Hi,
So, I did not know I had a learning disability when I was in college at 18,19 years old. I found out about my learning disability and have been going to the community college. Well there has been a 10 year gap in my schooling. I am graduating with honors in Chemical Engineering from the community college.
So, I have talked to admissions and professors and 4 year universities and have had a variety of responses. Some are jerks and lecture me about being irresponsible or lecture me about how irresponsible I was and how they don’t want someone who doesn’t care about their education at their universities.
I understand that this is incredibly unprofessional, but some schools have the opportunity to write a personal statement to explain issues and I am not really sure what to say. i am wondering if I am saying something that is getting such a negative response by these “professional” people. I usually just talk about how I went to numerous Dr, but was misdiagnosed and that now I have a diagnosis I am doing exceptionally well.
I was just curious if people had any ideas as to what I might say to show that I am taking responsibility for what happened?
Thanks
Looking backwards and making excuses is a non-starter. You should speak about your passions in your personal statement. Speak about your successes in community college and the ways you hope to leverage them in your four-year college.
You are likely much more fixated on your ten-year-old history than anyone else. Forget about it.
Get up-to-date recommendations from current professors and speak of the future you imagine and how you have prepared yourself over the past several years to make that future a reality. Your actions leading up to your graduation speak to your accountability and your fitness for further education.
Re-opening ancient history does no one any good. Leave it in the past.
what I am trying to explain, is that when I talk to a school and show them my transcripts they are the ones that make a big deal about it. I get asked questions about why I did this or that. And I don’t want to make excuses, but again,people seem to keep asking me the same questions over and over. The admissions people and professors are the ones not leaving it in the past.
I’d just be brief. Say something about being a more mature student, and being more focused on your studies now as your recent CC coursework and recommendations show. Bringing up your missed diagnosis may be full disclosure, but it can feel like making excuses and sharing blame.
Most colleges will be fine with that brief explanation. The very top colleges might not, but the bottom line there is that it does not matter what you say about reasons to them – an early college train wreck with a solid recovery later will still keep you out, no matter what the explanation. They have too many transfer applicants without the problematic history to pick from. But lots and lots of colleges won’t balk.
that is what I am getting, these people dmight say something like well you didn’t care about your education back then, why should we have you at our school? umm cause it was ove 10 years ago and I simply didn’t know what was cause the problem and/or have the maturity to deal with it. but thanks.
You get to control the personal statement. They aren’t there to quiz you back, since it is in writing. Lots of students take a couple of tries and some years of maturity to get traction in college.
thanks, I finally found someone at my Community College to help me.