Former troubled student seeking to transfer

Transfer Students
1

<p>Hey,</p>

<p>As the topic says, I’m what you’d call a former troubled student, meaning that my prior educational marks have been less then stellar. Unfortunately, I was immature and did horribly as a High School student and for much of my Community College career. I did graduate from High School, barely to be perfectly honest, and went to Community College to “correct” my mistakes. I was foolish to think that I’d be able to do anything with a careless mindset, so my Community College career up until the last year or so has been a mirror image of High School. Over a year and a half of school, I compiled an embarassing B, 1 F and a plethora of Withdrawls. I was put on academic probation and then dismissed from the college not to long after, having been lying to my parents every step of the way, I applied at another Community College to “cover my tracks”. Things within this College would have likely gone the same way if it weren’t for an unfortunate event occuring before tranferring colleges.</p>

<p>In the summer between my dismissal from community college and my attendence to a new one, my father’s sister was diagnosed with colon cancer. Unfortunately, it was a late discovery and had already spread to vital organs, her life was prolonged longer then expected but she passed a month or two after diagnosis. I was somewhat close to her, as far as Aunt/Nephews are concerned, but that’s not what gave me a new outlook on life. My aunt had one daughter, a smart and hardworking daughter, but was somewhat dependent on her mother. They were renting a house (In San Jose, CA, for those that know, the cost of living here is pretty hefty), sharing the cost of rent between the two. To make a long story short, after my aunt’s passing, my cousin struggled. Between my aunt’s passing and her lack of a college diploma due to dropping out in favor of taking her current job, she struggled to live for quite a while.</p>

<p>Having lived a relatively comftorble middle classed lifestyle, I was never really familiar with the idea of struggling. I’d been told what would happen if I failed to take care of business but having never seen a real-life-close-to-home example, it went through one ear and out the other. For the first time in my life, I looked at myself in the mirror and was disgusted with what I saw. If something were to happen to my parents (God Forbid), with no education and my horrible work ethic, I’d be **** out of luck. When growing up, my father always told me that one day a light switch in my head would go off and I’d realize my true potential, this was definitely it for me.</p>

<p>Fast forwarding to today, I’ve attended my new community college for 3 quarters (2 regular and one summer), and have amassed 48 units with a GPA that’s currently sitting a tad bit over 3.5. I’d like to transfer to 4 year institution and was wondering if that’d be possible with my history, assuming that I maintain or improve the situation I’m currently in. As of last quarter, I’m taking 21 units a quarter, and will have the necessary 90 units needed to satisfy the requirement after two more quarters. If you need anymore information, feel free to ask!</p>

<p>Thanks,</p>

<p>Artson</p>

2

<p>that sounds like it could be your college essay right there</p>

3

<p>Skimmed your story but we’re going to need more information if you want help. </p>

<ul>
<li>What are you studying/aiming to study? </li>
<li>How far away from home are you willing to go (given your situation)? </li>
</ul>

<p>You should definitely apply to Irvine, Riverside, Davis, SD, etc… assuming you’re still in CA. I’d apply to Berkeley and LA too just to do yourself some justice.</p>

4

<p>u can def write that stuff in your essay when you apply to colleges. as long as your ontrack now theirs nothing you can do about your past. so i say just apply and see what happens…and besides just having a gpa try doing as much EC as you can:)</p>

5

<p>From one former troubled student to another, thank you for your post. Even though I’m still in the first stages of my “educational enlightenment,” after reading your story I feel a little less alone in regards to life circumstances in effect to commitment to education. I as well am faced with a past of a serious number of W’s and will be applying to transfer this fall. </p>

<p>I’ve heard rumors that UC’s don’t particularly judge one’s admission based on the number of W’s, however, I’m not sure if that is true. I have selected a good number of school I’m applying to and plan to contact each admissions office individually and ask how significant past patterns of college work influence their decision. Like the other replies suggested, use your personal statement to describe your turn-around and provide evidence of a new maturity in approaching college work. </p>

<p>Best of luck to you!</p>

6

<p>From one former troubled student to another, thank you for your post. Even though I’m still in the first stages of my “educational enlightenment,” after reading your story I feel a little less alone in regards to life circumstances in effect to commitment to education. I as well am faced with a past of a serious number of W’s and will be applying to transfer this fall. </p>

<p>I’ve heard rumors that UC’s don’t particularly judge one’s admission based on the number of W’s, however, I’m not sure if that is true. I have selected a good number of school I’m applying to and plan to contact each admissions office individually and ask how significant past patterns of college work influence their decision. Like the other replies suggested, use your personal statement to describe your turn-around and provide evidence of a new maturity in approaching college work. </p>

<p>Best of luck to you!</p>