<p>High School:
● 2.744 GPA
● AP Calc (5)
● 33 ACT (32 English, 31 Math, 34 Reading, 34 Science Reasoning)
● ECs: Writer for school newspaper, member of jazz/concert/marching band</p>
<p>College Initially:
● GPA: Bleh (failed a lot of classes, got on academic suspension several times. Basically, was going to a CC that was an hour’s drive from home and I didn’t have the motivation to get to class, priorities were in the wrong place.)
● ECs: Theater (actor).</p>
<p>College Now:
● Took a couple years off school, got my priorities in order…
● GPA: Assuming I don’t horribly bomb any finals, I’ll have 24 credits with a 4.0 GPA at my current CC. Taking another 14 credits in the spring, after which I’ll have an AA from here and be looking to transfer to finish up a four year degree.
● ECs: Active member of PTK, will possibly be taking over as treasurer in the spring.</p>
<p>I was originally planning on just transferring to the state university in town, and it’s still a fallback to be sure… but after these last couple semesters, I’m realizing that I really do wanna try and aim a little harder, challenge myself a bit more, see what I can do. On the other hand, it depends on how much colleges are willing to look past my earlier poor performance… even if I manage to continue my 4.0 GPA this spring, my cumulative including my earlier years will still be about 2.2.</p>
<p>Anyway, maybe I’m being overly ambitious, but I’d like to see if I can get accepted someplace a bit more academically rigorous than the local U… I don’t have any delusions of applying to the Ivy’s, of course, but if anyone is familiar with situations similar to my own, I’d greatly appreciate any insight into how high I should/can aim?</p>
<p>Telling us a bit more about where geographically you would want to go or what you want to study etc would be helpful in suggesting schools.
I think that you should definitely apply to some better schools…your lower GPA in earlier years will be something that hurts your application but schools will notice and appreciate the upward trend of your grades–and you show a pretty drastic improvement!
I say you should apply to some second-tier schools that you would like to attend. Even if you don’t get in it’s worth a shot!! Make sure that you write good essays and if you can, call attention to your improvement in grades. If you update he thread with your particular considerations for colleges/what you look for in a school, I’ll try to make some more concrete suggestions.</p>
<p>Thanks for the response Deblerg, sorry about the lack of specifics. I’m planning on majoring in computer science. To be perfectly honest, until this semester, I was pretty much resigned to staying in town here after I transferred, so I’m still trying to figure out the details of where I’d like to go. Geographically, I love the east coast, Boston and New York and such, but the college itself is more important to me than the area.</p>
<p>Your upward trend in GPA will help your chances dramatically. I personally think that you will have no problem at most state schools given your high ACT score- which state schools look very favorably upon.</p>
<p>Many of the following schools may be within reach with a cogent essay and strong recommendations explaining your circumstances.</p>
<p>Purdue
Penn State
Boston University (reach, but I’ve heard of applicants with worse stats getting in)
SUNY
U of Iowa
Georgia Tech
V Tech </p>
<p>Thanks for the feedback!
Some of those I’ve looked at actually, so it’s reassuring to hear that I’m not completely thinking about them. I’m planning on spending most of the winter break working on essays and such, so I’ll do my best to do well there. As for recommendations, I’ve got a few instructors at my current college who I’m on good terms with who are willing to write one for me (though they’d be able to speak to my current performance more than my circumstances in the past). Unfortunetly, my circumstances in the past were more or less that I was just really bad at going to class back then. I don’t have any easy excuse to point to, so I’m just gonna have to buckle down in my essay I think and do my best to convince them that I’ve changed since then.</p>
<p>Doing work/research with them isn’t really an option at the college I’m at, unfortunetly… Though on the plus side, I meant more than just ‘they like me’ by good terms. I was/am the top student in their class for all of them… The first one has asked me permission to use a couple of my research papers as examples of a ‘good paper’ for when she teaches the class in the future. The second one I’ve gotten along with very well, and he asked me to be a tutor for the subject next semester. And the third one I’ve spent a lot of time talking with outside of class, his advice is actually one of the things that motivated me to aim a bit higher in where I’m applying…</p>
<p>You can ask all of them if they can hire you as an intern in whatever industry they are in. My dad was a lecturer at two universities, but his main career was not in education.</p>
<p>Strong professor recommendations will help tremendously in the years to come for many more positions you might apply for.</p>
<p>I think BU, Penn State, the SUNY schools and some others around that level could be worth a shot. I don’t know too much about schools that are good for computer science though. You definitely have a fairly good shot at these places though, don’t sell yourself short!
Good luck again, I hope you find a good school! (:</p>
<p>Thanks again for the feedback, both of you. Unfortunetly that’s not really an option with my professors… one of them is retiring after this semester, the other two are both full time instructors. I guess I’ll just have to hope that I’ve impressed them enough so far :)</p>