Does My Past Seal My Fate? I Need Your Help...

[Luminal]

... How does one get into a outstanding university if they were brainwashed the first 18 years of their life? And let's not even mention that they were a natural "late-bloomer". I would appreciate it immensely if you could read most of this post and offer your advice. I feel like I have no options left unto me.

 

You see, I was sent to a Fundamentalist Christian private high school with roughly 45 students (one that taught me Creationism as an undisputed fact I might add) and I believe the experience seriously impeded my academic and intellectual growth. I attended this school for 6 years before entering college (this "high school" began in the 7th grade). My biology class was roughly 70-80% explaining the flaws in evolution and proof that biblical events occurred through geological "evidence" such as the Grand Canyon demonstrating was a global flood.

 

And yes, my parents are Fundamentalists too, so I received no help from the home environment either.

 

The teachers of this school (all 4-5 of them) either had no degrees at all (not even BAs or BSs) and the 2 that did had a History degree and the other had some sort of "Biblical Studies" degree.

 

All of my science courses were taught by the same individual: the one with the "Biblical Studies" degree. Not to mention, they simply did not even offer Chemistry to students.

 

Although I would have classified myself as being creative and analytical at that stage in my life, my academic environment was pitifully narrow. I never felt any spark of interest in the sciences, as you well might imagine given my exposure to them. I still managed to pull out a 1300 (of 1600) on my SAT.

 

I then attended a run-of-the-mill public university. While the SAT requirements might have been 700 (total) to attend, it was still a a monumental step up from my previous educational experience. I became deeply enthusiastic (if still a bit ignorant) of numerous scientific fields, while stripping layer after layer of blindfolds off my eyes.

 

Suddenly, during my second semester of college, a major medical crisis of a family member rose up that I had no control over, and my grades suffered dramatically. Eventually, I took a break from school for a few semesters to help her out.

 

During this time, I have become ever more immersed in all of the emerging fields of science that had been hidden from me by a poor education. I decided to take the SAT again, and received almost a perfect score in every section (and actually a perfect score in critical reading).

 

 

Now, I'm at a crossroads. I yearn to transfer to an outstanding university, but my college grades suffered due to the medical crisis I mentioned, and obviously during high school I had no interest or knowledge in regards to science.

 

Most universities ignore SAT/ACT scores you took after high school, so those scores mean little to nothing.

 

Is there any way I could ever find myself enrolled in a major research university or institute? I feel entirely capable of succeeding in MIT or Carnegie Mellon scale environment if I was only to be given the chance to show the person I am now, not the person I was when an archaic belief system ruled what I was allowed to learn.

 

If you read all the way up to this point, you have my sincere gratitude. I desperately need options or ideas.

[Dak]

even if you're only going to a run-of-the-mill university, the difference between people who do the best and people who only do ok is usually how much effort they put in: go out drinking alot and leave revision to the last minute, and you might get a 2-1, 2-2... study hard and read up on your lectures and revise as you go along, and you could get a 1st.

 

so i guess my advice would be: focus on putting effort into studying, rather than trying to go to a leet university.

[ecoli]

Dak's right... I have a friend who went to a community college for 2 years (which virtually anybody can be accepted to) because he didn't get the best grades in HS. He studied his ass off, got accepted into his college's honors program and has now transferred to NYU, which is a great private school.

 

It can be done!

[DrDNA]

It sounds to me like you can do anything that you put your mind to.

Are you considering graduate school?

[Luminal]

even if you're only going to a run-of-the-mill university, the difference between people who do the best and people who only do ok is usually how much effort they put in: go out drinking alot and leave revision to the last minute, and you might get a 2-1, 2-2... study hard and read up on your lectures and revise as you go along, and you could get a 1st.

 

so i guess my advice would be: focus on putting effort into studying, rather than trying to go to a leet university.

 

After I've come back from my break, I've increased my GPA from 2.8 to 3.5 in just the summer semester (took 14 semester hours in 2 months). I'm afraid a 3.5 from a below average school still doesn't cut it to get into a leading research university.

 

What you would say the next step after studying hard is?

