<p>There was a thread on this discussion with opinions saying it’s okay and not okay to withhold a school, or schools, from an application when applying for transfer. </p>
<p>I have an interest in this topic as there is a single school out of 5 that I did less than stellar at. Courses that are unrelated to my major and year or two before I actually found my interest. Without that school my cumulative GPA is 3.6, with it 3.3.</p>
<p>Personally, I believe in the upward trend in grades and feel that says more about a student than anything else in a good sense… But, what about schools that have a strict GPA minimum? If a student has a low GPA due to to grades from a single school in classes unrelated to the major but because of the grades from that one school the GPA is brought below the admission minimum… Then what?</p>
<p>I have a friend who has a 2.5 cumulative GPA from classes took over ten years ago. In the last three years he went back to school, a different school, and that GPA alone is 3.3+ but with the grades from other school drops to 2.5 or so which is below admission requirements. </p>
<p>What would be advised in such a situation as described above? For me, I meet the minimum regardless, just unsure of how competitive. For friend though, it sounds like he won’t even be considered due to junk classes he took over a decade ago before joining the military (which seems unfair if schools really do stick to their cumulative minimum).</p>
<p>Lastly. Not all schools provide an outlet to explain poor grades. One of the schools I’m applying to asks for nothing other than transcripts and the standard form. In such a scenario one can’t defend themselves or explain whatsoever. </p>
<p>Thoughts?</p>
<p>My advice is always to follow the college instructions for applying, which means sending transcripts from all colleges attended. If the college finds that you/your friend omitted a college, then the chance for acceptance = 0.</p>
<p>All applications I’ve seen have had Additional Information sections for clarifying or elaborating on parts of the application. If not, you can always send an email or hard copy letter of explanation to the admissions office.</p>
<p>Schools require you to list all previous college experience. The only “opinions” you are reading is whether or not you can get away with not doing it, not whether it is “okay”. And chances of getting caught are high. There is a national database meant to combat mostly financial aid fraud (eg. getting loans and grants you don’t qualify for because you’ve already received them) but that also serves to detect prior schools you decide, as you put it, to “withhold”. </p>
<p>Your friend should do what the reply in post #2 suggested. Adcoms are not automatons, they are people that want to see people get an education. So even if there isn’t a box on the app there is no rule against sending in a letter (unlike not listing all prior schools - there IS a rule against that). They are likely to carefully weigh a letter of explanation, and understand that college work done a decade ago is not a good reflection of readiness compared to more recent classes and grades. </p>
<p>Furthermore your friend ought to look into programs offered at many colleges for “non-traditional” students, meant to find and admit people exactly like him who aren’t the traditional 18-year old frosh or early 20’s xfer applicant. At these programs they take a look at your entire history and someone who served in the military and has since gone on to do well in college work is exactly the type of non-traditional person they look for. You can find a ton of info about this route on the web; a starting point is [Non-traditional</a> student - Wikipedia](<a href=“http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Non-traditional_student]Non-traditional”>Nontraditional student - Wikipedia)</p>