College Trouble - Please Help! Given my grades, interests, and skills - where would you suggest I go?

Question

I'm a sophomore and I'd like to go to William and Mary or Texas, but I honestly don't have the grades. I'm looking into going into accounting or some type of banking/financial service because my strength lies in numbers. I'm in Juniors' Honors math as a sophomore, and I'm into performing arts (chorus, drama). I have a lot of extracurriculars and some community service, but that's probably not enough to counter-balance my sub-par GPA (3.3). I'm also kinda poor and my mom is one of the least thrifty people you've ever met, so chances are, I'm gonna need to be looking in-state. I'm just concerned because my biggest fear is that in 3 years, I'll be going to Community College.

Answer 1

Have you ever heard of or thought about Richard Bland College? It's a junior college in Virginia, but it has a special arrangement with 4-year Virginia schools, including W&M -

http://www.rbc.edu/aboutrbc.html

The only state-supported junior college in Virginia, Richard Bland College has as its primary mission the offering of transfer associate degree programs in liberal arts and sciences.

More than ninety percent of our graduates transfer to senior (four-year) institutions to complete their baccalaureate degrees. Most of them choose to transfer to in-state senior colleges and universities; therefore, we have developed formal transfer agreements with the following Virginia institutions that guarantee automatic acceptance of our graduates:

The College of William and Mary
George Mason University
James Madison University
Longwood University
Norfolk State University
Old Dominion University
Radford University
University of Virginia at Wise
Virginia Commonwealth University
VA Polytechnic Institute & State University
Virginia State University
Bridgewater College
Lynchburg College
Randolph-Macon College
Roanoke College
The State Policy on Transfer ensures that students who graduate with an Associate of Arts or Associate of Science Degree will fulfill the lower-division general education requirements of all Virginia state-supported institutions.

Answer 2

Your GPA is actually pretty good, so getting into a college shouldn't be a problem there. As for what to do for college financially, apply for as many scholarships and grants as you can if you are determined to go to a 4 year college or university (try www.fastweb.com for scholarships, giveaways, and grants). If in 3 years you are still unsure on a degree plan, call up the local community college and see if they offer career testing (I'm sure they probably do), or in your senior year of high school ask the teachers if they know whether the high school offers career counseling or some kind of degree exploration.

As far as attending community colleges, they're actually not that bad, and a great way of saving money, and here's how. First, figure out what degree program (accounting, etc.) you are thinking of going into, and then get a copy of the course catalog and degree requirements for your major at the 4 year university/college that you want to go to. Then, sign up at the community college and take your basic core courses for your major (math, history, english, etc.) that will transfer to the 4 year university, as the community courses are a fraction of the cost of those at the 4 year school. Take as many courses at community that you need to fill up your core curriculum requirements for your 4 year degree, and then apply to the 4 year school and transfer your community work over.

Then, you can go for the specialized accounting courses or higher level courses you need to fully complete your degree and concentrate strictly on them, with everything else already out of the way. I say this from experience, because my mom didn't have the money to help me with college either, but because I went to community and the tuition was cheaper, all my financial aid grant money covered my tuition and most of my books, so I didn't need to take out the federal student loans and rack myself into debt until I got to the last year or two of my degree and was going to the 4 year school. You'll really save yourself a lot of hassle in the end because you won't come out with as much student loan debt as other students, so you'll have less to pay off and able to get ahead a bit financially. I hope this helped.

Answer 3

A 3.3 is not a bad GPA. I got into a university with a 2.8 GPA. Most colleges will allow you to write an extra essay if you don't meet the GPA requirements for the school. It worked for me!
Also community college isn't so bad. It's cheap and if you don't have the GPA at first it'll make it easier for you to get into the college/univeristy of your choice. Make sure your grades improve and don't decrease over time, that always helps. And with Financial Aid (FAFSA) help you might not need to worry about costs.

Write a list of the top colleges you want to go to. Then write a list of colleges you are likely to go to (in your opinion). Make sure you apply to all of them and put the tops on your FAFSA.

Also make sure you write a good essay, try for a good SAT/ACT score, and get great reccomendation letters.

Answer 4

Apply for any and every scholarship that you can. Keep your grades up and maybe you could get a full ride someplace.

BTW Community College isn't all that bad. Just keep you head up and it will all fall into place. I am now 31 and just started college in 2005, graduating in August hopefully and currently my gpa is 3.0 I am married with 3 kids, a home, and a life all to run and take care of. I am also planning onto furthuring into either Social Work or Criminal Justice.