Advice on how to salvage my future?

Transfer Students
1

<p>spring 2005 i was put on academic suspension from college. The reason for me doing so poorly is I was addicted to gambling and combined with with a EE major at a top 50 college is not gonna get a person far academically. </p>

<p>Some background:</p>

<p>HIGH SCHOOL:
top 20%
took 35 credits at community college senior year of high school (gpa 3.0…D+ in calc 2)
27 on ACT</p>

<p>now COLLEGE (EE major in Engineering school at top 50 college):
Fall 2003:
occasional gambling but school was #1 priority
Sem GPA: 3.5 </p>

<p>Spring 2004:
gambling became a higher priority in life, got all C’s in Science classes
Sem GPA: 2.5</p>

<p>Fall 2004:
gambling took over my life but i kept fooling myself that craming would work
got F’s in physics and multi variable Calc
Sem GPA: 1.2 (Academic Probation)</p>

<p>Spring 2005:
gambling continued and dont even know what i was thinking
refailed multi-calc with a D
C+ in physics
even a C macroecon
Sem GPA: 1.8 (academic suspension 1-year, with no gurantee of getting back in)</p>

<p>I got a mad reality check with the academic suspension (and having no money out of my own $10,000 savings that i had saved up since i was little.)
I swore off gambling forever when i was informed on my academic suspension. </p>

<p>Summer 2005:
Got a very good job being a system admin/ technology consultant at a law firm and technology consulting firm, they also pawn me out to about 50+ clients for technology consulting. However, they still think i go to the unversity. BUt, i am doing very well there and get good reviews.</p>

<p>Fall 2005:
Enrolled in a local community college and took general ed transfer classes (which also woudl complete gen ed requirements that i was missing at my college)
16 credits
GPA: 4.0</p>

<p>SO HERE ARE MY OPTIONS AND PROBLEMS WITH OPTIONS:</p>

<p>summer '06 re-apply to the school that i got suspended from.
problems: 1.I really want to be a EE major but it has a 2.5 gpa requirement, which i woudl have to retake several classes to get to that. 2. even if i do graduate from there, my transcript is filthy and i would need to explain everything every time i show my transcript (whcih probalby wont do any good) and will probably not be able to get a good job and/or further my education.</p>

<p>I have been thinking about doing a MBA after college (cause i really like the business side from my job and also i’m really good talking about computers and such with people of all educations)</p>

<p>So i was thinkingabout this option</p>

<p>Complete a couple more semesters at the CC and either transfer (not tell them about my old school) to one of the local private colleges (only known in locally-- there arent any other good schools around here) and do somethign along the
lines of a MIS major. I think local college cause i have a really good job and i think that it will look really good on a MBA app.</p>

<p>OR</p>

<p>Complete a couple more semesters at the CC and transfer (not tell them about my old school) to a more prestigious university and Major in MIS however, not have a good job while i’m in school (which will create even more problems cause i will have alot of trouble paying for school)</p>

<p>Also i will idealy like to move to either NY, MA, CT or CA in the future.</p>

<p>This all just totally sucks because i’m lying to everyone and making sure no one puts two and two together-- i’m even living with people that go to my old school and they think i still am attending. My parents still even think i’m going to my old college. THis is tearing my up inside cause i have to lie to everyone and go aroudn people’s back until i figure out what i’m going to do.</p>

<p>Please if anyone can give me any advice, it will be greatly appreciated. Thanks alot for spending time to read a little about me.</p>

2

<p>just curious, what school did you go to?</p>

<p>and did you get addicted to holdem?</p>

3

<p>You never, never did I say never, leave out previous schools on applications! If a school you apply to/attend finds out, you can likely jeporadize your chances of ever going to school again…</p>

<p>With that…my suggestion would be is to complete an Associate’s degree in engineering or business (since you have interests in both…) and then reapply to colleges with that Associate’s. It shows colleges that you have taken charge of your problems and can commit to something and complete it!</p>

4

<p>Thanks guys for the the replies</p>

<p>I really wouldnt like to say what school… its in the midwest though</p>

<p>Yes, it was holdem. I cant believe this happend to me… i was always a good kid and never even smoked or drank. But i guess **** happens.</p>

