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Old 02-11-2009, 02:10 PM
 
356 posts, read 805,264 times
Reputation: 60

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I came into this year (my junior year) and I had a 2.91 GPA and I wanted to raise it to at least a 3.2 with a fantastic year. Unfortunately I've gone the other way. I had a 2.72 the first quarter and a 2.5 the second.

Now I have really good extracurriculars, such as I'm the member of lots of clubs, I write for three local papers as beat writers for my high schools basketball baseball and football teams, I'm on the editorial board of my high school paper, I volunteered on the Obama campaign and traveled to Pennsylvania to try and sway them to Barack, and I maintained a part time job. Do you think that maybe saves me a little bit?

What has been screwing me is I'm struggling in Math and English. I'm not good at math. I take basic geometry as a JUNIOR and I've received a C- first quarter and a D+ second. Also English, I wanted to try and get into AP next year but somehow I received a C- the first quarter and a C+ the second. For somebody who wants to be a journalist I'm embarrassed. I also got a B- and an Incomplete in Journalism! Also I'm bad at Spanish but I pass/no mark'ed the class.

So am I screwed? If so how much?

When I say lots of clubs I mean: Young Democrats, support the troops club, and our high schools TV news program.

I kind of have a learning disability too...Non verbal. So its not terrible.

The colleges I'm looking at are:

*Bridgewater State College
*Uconn
*Eastern Connecticut
*Emerson
*University of Greenwich in London
*Hofstra
*IU-Bloomington
*Keene state
*Montclair State
*Syracuse
*Western Connecticut
*Westfield State

I also wanted to apply to Michigan but they would just laugh and say "DENY THIS RETARD!"
I REFUSE TO GO TO COMMUNITY COLLEGE!

Do you have any tips on how to get a 3.5 or higher next two quarters?

NOTE: I'm not in any honors or AP courses

Thanks!

 
Old 02-11-2009, 03:40 PM
 
Location: southwestern PA
22,253 posts, read 47,182,535 times
Reputation: 47168
Didn't you just go through all this in your other post...

http://www.city-data.com/forum/colle...-colleges.html

Cs in English and an incomplete in Journalism won't even get you into the journalism program at a community college....
 
Old 02-11-2009, 03:43 PM
 
356 posts, read 805,264 times
Reputation: 60
Yes...

but isnt there time to save myself?
 
Old 02-11-2009, 03:49 PM
 
Location: Chicago
6,025 posts, read 15,289,458 times
Reputation: 8152
didn't you ask the same thing in another thread?

well, I'm pretty sure you can cross Emerson right off your list. from what I've heard, they are pretty selective. you haven't mentioned what your SAT scores are, but the lower your GPA drops, the higher that score will have to be to offset it. some schools will want both scores ot be pretty high, some schools will take a low GPA if the SAT scores are high (and vice versa)

you do realize that you can go to various websites, including the sites of the colleges listed, to get the average GPA and test scores of incoming students, right?

like people said in your other thread, your EC aren't that hot. it's one thing to be a member of a club (anyone can do that), it's a whole 'nother thing to be the president/VP/secretary/etc of that club. writing for the school newspaper doesn't mean that much unless you've gotten some prestige out of it (rewards, local recognition from your city). as for volunteering w/ Obama's campaign, well, that shows where your interests lie, but probably won't mean much either unless you played a vital role. problem w/ all the above is that SO many people do this or have done this that it doesn't set you apart from other students that join clubs, write for the school paper, or campaigned this year. the thing that will set you apart is a leadership role in one of the above or recognition outside of your school

the fact that you're getting Cs in English and you want to be a journalism major is bad. not end-of-the-world bad, but in college, if you can't even pass the courses w/in your major, you're wasting your time

I KNOW you've been (quite stubbornly may I add) adamant about this, but SERIOUSLY reconsider the community college route. yeah, yeah, I know you somehow feel this will bring great shame or some other BS excuse, but there are two issues at hand now:1) you are not improving, and your GPA is going to further cut down your choices for a decent school. colleges will automatically disregard low high school GPAs if you can get higher ones in college; 2) there is a very likely possibility you may not, for whatever reason, be ready for college level work. going to a community college for a semester can help you gauge your readiness for college level work. college is not easy, and if you're having difficulties in high school, it's only going to get harder in college. you don't want to waste thousands on dollars in tuition at a 4 year school only to either drop out or get a horrific GPA (and colleges aren't as apt to look over low college GPA as they are low high school GPAs). if you're GPA drops too low in college, you are screwed in so many ways. if the only reason you're not considering a CC is out of some sense of shame, drop it. no one cares if you went to a CC and in the end, if you transfer to a 4 year school, no one will even have to know. it's just stupid to not take advantage of a great resource and set yourself up for financial and/or academic failure b/c you're embarrassed
 
