Where to start?

Disclaimer: I’m new to WSO


Hello WSO, I'm a 17-year-old high school student in Pennsylvania, and currently entering my senior year with a 2.5 GPA, no Sat scores, and No ACT scores... 


While some would go on and on and write an essay about how insert tragedy made them get shit grades. I'll keep it brief,  I was an asshole Freshman year and thought I was too good for the school. I improved sophomore year. However, in Junior year, I transferred and lost most of my friends. So I got depressed. So to keep it short and sweet, it is clear that the only one to blame is me.


Quite frankly I had some of the best opportunities in the state but didn’t pursue any of them with my only extracurriculars being working at a supermarket for 2 months and being in the games and strategy’s club (basically chess club)


So I come to you guys today to just ask, is there any hope for me in IB? The chances of me getting into a target school are about as slim as a sheet of graphene, other than maybe smeal since they have an acceptance rate of 40 - 60% and my counselor recommended smeal.(I have a feeling the acceptance rate has gone significantly lower however, maybe I’m wrong)


I’m honestly feeling pretty hopeless, but I’m not asking for some pick me up filled with unrealistic levels of motivation. Just some realistic answers and advice for what to do.


If it helps here are the classes I’m taking this year


  1. Computer-Photography I (trying to swap for spreadsheets)
  2. AP Language and Composition
  3. Honors Financial Algebra
  4. IB World Religions
  5. Statistics (trying to swap for AP statistics, if I don’t get AP statistics the teacher says he teaches at an AP level so I should do ok on the exam)
  6. Accounting I
  7. IB Business and Management

So again, any advice is appreciated (realistic).

I also plan on doing some finance related extra curriculars and starting my own business if that helps.

Although I feel this is sligtly irrelivant I'm black and hispanic (male) so idk if that helps since schools are trying to be "more diverse"

 
Most Helpful

You made a mess of your high school years. Unfortunately, colleges aren't going to care why it happened, they're only going to care about the results. There are students that had it a lot worse than you and managed to overcome their obstacles with good grades, scores, and extracurricular activities. They deserve to go to a good school more than you. However, you do acknowledge that it happened, and you're trying to correct your life. You're only 17 and there are people on this forum that didn't fix their lives until many years later. You have plenty of time to do better.

If I were you, I would go to the best community college in your state (they're not all created equally). Community college is a second chance. You can get a 4.0 in community college and even Ivy League schools won't care what you did in high school (seriously get a 4.0 don't fuck up community college). Find the target school you want to go to, and research their degree programs and see what classes you need to take in community college to transfer into that program. The classes you need will typically be your general education credits (College Writing, College Algebra, College Biology). Get into the honors program at your community college, join Phi Theta Kappa (PTK), and take some type of leadership role in PTK. You should aim for President of your chapter or Honors in Action. You'll develop a great relationship with professors and staff which will be useful in getting stellar recommendation letters. Afterwards transfer as a sophomore to your target school so you can get internships, and you'll never have to write that you went to community college on your resume. You will save a lot of money, and you will be at your target school before you can even legally drink.

I think that's your best course of action because trying to somehow get into a good school for banking from here is going to be rough, and networking your way from a non-target is an uphill battle. It does help that you're a diversity student. Although it doesn't help that much considering where you're at. Seriously consider community college if you don't want your high school years to haunt you. Community college is made for people that need second chances like you.

 

Echo what was said above.  
 

Two points

1) it’s important not to get caught up if your classmates try to put you down for going the CC route instead of the 4 year route.  The CC route is the best way to maximize your outcomes. Your real friends will stick by you. knock it out of the park with a 4.0  nothing less will do.  

2) I’m not sure which targets prioritize CC transfers but It used to be the case  that if you applied to Penn State and didn’t get into main, you’d get accepted at a satellite campus/ or option to go open enrollment at some of them. Not sure how transferring from PSU satellite v CC to target goes. But PSU isn’t the worst 4 year if you don’t convert to a target. 
 

 

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