what classes check the most boxes. Doesn't mean you can't take a class if it's not checking boxes, you should have fun too, but just bear in mind what that means. Some schools won't publish an explicit "what transfers" guide, so just use your best judgement. Art likely won't, calculus likely will.
- Get involved out of school. Unfortunately, the HS EC's you listed are great, but won't mean a lot out of high school. The big ones should be on your transfer app, but you should have recent ventures to put above it. Like I said, a 4.0 at CC is great, but the schools you listed would like to see more. This doesn't necessarily mean extracurriculars in the traditional sense. For me, I was only at school for class. But I wanted to work with kids in the future, so I drove a school bus and became an intern at a foster home. Get creative!
- Make sure you enjoy your time at CC. You can have the goal to transfer, I would even encourage it. But if you're not enjoying yourself, you're not going to do well. I loved what I did, and enjoyed most of my classes a lot. I wouldn't have made it if I didn't.
Feel free to PM with questions, and best of luck!
After 2 years of CC, you won’t need to take your SAT, because you have a college track record. The most you can take out in student loans is $27k for your 4 year degree. Going out of state is nearly triple the cost, so you might not be able to get the loans to finish your degree. If you have a strong in-state school, that should be your first option.
@zettasyntax Thanks for the reply! I didn’t know that schools would “stop caring” about the SAT after HS, so that’s something to keep in mind. You got into USC, right? Would you say that academics was the biggest factor?
@mjr2013 Thanks for the reply! Lot’s of helpful information! There are a few state schools I already know I cna get into, so I didnt bother listing them here. I would definatly agree that EC’s are my biggest weakness right now. I’m not a terribly outgoing person, so one of my goals is to get more “involved” the next few years.
@abcWarbird good goal to have. Like I said, think outside the box with the ECs and do something you enjoy. Doesn’t have to be “business club” or whatever, like most ECs likely were in HS. Doesn’t mean they can’t be, but just think broader and bigger.
@abcWarbird Yeah, I was pleasantly surprised that nothing from my high school years (well, high school months) would affect me They just wanted to know I graduated high school (or did something equivalent). I would definitely say that academics should be the main focus. It’s nice to have a lot of EC’s and whatnot, but you shouldn’t have them just to put them on an application. Like mentioned above, it should be something you enjoy. My EC’s weren’t stellar by any means. I just did volunteer work for a USC affiliated hospital and I had a side business as a “freelance computer technician” as I poached clients at the hospital 
For USC especially, unless the EC is quite spectacular/noteworthy, it doesn’t have much of an impact on the decision. They just want to see that you took the right major classes, the GEs, and that you did well.