Can I get into a decent college with a 2.5 GPA from a prestigious prep school?

Question

I go to a private school thats pretty prestigious. I have a low GPA beacuse I really messed up bad freshman Year. I hated being seperated from my friends in public school and let things slip away. I have a 2.5 gpa thats rising to hopefully a 2.6 or 2.7 and 1600 Sat. I have several sports under my belt and Im curious if I can get into a decent college like Roger Williams University or Scranton Univercity. I really dont want to do the community college for 2 years route but If anyone would have any words of wisdom or colleges that you think would be smart to look at. thanks.

Answer 1

Your last two years will count more in the school's assessment, so you may have a chance. Be sure to show any leadership and teamwork strengths, get excellent letters of reference, and maybe retake your SAT. I know of people who have tranferred to Harvard from a junior college, so don't despair if you can't get in the first year. Find out where each college accepts tranfers and apply to those schools as well. Best wishes for your college application process!

Answer 2

Is the University of Scranton the same thing you're calling Scranton University?

Here's how the middle 50% of their most recent freshman class scored. Compare yourself.

University of Scranton
SAT - Critical Reading Middle 50%: 510-600
SAT - Math Middle 50%: 510-610
TPR Projected Range SAT Writing: 580-650
Average High School GPA: 3.33
Students in top 10% of HS class: 26%
Total applicants who are accepted: 70%

If my math is right, the low end of their SAT comes to 1600, the high end 1860. With your lower-than-average GPA, admission isn't a sure thing.

Roger Williams University
SAT - Critical Reading Middle 50%: 490-570
SAT - Math Middle 50%: 510-600
TPR Projected Range SAT Writing: 550-630
ACT Composite Midldle 50%: 21-25
Average High School GPA: 3.10
Students in top 10% of HS class: 12%
Total applicants who are accepted: 68%

Odds seem better at Roger Williams, with the low end of the scores 1550, high end 1800, and a lower GPA average.

Remember, though, that at each of these schools, they admitted 25% whose scores and grades were lower than these. Pull your grades WAY up and write a kick-azz essay and I'd say you have a chance.

Answer 3

The most important thing that you truly have to remember is that schools will not be looking at just grades; however, they do definitely play a large part in the admissions decision. I agree with the other responder in this topic who said that you should write in your essay about your experience and why you aren't where you would like to be. Also, if possible, schedule an interview with the school and talk to an admissions counselor about your situation. Interviews are great ways for colleges to see what you are like and will give them a better idea of what kind of student you will be like throughout your tenure. You cannot, however, rely on what school you came from to help you get accepted. I came from a school that wasn't the greatest, but I succeeded in all of my courses and on my SAT's, and I made it into a few colleges, including private colleges. So, as you can see, the type of school means nothing to the admissions committees.

I would say that you should also take the SAT one more time and try to practice prior to taking the exam. Maybe try to boost your score up another 100 points or so.

I would also like to point out that colleges love to see improvements in your grades. If you can raise your GPA up every year, the better chances you have of impressing the admissions office.

Someone here also mentioned leadership activities: GOOD POINT! You should try to participate in at least two extra-curricular activities and try to get some sort of office in them. Remember, they look to see what you have done in these activities, not how many of them you were a member of.

Lastly, a note about community colleges. If you attend a community college that has an affiliation agreement with a university, such as Scranton, you have a better chance of getting into the school you want. For example, people who attend Lehigh Carbon Community College in PA can start off their educational careers there (usually general education courses), and if they maintain at least a C average, they will automatically be accepted into one of the universities that have agreements with them, such as Kutztown University. As long as you maintain the grades in the community college, the universities affiliated with them have to take you. So, check that out to see if the colleges you are looking at have any agreemtents with community colleges. Also, one of the biggest advantages in starting off at the community college level is that they are much cheaper! ;)

Good luck!

Answer 4

You definitely don't have to go the community college route. On their website, RW says that twenty-two percent of accepted applicants had h.s. gpa between 3.0 and 3.24, thirty-two percent had h.s. gpa between 2.5 and 2.99, ten percent had h.s. gpa between 2.0 and 2.49 and one percent had h.s. gpa between 1.0 and 1.99.
You could also look into George Mason U (minimum GPA is a 2.0), Temple U (23% had h.s. GPA between 2.5 and 2.99), and Hofstra (25% had h.s. GPA between 2.5 and 2.99).
If you have good extracurriculars and decent SAT's, you're more likely to get in.

Answer 5

I think that you still have a chance. In your essay or somewhere in your application you may want to mention why your grades were so low freshman year. Do you have any work or volunteer experiences? What about extracurriculars besides sports? You want your application to show you as a well rounded student.

Answer 6

LOL, your life is ruined, I am hoping to get into oxford or cambridge uni, and you are hoping to get into a crappy college.
In life you have two paths:
1.The Good Path
2.The Bad Path

First, we will start off with path number 1, the good path
If you take the good path, you will achieve high grades in primary school, then go to a very good secondary school/high school, and you might mess around, and cause a little bit of hassle due to puberty and other things, and stress, but hopefully you will get some decent grades.
Then you will move on to college, you will go to a good college and get all the grades necessary to get into a decent or very good university
In the university, it is up to you, choose your strengths, and you can get a brilliant bachelor and masters degree
Then you will live a life of luxury, pretty wife and kids, nice car, nice house, plenty of money, etc...etc...

Now, the bad path, number 2
If you choose the bad path:
You will screw up forst in your high/secondary school
You will have no good friends
You will got to a crappy college, far away from your house
You will not get the grades sufficient enough to get you into a university
You will recieve very little money from a hard labour job, you will be treated like a dog, and you will probably have no wife, even if you have a wife, you wont have enough time to have kids, you will argue with your wife, lose her, get divorced, start drug dealing, or taking drugs, and you will end up dead in your 40's/50s, and if your lucky 60's

So the path is yours brother

The clever ones, buckle down, and put themselves in imprisonment NOW, and then live a life of luxury later, the stupid ones, live alife of luxury now, and then put them in imprisonment for the rest of their short lives, remember, it is not too late to change, either, restart the year, meaning go back to a different high/secondary school, and sort your self out, or go to a private college, and hopefully, you can put yourself on the road to success

Remember, the choice is yours