<p>Opdiolite:
I totally understand that not telling schools about other schools is really risky and i really hate doing it. I am a honest person and i have lived my life being a honest person. But i dont think i can be too competetive in the real world if i have a 1.8 gpa for my first 2 years of college showing up on every job/graduate app for the rest of my life. I am willing to throw away all the time/money (still have $15k in loans i owe) i earned in previous education to not have these grades. Also, how would a school find out besides me telling them?.. could it be possible for them to find out through financial aid?
Again, thanks alot for your replys.</p>

5

<p>No matter what people are gooing to see those grades from ur first school. The only way to get rid of those grades is to just not transfer any credits except for the ones from the cc. If you want to transfer any credits from ur first school then the school your applying to will see all of your grades. </p>

<p>If you have very deep pockets i would probably just lie and say that u went and hiked the appalachain trail or went hiking ineurope or something your first year of college and that the courses you took at ur cc were ur first college courses you took.</p>

6

<p>I am willing to throw away all my college colleges until my current cc, if the only way a school will know about my prior schools is if i send them transcripts then i’m willing not to send them in. BUt what are the chances that other schools will know about my prior schools? Are there ways schools can check? FAFSA?</p>

<p>Haha, no i dont have deep pockets at all. I have no savings left. My job pays for me just to barely get by and pay cc tution. But many people just take 2 years off after high school, could i just say i did that? </p>

<p>Again, thanks for all your replys</p>

7

<p>i feel ya simon, i was addicted to holdem all of last year and some of this year. I probably didn’t have as bad as you but it definitely affected my grades. Anyways, ill echo everyone else’s comments and say that you should NOT leave out your other college. Just do your best and apply yourself, i’m sure you’ll get into a good college if they see your upward grade trend. Maybe you can talk about your addcition in your essay.</p>

8

<p>Can you petition for academic renewal?</p>

9

<p>I’m with CardinalFocused. My sister went to college and got a 1.7 after three semesters, but that was because she was lazy and thought college was a euphemism for party. After 5 a five year hiatus from school, she will be returning with acadmic renewal - something where they forgive that horrible GPA and she gets to start over and show people she can really do it.</p>

<p>However, I also agree with the other people on this thread who say that you should NEVER hide your previous grades or college attendance. They WILL find out - no doubt. Somewhere along the line, whether it is with your FAFSA (yes, your FAFSA tells all!) or something else, they will find out. You cannot cover something like that up and as soon as there is any mix up you will be investigated and have more problems than you could ever imagine. It happened to a friend of mine and, trust me, you don’t need that kind of trouble, especially in your situation.</p>

<p>College admissions officers are not robots. They have feelings and they understand that people go through things and that they make mistakes. It’s kind of like when they ask you if you have ever been suspended from school for any reason when you apply to college as a freshman. They understand that things happen, but they want you to be honest and, most important, they want you to show that you have overcome your problems and improved, and it seems like you are on the path to doing that.</p>

<p>Just be honest with them and with yourself. You had a problem, you overcame it, and now you’re doing better for yourself - they WILL see that. Use it to your advantage - it’s part of what makes you stand out from all the other applicants in the pool. </p>

<p>Life happens. The best thing you can do for yourself is move forward with honesty and do the best that you can.</p>

<p>Good Luck! I wish you all the best in the future!</p>

10

<p>i was in a similar situation my 1st 3 or 4 semesters at a CSU i did okay…then got caught up in partying and socializing…had some issues and one semester i did not withdrawl form classes and ended up getting a couple F’s…that messed up my record and got put on probation…now i have been going to a CCC for the pat couple yrs…been doing much better and the past 30 units or so have around a 3.6 GPA…but that
1.85 GPA from the previous CSU is still affecting me…I finally got my overall GPA up around the 2.4-5 range and applied to other CSU schools for transfer…jsut expeced to get in only 1 or 2 schools and go to the one that accepts me 1st…of the 7 i applied i got into 4 so far…waiting on a couple others for the fall 2006 semester…so do schools take into consideration that ive been doing better lately? but anyways, it was hard getting my grades up…i basically had to get mostly A’s just to get my gpa back in a decent range</p>