Hello, I’m an undergraduate student who’s pursuing an AA at a community college.
At some point, probably after I complete my AA, I plan to transfer to a four-year college.
One way to accomplish that would be to use my state’s transfer agreement to get guaranteed admission to one of the state colleges.
That would work, but I don’t want to do that. I dislike things about the state I currently live in, including changes that are being made to the college system, and I want to attend a college in a different state with a good program for my desired major.
This, of course, means I probably have to apply to transfer to (sometimes selective) colleges.
I have a few things working in my favor for my future applications. My recent grades have been good. I’ve engaged in extracurricular activities that are relevant to my major. Finally, for whatever it’s worth, I genuinely believe in my own capabilities, am passionate about my goals, and love my freedom and the world, in all its wondrous complexity.
But, and of course there’s a but, I have a lot of things that may work against me, notably my poor academic performance during previous semesters. I have a bunch of withdrawals and several failing grades on my transcript.
To explain why this is the case, I feel like I need to give some context. I have an unconventional educational background.
When I was relatively young, my parents took me out of school because they thought the elementary school my younger sister and I attended (rightfully) reported them to CPS for sexual abuse.
I spent the remainder of my youth being “homeschooled” and, for the most part, only interacting with my parents and sister.
I put that in quotations because my parents didn’t provide me a curriculum and didn’t teach me much of anything. That wasn’t the point.
I more or less taught myself everything on the cell phone I got access to as a younger adolescent. Mostly by reading, but also via YouTube videos and lectures and free online courses
I had no coursework, no teachers, no grades, no structure whatsoever.
When I was an older adolescent, my mother created a homeschool transcript that’s full of made-up information. They contain passing grades for classes I never took.
I didn’t want her to do that. She did it without my knowledge or consent. I think she did it to legally cover herself.
Despite my discomfort with the false information on them, I later used those transcripts to enroll in a community college. I wanted a formal education, and that seemed like the best path forward.
I wasn’t the most prepared student, but I taught myself enough to comprehend the material and easily do the coursework with a bit of guidance.
Nevertheless, I did poorly at first. I had a hard time adjusting to the outside world and had to deal with a litany of stressors - family violence, family suicide scares, sexual violence, inadequate nutrition and healthcare, etc.
During that period, there were many times I wanted to seek out support.
However, I always decided against it. I (rightfully) thought that if I told people in relevant social positions, like college faculty and psychotherapists, about some of the things that bothered me, they’d be required by law to report my parents to my state’s child welfare agency because my sister was under 18 at the time.
I didn’t want that to happen because I thought my parents would flee the state with my sister and me, destabilizing our lives and plans in the process. My parents had previously done that 2 times.
Over time, I learned to adjust to and navigate the world, my family situation improved, and my sister turned 18. That has coincided with better grades.
Unfortunately, as previously mentioned, I was left with bad semesters on my transcript.
How do I explain this to people? I want to be given a chance. I also don’t enjoy focusing on the gloomy bits