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okay, listen up, because I'm kind of losing patience with you and your excuses!
1) NO ONE is going to care about the fact that you started out at a community college! your assertion that community college is only for kids that are failures is the biggest load of crap I've ever heard! I know you're a high school kid, so I've been laying it easy on you, but seriously, it's time to put away these silly childish thoughts and start thinking of your future like a real adult! there are countless of highly successful adults that have gone to community colleges and thrived. in the end, no one is going to care, and frankly, given the tough economic times we're in now, it's just plain DUMB to waste money taking English Comp 101 for almost $2k at a fancy 4 year school when you could take the exact same class at a community college for a fraction of the costs (unless you get a terrific finaid package from a 4 year school). so please, let's let go of this silly, outdated notion that community college is for losers; most of those "losers" will have transferred into great 4 year colleges and graduate w/ little debt while many kids that go to a 4 year school right out of high school will have dropped out with thousands of dollars in debt hanging over their heads. of these two groups of people, who do you really think are the failures here?
2) your snobby attitude is really getting to me. you go to a fancy high school? hooray for you. got a 158 IQ and got the label "gifted" stuck onto your head? well, ain't that special. guess what? if you're lazy and have a crap GPA in high school, these won't save you! if you're lazy and seem to refuse to pinpoint the problem regarding your dropping GPA, these won't save you! in the end, if you can't do the work, the fact is that you could have a genius level IQ and it won't mean squat b/c if you can't or won't do the work, you will FAIL in college, simple as that. you claim you try, yet you've admitted that you're lazy and your GPA has dropped since you last posted. if you're trying, you aren't trying nearly hard enough
and kid, I've tutored so many college English students who claim they are the best dang gifted writers on Earth (I've even had one tell me that his second drafts are always better than the first because that's when "the genius" (his words, not mine) really comes out and "works its magic" (again, his words, not mine)). mind you, I'm tutoring these kids and spend most of these sessions explaining to them how to write an intelligible essay. as a fiction writing major, I've come across far too many snobby classmates who like to compare themselves to the big wigs, yet have nothing to prove their skill. colleges won't care how much of a great writer you think you are, the truth is in the pudding. if you've own awards for your writings or if your articles of gotten you widespread recognition, then you've got something to work w/. otherwise, you're just another student writer w/ big dreams and little else to show for them
3) you keep going on about your ECs when multiple people have stated that they aren't spectacular. the fact that you write for your school paper doesn't mean squat if you get a C in English and an I in journalism! time to get your priorities straight. right now, it doesn't look like you can manage both your course work and your ECs, so drop the ECs. if you can afford to, drop the job. a college is not going to look over and forgive a low GPA just b/c you write for the sports section of your school paper.
4) if you think you can improve your grades, fine, do it. no need to convince anyone here of the fact. it is quite silly that you're on here debating about the term "cowboy up" when you should be more worried about raising your GPA, regardless if you have a free period or not. hint: you may want to use those free periods as actual study periods and not times to roam the internet. get some classmates together and start a study group. look for a tutor. check to see if you can meet w/ a guidance counselor at this time. check to see if you can meet w/ your teachers at this time and work out ways to salvage your remaining year. don't waste your time b/c frankly, you have very little of it left to fix things up
look, in the end, it's your life, so you can take all our suggestions with a large grain of salt. if you're so sure you can bring up your grades this year and pull off a 3.0+ GPA, go for it. come up with the motivation and go for it. if you think you can get in and want to apply to a school like Emerson, go for it. if you still want to forgo community college and head straight into a 4 year school, well, that's your prerogative. in the end, it's your life, and I doubt anything we say here will change your mind. however, realize that many of us here have already played this game, and we're coming from a different place of thinking than you. I know it's hard to see the big picture when you're in high school, but realize that some of the things people are suggesting to you come from personal observations and real life.
I went to a well regarded high school w/ lots of kids that had big ideas just like you. some of these kids accomplished exactly what they wanted and went on to big name 4 year colleges like Harvard and MIT. some of these kids ended up going to lesser known 4 year colleges or going to a community college before hand. and more than a few of these kids are working retail jobs right now with no college degree at all (and many of them w/ $20K+ in loan debt w/ nothing to shoe for it b/c they dropped out of college their freshman year). only thing that really separated most of these people wasn't intelligence, but motivation. want to prove us wrong, pass w/ a high GPA this year, get into a top tier college, and graduate with honors? please, go right ahead!
