I graduated from Penn foster high school with a 2.3 GPA and i haven’t taken the act yet will this GPA allow me to go any four university ? Everyone has told me no so far on other forum pages what do you guys think? Please be nice.
@jerbur96 for any moderately selective 4-year university, I would say your chances are highly unlikely with that GPA - a low GPA signals that you might not be ready yet to tackle college-level work. But there are also other factors at hand, such as the rigor of your HS (and how grades work there), your ACT score, etc.
A lot – a LOT – of people go to a 2-year community college and then transfer to a 4-year. This both saves money and gives students the time to prove themselves GPA-wise.
Lower ranked state institutions like Kutztown and East Stroudsburg have GPA averages around 3.1. They would be reaches for you, but maybe still worth an app. Look for ones with the highest acceptance rate - Shippensburg is 80%, but there might be one higher. Community college with the prospect of transferring would be your safety/match.
Lots of privates will take full-pay students with that kind of GPA. Especially if their SATs are OK
For you I would first figure out why I have a 2.3 average.
Did you go to class?
Did you read the chapters?
Did you do the homework?
If you had a bad test…did you talk to the teacher about what happened? Did you try to do anything different?
Did you try to go back and learn what you missed on the test?
Did you analyze why you missed a question on a test? I.e., Were you aware of the topic? Did you recognize the topic but could not recall it? Did you do problems on that topic? Did you make sure you could write down definitions without having to look it up?
Did you get a tutor ? Join a study group?
Did you spend too much time on sports/job/clubs/partying?
Do you have some kind of anxiety/depression issue?
Do you have a undiagnosed learning disability?
Were you not prepared in HS for the material?
Did you take too hard of a class?
Did you have any health issues?
Did you have any emotional issues (break ups, deaths)?
Once you figure out the issues, I would suggest Community College. It will help you transition from HS to 4 year colllege…also you can “reset” your GPA…if you do well in CC then the college you transfer will look more at that over your high school GPA. After two years you transfer to a 4 year college and do Junior and Senior year there and graduate with a degree from the 4 year college.
I also think you should consider community college. I went to CC and transferred into a four year Uni. I was a good student in HS, but I simply had no interest in a four year college. All my friends were going, so I did too.
I started goofing off and ditching classes. I got put on academic probation. Then I finally wised up, transferred and made the Dean’s list. But it took me a while to mature, and maybe that is the case wih you. I think you might find jumping into a four year college really stressful. The level of work expected is WAY more intense than at high school, or even CC. You could be setting yourself up to do very poorly if you go straight to a University.
Also, maybe things have changed, but if you go to CC, you don’t need the SAT or ACT. Good for you for being honest, and wanting to do something to make things better for yourself. Good luck!
Penn Foster is a bigger issue than your GPA. What state do you like in? What are the rules about this type of school? Depending on accreditation issues even CC might be a problem with a degree from Penn Foster. You need to call some of your local CC and state schools and explain your situation and see what they say.