Long story short, I had an untreated mental illness throughout my high school and college years, which led to me getting terrible grades in high school and eventually failing out of community college. Bad concentration, lack of motivation, bad memory, bad judgment, etc. were all contributed to by the mental illness.
However, I’m now on treatment and doing much better.
I want to go to university, but the university that I want to get into only accepts about 8% of applicants. It’s not one of the well-known ivy leagues, but it’s close.
So, you see my problem.
Therefore, my question is this: is it possible for me to wipe the slate clean and completely redo my high school and community college transcripts (not by illegally replacing grades in the computer, but through a legal route)?
I know that an adult cannot go back to high school, and that many adult high school alternatives are only for adults who didn’t already earn their high school diploma (I have my diploma already), but do there exist any alternative high school programs which can replace an already earned high school diploma?
Same thing for community college…does there exist a program or a way to erase or replace previously earned grades?
I think that replacing those grades is the only way possible that I’m going to get into this university.
…If this is not possible, then a second plan that I had was to go to a backup university that I like, which is in France. Since I technically do not have a high school diploma or any college transcripts in France, I should be able to start fresh there, right?
No, you cannot start fresh in France. Your college record will follow you, regardless of where you choose to study.
How long ago did you fail out at the community college? Ask them if they have an academic renewal program and if you qualify for it. Follow their instructions on how to proceed with that. Start at community college, do two years with solid grades (retake the classes you failed, especially if you do not qualify for academic renewal), and then you can transfer. Junior-level transfers generally don’t consider your high school records, at least not heavily. Note, however, that transfer admissions is much more competitive than freshmen admissions and schools take less students.
Everybody wants to go to the colleges with low acceptance rates. That’s why they have such low acceptance rates. Unfortunately for you, most of the students they are rejecting have near-spotless academic records. You can find ways to pursue a college diploma, but only if you are willing to pursue realistic options.
Now, the realistic part is to re-enroll in a community college, and try to maintain the GPA necessary for transfer to a college which has a high transfer acceptance rate or a strong transfer agreement with your CC.
I think the realistic part is to re-evaluate your dream school. There are thousands of colleges and universities in the US-- set your sights on some with a reasonable chance of acceptance.
You cannot re-do high school, and you shouldn’t want to either at this point in your life. It is so far in your past that provided you do have a high school diploma, that is all that could possibly matter.
What you can do, is pay a visit to the counselors office at the community college you attended, meet with one of the advisors there, and find out what you need to do to clean up your academic record. If you need to wait another semester before re-enrolling, well do that. If you can re-enroll now, do that and follow the steps that the advisors tell you to follow. Set up a meeting with the Transfer Advisor too, and get specific help on finding places that you can transfer to within a reasonable amount of time.