<p>First, let me just say that I am absolutely horrified by myself to be posting here, because I’ve always thought of people who get obsessed with college admissions as being a little, well, sick, but I don’t really know who else to go to, so…here goes. Should anyone who knows me ever stumble across this, they’ll know instantly who I am, but I’ll risk it anyway.</p>
<p>I transferred last year to a relatively high-ranked (in the 20s) liberal arts college after finishing my Associate’s degree. The fact is, I didn’t aim anywhere near as high as I should have when I transferred, largely because I was terrified about three things on my record. I have a math-related learning disability that contributed to me getting 800s on the SAT reading and writing sections, and a whopping 490 on the math section. (Retaking won’t change anything.) I also had a LOT of withdrawals on my record because I have lupus, something we didn’t know until my last semester in community college, and battled serious health issues all that time since it wasn’t being treated. (I’m fine now; no more withdrawals.) And, I never went to high school - I quit school when I was 12 because I was bored, taught myself at home, and finally got a GED.</p>
<p>Since I didn’t think I stood a chance anywhere “good” because of those things, I applied only to schools I knew would accept me. I went against my professors’ advice to apply high and decided to instead settle for a very good, but not exactly overwhelmingly challenging liberal arts college.</p>
<p>So imagine my surprise when, after ignoring all of those application deadlines and settling for a school I knew wouldn’t really challenge me, I went on to win literally every national community college transfer scholarship and award and basically be christened America’s best community college student. Whoops.</p>
<p>It turns out the college I picked is just an absolutely terrible fit. I’m bored out of my mind, even in upper-level classes, and the professors simply tell me to go take graduate classes at university up the road to occupy myself, which is not an acceptable answer in my view. The student body is nowhere near as diverse as I’d desired, and I don’t connect with the other students whatsoever, intellectually or socially. And now they’ve gone and gotten rid of my major, completely dissolving the department in the process. I feel completely trapped, and I honestly refuse to go back there for another semester and be so miserable again. I gave it an absolutely fair shot, and I think it’s a wonderful place that anyone should be honored to attend, but it’s just not the right place for me at all. I need somewhere that’s going to push me really hard and give me the atmosphere I’m looking for, not make me simply cry all the time over how unhappy I am.</p>
<p>The programs I’m looking at are the non-traditional (24-and-up) programs at Yale, Brown, and Wesleyan - the ones I should’ve considered in the first place. But do I realistically stand a chance, considering the holes in my transcript, my lack of high school credentials, and my literal inability to do well on the SAT math section?</p>
<p>Here’s what I have to offer:</p>
<ul>
<li>3.89/4.0 GPA in honors program (math courses dragged me down, though I did make it through Statistics with a B…even pre-calc isn’t something I can do)</li>
<li>Associate’s degree (summa cum laude) from competitive, well-regarded community college</li>
<li>Award-winning regional (not just chapter) president of Phi Theta Kappa (two-year honor society)</li>
<li>Served two years on state’s higher education governance board</li>
<li>Received about a dozen college, state, regional, and national writing awards</li>
<li>Founded most successful club at my community college (it’s been featured on CNN, woo!)</li>
<li>Awards from American Cancer Society and American Diabetes Association for exceptional fundraising</li>
<li>Teaching assistant at college; mentored by department’s most respected member</li>
<li>Told by scholarship committees that I have the best recommendations they’ve seen (including one from former Yale faculty member, if that makes a difference)</li>
<li>Worked for three years as legislative researcher (didn’t have credentials, but waived in due to skill after internship)</li>
<li>No financial aid needed (covered through scholarships through grad school)</li>
</ul>
<p>Major: American Studies (with focus on American higher education for thesis)
Other passions: Philosophy (especially philosophical literature), linguistics, anthropology, modern European history, leadership development</p>
<p>My current plan is to spend next year back at my community college, just to keep myself busy and in the academic mindset, and then apply for fall 2010 transfer. Am I looking at the wrong places? Do I need to aim lower again? Where else should I be looking? I feel like even with all these positives, I still can’t overcome the negatives. I’m so confident in my abilities to succeed academically - but only if I can get through the door in the first place.</p>
<p>Sorry for writing a book. :(</p>