 

Dak's right... I have a friend who went to a community college for 2 years (which virtually anybody can be accepted to) because he didn't get the best grades in HS. He studied his ass off, got accepted into his college's honors program and has now transferred to NYU, which is a great private school.

 

It can be done!

 

Well I did poorly for about 2 semesters while I was a full-time caretaker for a family member. My GPA dropped a good bit, but now is up to a 3.5 again.

 

Your friend, on the other hand, did very well in college from the start. I feel as if I have no way to prove myself to my target university. Even with the highest grades from now until graduation, I would have a 3.85 at the best.

 

Regarding my standardized test scores, university websites even state "Don't bother taking the SAT after you've entered college, we look at those scores as an indication of a specific time period in your academic career."

 

It sounds to me like you can do anything that you put your mind to.

Are you considering graduate school?

 

I'm aiming for a PhD in computer science. I am very interested in the programs at Carnegie Mellon, yet I don't think they would give my application a second thought after seeing the high school and college I attended along with my mediocre grades.

 

And by the sounds of it, graduate programs are an order of magnitude harder to gain acceptance into compared to undergraduate programs. Even if I obtained the highest GPA possible from this point onward, I'd only have a 3.85.

 

Why is the system so unforgiving, especially when almost all the circumstances of my education were not in my control? Would a school I'm applying to even care if there was a medical emergency that caused my grades to drop? For some reason, I doubt it.

 

I just feel that the person I was 3 years ago is long dead, but the schools I'm applying to do not see a difference.

 

By the way, I greatly appreciate the replies.

[iNow]

What you would say the next step after studying hard is?

• Letters of recommendation.
  
• Forming a relationship with the instructors in the department you wish to join.
  
• Doing the same with grad students.
  
• Buying delicious chocolates and coffee weekly for the head of admissions.
  
• Writing an essay on how passionate you are about the topic, and what it means to you.
  
• Extra-curricular activities and study groups.
  
• Internships with companies that are in the field.
  
• Reading on your own books written by leaders in the field.
  
• Opening dialogues with the leaders on the field, forming insightful questions about their work, and inspiring them with your own infectious interest.
  
• Buying delicious chocolates and coffee weekly for the head of admissions.
  

[Mag]

^ you mentioned reading books.

and if your University is like mine, or many others, you'll have access of many scholarly journals as well - so you can read those too

[Luminal]

• Letters of recommendation.
  
• Forming a relationship with the instructors in the department you wish to join.
  
• Doing the same with grad students.
  
• Buying delicious chocolates and coffee weekly for the head of admissions.
  
• Writing an essay on how passionate you are about the topic, and what it means to you.
  
• Extra-curricular activities and study groups.
  
• Internships with companies that are in the field.
  
• Reading on your own books written by leaders in the field.
  
• Opening dialogues with the leaders on the field, forming insightful questions about their work, and inspiring them with your own infectious interest.
  
• Buying delicious chocolates and coffee weekly for the head of admissions.
  

 

Would actually doing work on my own in this field increase my chances? For example, would writing unique and novel programs help me along the path toward entering one of my desired schools?

 

The reason I ask, is that I am primarily a "self-learner". Nearly everything I would learn in classes I could learn sufficiently well on my own. In fact, in my current classes, I usually read other books about other subjects during the lectures. I'm a poor listener, a great reader.

 

Earning a degree would mostly be for the purposes of proving myself to the academic community and forming connections with others in the field of course.

[iNow]

You might click on the third option from the bottom at this link (it's flash, so I couldn't grab it directly):

 

http://www.cs.cmu.edu/fla/faq/

 

 

Overall... stay focussed, and have back-ups. You can do very well if you try hard enough. You could also try very hard and still not get in. You can only do what you can do, so just stay focussed and motivated.

 

http://stream.fire-engine-red.com/stream/cmu_910.php?bw=bb&format=real

 

 

 

That, and delicious chocolate and coffee weekly to the head of admissions.

[ecoli]

also, don't forget about entrance essays. Thats when you plug yourself. Talk about your hardships and the obstacles you faced in you childhood, you mom's illness etc.

 

It seems harsh, but uni's love that stuff, and it'll help your chances of getting it (and even getting scholarship money).