Basically, throughout my high school career, I have gotten pretty terrible grades, to say the least. I’m currently in my first semester of my Senior year. I’ve taken the SAT and ACT, got a pretty average score on the SAT but got a 21 on my ACT and am taking it once more and believe I can do a lot better my second time around. Also as a side note: My Freshman and Sophomore year I went to a different high school than the one I am currently enrolled in now. With that being said, it was a significantly lower funded school, and what came with that was constantly being around a majority of kids who had no desire to do well whatsoever (most of the people who go there came from a much worse background than I probably did) which would most likely explain why. Not trying to be disrespectful but it was a terrible environment to be in. In my sophomore year, however, I had a very terrifying situation happen to me. One day I had a gun pulled on me when I walked in the restroom. Because of this situation, it left me fearing for my life and induced some serious anxiety at school for me, which caused me to not be able to fully focus on my studies at school, and even outside of school I was frightened as well because I was getting threats. With all of this information I want everyone to keep in mind that I come from a background that does not involve any violence like this whatsoever. After that year though I decided to transfer to one of the top public schools in my state. In my junior year I managed to get better grades than I did my sophomore year but still not amazing (B’s and C’s) However, I did take AP Psychology, AP Computer Science, and AP LA. This year I’m taking AP Statistics and am taking the rest of my courses at the local college through a program my state has. I also started to play sports at my new school and joined DECA for my junior and senior years. I was also elected as senate rep for my school’s senate, which isn’t a huge role like the president or vice president, but I was still one of the 40 people selected out of many. I have also been told by my AP Computer Science teacher and Algebra 2 teacher that they would be able to write a letter of recommendation for me as well. With all this being said though, my GPA is still 1.7 :(. I truly want to do well in life and am so much more motivated now than I was my first two years.
With all of that information, can someone please give me some input on what I should expect if I applied to DePaul, UIUC (Dad went there), UIC, UC Boulder, Hawaii Pacific University, Virginia Tech, and UMass Boston. Not sure if financial aid affects college decisions but I do not need any financial aid. Lastly, if you have taken the time to read all this and can help in any way I would greatly appreciate it.
Are you an IL resident? Honestly I might recommend CC then transfer to your instate flagship. The schools you list above do not seem very likely as a direct Freshman admit. Also a small LAC might be a more supportive academic environment to transition to as a Freshman instead of large public. I’m not sure which LACs are within reach for you, but if you are full pay you can probably find one. A friend’s kid with similar stats to you went to ASU-- I think the acceptance rate for full pay students is very high. Some schools will see and appreciate that you’ve turned things around for yourself and the maturity it takes to do that.
For the majority of colleges thorough out the US, a minimum 2.0 GPA is a requirement for Freshman admits. Community college with a transfer to a 4 year is the most likely scenario and probably the best course for you at this point.
Just an FYI for ASU admission:
To be admitted to ASU, you will need one of the following:
top 25% in high school graduating class
3.00 GPA in competency courses (4.00 = “A”)
ACT: 22 (24 nonresidents)
SAT: 1120 (1180 nonresidents)
I’m a Washington state resident, the reason I want to try and get into a school in IL is that I have lots of family there and it’s like a second home for me. Do you think it’s still worth applying to those schools in IL? If not, what about the other ones? Thanks for the advice nonetheless.
Gotcha. So because my GPA is below 2.0 I will get rejected? Even with an upward trend in my grades and difficult course load, as well as the other improvements?
UIUC does not consider legacy in admission decisions. I don’t think a 1.7, especially from OOS is going to be enough to get you in there. Maybe SIU-Carbondale. I would really consider two years at community college. If you do well there for both years, you will have a fresh start and will likely not have to show high school grades in order to transfer.
Edited to say: If you really, really want to attend UIUC, you could attend Parkland for two years first. They share some facilities/classes and if you do well, a transfer would be very easy.
I am not familiar with IL schools, but if you do not meet the minimum GPA requirement or test requirement needed to apply, yes you will be rejected. I suggest you do some research on the minimum application requirements for any schools of interest.
DePaul does not list a minimum GPA for application purposes so you might want to call to confirm before applying and they are test optional.
It depends upon if both minimum GPA and Test scores are required or one vs the other.
Admissions at any of your schools of interest would be more than willing to give the information. Pick up the phone and call to find out directly from the source.
There are actually some good schools that have open admissions, meaning you’re accepted regardless of grades and scores. A few I know of are UTEP, Univ of Wyoming, Utah Valley University, and Weber State. UTEP and Wyoming offer an FBS football team and traditional college experience. Here’s a link that has more:
My friend’s kid definitely did not have those stats for ASU admissions. I have to wonder if there’s a backdoor for full pay? She was also a legacy if that matters. Maybe she files for an exception as she also saw improvement through her 4 years of HS. Calling the AO is a good bet for sure!