Expert: Bruce - 6/19/2007

Question
QUESTION: hello and thank you in advance for your help.  i just finished my junior year and i have taken my sat.  it turned out to be 1600.  my gpa is approximately 2.5  i understand it to be a little low but i am hoping that i could get into collegs like northwestern, boston state, lasell, endicott and whittier.  do you think i have a shot?  i live in california by the way.  


ANSWER: Tommy,

Did you take all the sections of the SAT (verbal and math and the writing) or just verbal and math with no writing?

For sure, your 2.5 GPA is not helping you any with the most selective schools on your list - on the list above that's Northwestern and Whittier (I think). You should try to ramp up your grades next fall to maximize your chances, and if you aspire to a prestige school start to find out now what you'd need to show academically to transfer in as a sophomore or junior.

If you can bump that GPA up for fall, taking a good course load, that will certainly help you.

BTW, I don't know of any Boston State; there's Boston U and Boston College, but neither is a state school. Could you be thinking of another school?

Hope this is helpful. Please send along add'l questions if you have any.



---------- FOLLOW-UP ----------

QUESTION: srry for the vague description and such.  yes, i have taken a full sat with the writing.  and i actually meant northeastern...  along with endicott.  i am currently looking into endicott and i am really interested in that school.  and i also meant boston college.  thank you for your time and effort.  also, one last important question...
what can i do over the summer to increase my chance of being admitted to descent schools?  i am already studying for the sat, volunteering at the blood center and i am also working.  i am also a team captain of the golf team.  so i play a lot of golf too.  but i find out despite all those thigs, i spend a majority of my time at home, doing NOTHING and studying for sat once in awhile.  i think i really need to get out and do something that will help me. i don't want to spend my vacation in my room.

Answer
Tommy,

I commend you for wanting to make good use of your summer.

Here is what I suggest - find a college near you that has summer sessions and sign up for a course, or two if you can.
If you do well in these, it will be a very nice boost to your college applications. I recommend courses like: Intro to Psychology, Literature, Precalculus, Intro to Sociology, Government, Political Science. Take 100 or 200 level classes, but not higher.

Preping for the SAT is a good idea, too. I suggest that you also take the ACT test. Some schools will take the relatively higher score if you take both, and in my experience there are students that do better on the ACT than on the SAT.

I think Northeastern could be a possibility for you and I think they have one of the best co-op programs in the country.
Best wishes, Tommy. Let me know if I can offer any more ideas for you.

Bruce