So I have a bit of an unconventional educational background. After leaving high school to take care of my ailing mother, I decided to earn my GED. Eventually, I moved out of state for reasons that are too complicated to detail here and began taking classes at a local community college, not wanting to wait any longer to begin my educational journey.
I excelled academically at the community college, maintaining a perfect GPA while earning numerous commendations and scholarships. After six semesters (I stayed on for a year because I genuinely enjoyed the experience and wanted to try to apply for a competitive scholarship), I graduated in May 2016. My first plan was to apply to one of the local state universities, but an unforeseen financial aid issue prevented me from doing so. I waited for close to a year, but it’s become increasingly evident that the situation is unlikely to change due to complex residency issues. However, I recently received a very generous scholarship that I applied for after graduation that will make me a more appealing prospect for many universities. Because the scholarship has opened up opportunities that were closed off before, I’ve decided to wait until Fall 2018 to begin applying to the universities of my dreams, including Georgetown. In the meantime, I will be beginning an internship over the summer and doing local non-profit work that I started as a community college student.
Will elite universities look at the two-year gap and hold it against me, or will they consider the non-academic activities that I filled my extended gap period with? Will the additional two semesters that I took be an issue, even though I intend to make a two-year commitment with the funding that’s now available from my scholarship? On the transfer admissions websites for colleges like Georgetown, students who have completed more than four semesters of college course work are “strongly discouraged” from applying, which does give me pause. Any guidance, especially from students whose situations are somewhat similar to mine, would be appreciated.