<p>Hi there! I've got a student next year who has two situations with which I've never dealt, and I'm wondering if you all could shed some light on school choices.</p>
<p>This student has been out of school for 5 years and graduated with a 1.7. However, he DID get a 28 on his ACT (but will now need to retake it since it was so long ago). </p>
<p>I think the large gap from high school is less problematic than his grades, as he has been performing consistently, and major life events prevented him from going back to school (death of his mother, estranged with his father), and he's really very talented. But the grades...I don't want to set him up to fail because he can't get academically accepted. He's considered non degree programs but really wants to go for the Bachelors. Any thoughts?</p>
<p>Enroll at a community college and start taking courses that would transfer as gen eds. Work hard to make exceptional grades in order to prove to the 4 year college that he can be academically successful. A single summer may not be enough, but summer plus a semester of good grades would put him in a nice place by fall to start making applications to schools and embark on the audition process. However, he should consider taking just enough classes to indicate success but not enough to disqualify him from being a freshman (ie: probably better financial aid options as a freshman than a transfer). If he has a 4 year school in mind, he can find out what their requirements are and then get started toward the goal. I really think he needs to establish proof of academic success because although his story is a hard and sad one, the colleges see tons of hard and sad stories from kids who make much better grades. If that process fails, he should get an associates degree at the community college and then transfer. In that case, they won’t even consider his high school grades I believe.</p>