ETA: in hindsight, this post came off a bit harsher than I'd planned, but I don't feel like editing down and sugarcoating anything anymore
Hahaha nah man its fine. This is probably what I needed.
Again, this is just an excuse for you not to work at it. "I have a 'B' grade, so I don't need to do that much," is probably what you're thinking. What it comes down to is that a 2.91 is still a 2.91 and no college is going to pay any attention to the fact you think you have a 'B' grade.
No. You didnt read what I said.
I said that at my school a 2.91 is a B-/B...that is OK. It could be better. It CAN be better. I want to improve on that. READ THE FINE PRINT!
While I think the OP can get into a college somewhere, I don't think he's willing to put in the effort to get into the higher rated colleges of his choice.
Strikes against him are his grades, PSAT scores and attitude.
His current GPA isn't the main problem, it's his GPA's trend that will give him problems. Most colleges we visited, said that while they look at the overall GPA, they pay more attention to the trend. If a student started out at say a 2.0, but was improving to a 3.0, that student would be more acceptable than one who started with a 3.5 and went down to a 3.0. The OP falls into the latter group.
His PSAT scores were under the average. This will likely equate to an equivalent SAT score, that is under the average. While the OP hopes to bring his score up with his writing ability, his posting here would not indicate it. True, posting here is not like the test, but there is a time pressure for the test. Also, since this is the first year for the required writing portion, many schools are ignoring the score on it. They may do so next year too.
His posts have turned from asking what he can do to improve his chances, to his justifying that he is doing okay with the effort he so far put into school. Yes, he has said he can do better, but I don't think he'll put in the effort. This attitude will be a major hindrance to improving his grades, especially since he's admitted he'll be distracted once baseball season starts.
My attitude in real life is very different from what it is online. I'm a monster online. For some reason I get angrier online.
I didnt start at a 3.5 and went down to a 3.0...I actually started pretty low and went up to a 2.91. I had a good sophomore year. My freshman year was like a 2.8 and I had an even worse Sophmore year/first semester (if you think a 2.5 is bad a 2.06 is MUCH worse). I had a way better second/third/forth quarter and my GPA was over 3 for the year.
As for the baseball thing, let me put it this way:
When the Yankees do well, I do well.
When the Yankees do bad, I do bad.
My teachers even accept it as an excuse!
No college professor would ever accept it as an excuse but it is true. I know that for a fact. My emotions are controlled by New York Yankees baseball.
Last edited by toobusytoday; 02-21-2009 at 04:44 PM..
Reason: inappropriate language
My attitude in real life is very different from what it is online. I'm a monster online. For some reason I get angrier online.
I didnt start at a 3.5 and went down to a 3.0...I actually started pretty low and went up to a 2.91. I had a good sophomore year. My freshman year was like a 2.8 and I had an even worse Sophmore year/first semester (if you think a 2.5 is bad a 2.06 is MUCH worse). I had a way better second/third/forth quarter and my GPA was over 3 for the year.
As for the baseball thing, let me put it this way:
When the Yankees do well, I do well.
When the Yankees do bad, I do bad.
My teachers even accept it as an excuse!
No college professor would ever accept it as an excuse but it is true. I know that for a fact. My emotions are controlled by New York Yankees baseball.
Your teacher did not accept it as an excuse.
Last edited by toobusytoday; 02-21-2009 at 09:29 PM..
Reason: edited out inappropriate language
No they usually understand why I've done bad in the first quarter the last few years (Yankees always gotta lose in the first round and ruin my Octobers).
Last edited by toobusytoday; 02-21-2009 at 04:44 PM..
Reason: inappropriate language
You want to know another reason I dont want to go to Community College.
I'm having troubles with my family. We're fighting a lot. I want to get away from them. They also promised to get a dog once I'm done with high school no matter what because my sister (who I love so much) has wanted one her whole life and I'm afraid of dogs.
You want to know another reason I dont want to go to Community College.
I'm having troubles with my family. We're fighting a lot. I want to get away from them. They also promised to get a dog once I'm done with high school no matter what because my sister (who I love so much) has wanted one her whole life and I'm afraid of dogs.
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