What am I going to do? I'm ready to give up.

Applying to College
1

I am 26 years old.

September '05
I signed up for classes at The University of Hartford and I never withdrew. So, 4 Fs.

September '06
I signed up for classes at a CC in Connecticut and did the same thing, 4 Fs.

January '07
I started having some good semesters at CC. I took a bunch of art classes, 27 total credits. Mostly As and Bs. Two Cs.

Fast forward and I’ve had two more semesters at Austin Community College. My two current semesters (Summer '11 and Fall '11) at ACC I have a 3.3 GPA. My cumulative GPA is a dismal 1.93 with 60 credit hours.

So here’s where I’m at; I know I want to get my Master’s in Social Work. I am a little over halfway through my Associates in Human Services. As far as I know ACC does not offer guaranteed admission into a four year University and the program I am in does not directly transfer credit for credit to any local school. I’m running out of things to take in my major.

My GPA is insanely low for University of Texas at Austin, the school I want to go to. It will take me another two years to raise it up to a 3.5 or higher.

I went down and looked at Texas State and I didn’t really like it. I didn’t like the location, didn’t love the atmosphere. The other 3-4 universities in my area are not ones I want to go to.

Anyway - should I move? How can I get into a bigger school? Should I just give up? UT Austin isn’t going to look at me because of my dismal GPA. I don’t know if I should take fluff classes (I’m taking FIVE hard classes this semester).

Just keep chipping away at the Human Services program? I mean really, I should have my Associates right now, I have SIXTY credits.

I told UT about my bad semester (DUMB), wrote a killer essay and didn’t get in. They told me it was because of my bad semester… it was so long ago, UGH!

Anyway, help. Please! I’m ready to give up, I really am. Where should I go? What should I do?

2

There are some state college systems that are harder to deal with as a non-trad student than others. I have heard of some midwestern state which didn’t let students with more than about 2 years of credits transfer… which is a total road block. On the other hand, here in California, there are far less restrictions (even with the new round of policies) and there is something called “academic renewal” that a student can appeal for in their CC coursework history that if applied, the CSUs accept in terms of looking at the newer gpa.

So, I guess first look if there is any “academic renewal” policies at your CC, and then secondly if the state schools accept the modified higher gpa for transfer purposes.

You are 26. There are people who do not get their degrees until their 30s, 40s, 50s and older. It may take you awhile, but I suggest you keep working at it now, while still in your 20s. It may take X number of years to finish the degree/s, but why not do it now, while you are still young? Because if you give up, it will still take X number of years in the future, too.

A few options.

  1. Join the military for college benefits.
  2. Move to another state that has more friendly CC to state transfer policies. Note you will have to gain residency FIRST before starting up any CC classes.
  3. Find a way to finance a private college education–many private colleges are more willing to look at current grades and forgive (for purposes of transfer admission) earlier grades.
  4. Take a kajillion CC courses and raise your gpa up… try to re-take the original F grades to get those replaced.
  5. Go to one of the state schools you didn’t “like” (assuming they take you) and just grit and bear it. If you do well, you may have better options for your masters degree.

It can be very frustrating to have a bad start in college and then have to work with a bunch of options that are less than optimal–but that is the game plan right now. You need to widen your options…and then pick, knowing that none will necessarily quite fit what you’d prefer.

Good luck.