Old 02-11-2009, 03:53 PM
 
356 posts, read 805,264 times
Reputation: 60
i did say i'm on the editorial board of my high school paper.
 
Old 02-11-2009, 03:55 PM
 
Location: Chicago
6,025 posts, read 15,289,458 times
Reputation: 8152
as to your question about salvaging the rest of your year, that's simple: get straight A's from this point out. if you manage this, your GPA will be about 3.3 (give or take) and, assuming you do well on the SATs, will keep you in the running for many schools. the problem occurs once you drop below 3.0 and they get worse if you drop below 2.5. continue this trend of falling GPA scores, then it really doesn't look good.

if you can, position yourself into getting into some leadership role at your school paper or in one of the clubs you're in. HOWEVER, do NOT do this if the extra responsibility will in any way affect your school work. your ECs need a bit of help, but your GPA needs it even more
 
Old 02-11-2009, 03:57 PM
 
Location: Visitation between Wal-Mart & Home Depot
8,307 posts, read 38,666,280 times
Reputation: 7184
Quote:
Originally Posted by YankeesGiantsRangersNYK View Post
When I say lots of clubs I mean: Young Democrats, support the troops club, and our high schools TV news program.

Do you have any tips on how to get a 3.5 or higher next two quarters?
If I'm reading your post right, you're carrying about a 2.87 right now and if you finish up with two perfect quarters you can get to about 3.01.

My tips for boosting your GPA over the next two quarters would be to DROP YOUR CLUBS AND EXTRA-CURRICULARS, QUIT YOUR JOBS AND POUR YOURSELF INTO YOUR GRADES. You need to be 3.0 or higher to be competitive and no one is going to care how well rounded you are if you are unable to maintain top 1/4 of your class. This will be an excellent way to test yourself to see how you will perform in college as well. If you can't buckle down and TCB when the heat is on, you're going to have a very difficult time in college.

That's my recommendation; live like a monk for the remainder of your high-school career. You're not missing anything worthwhile by being a study hermit now.
 
Old 02-11-2009, 04:03 PM
 
356 posts, read 805,264 times
Reputation: 60
Well I have ADD and I'd probably get easily distracted.

I just never live up to my potential and I really want to. I get way too distracted. Trust me...a 2.5 and a 2.91 are NOT my potential.
 
Old 02-11-2009, 04:16 PM
 
Location: Right where I want to be.
4,507 posts, read 9,028,071 times
Reputation: 3360
Of course you're distracted...you're trying to do 27 things. I'm an extremely organized and focused person and still your list of activities would be a challenge to juggle. If you have ADD it seems that you should have less balls in the air, not more. Focus on quality rather than quantity.
 
Old 02-11-2009, 04:17 PM
 
Location: Visitation between Wal-Mart & Home Depot
8,307 posts, read 38,666,280 times
Reputation: 7184
Quote:
Originally Posted by YankeesGiantsRangersNYK View Post
Well I have ADD and I'd probably get easily distracted.

I just never live up to my potential and I really want to. I get way too distracted. Trust me...a 2.5 and a 2.91 are NOT my potential.
I'm diagnosed and as ADD as they come. It's something you're just going to have to deal with. Pills are not the solution and they are unsustainable. Anyone can study harder when they are wired on speed, you just have to learn to deal with tedium and boredom.

This is it. You've got 2 quarters to fix a problem. No pep-talk is going to help, you just have to realize how much trouble you're in and you have to realize that you can still get out of it and you have to realize that there is only one way to do it.

So do it. Don't give me this "I just never live up to my potential" bullbutter, it's time to cowboy up. Successful people have learned to make what they want happen. They aren't born that way. You'd better start learning to do it now because your life will never get any easier.

I apologize if this sounds harsh, but no one is doing you any favors by blowing sunshine up your shorts.
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