Hey guys! Thanks for reading my post. So, this may be kind of long, so stick with me okay? I am a 22 year old black male from out of state and I am applying to the University of Minnesota for spring 2018. I’ve had a pretty rough past in terms of grades and test scores. I applied in high school, but did not get in. I wasn’t even close to getting accepted. I truly don’t know what I was thinking but I was so determined. Instead, I went away to in an in-state university for one year, I did not do well. I failed multiple classes and it was just a mess. I then transferred to a community college where I again, did terrible. From there, I transferred to another community college where I did even worse. It’s been just a mess. I’m at my third college currently, I’ve failed and repeated classes multiple times. This year, I’m doing my best to change all of that around. I know I haven’t posted in the forum my specific grades and such…but is it possible for one to still have a chance at getting accepted into CLA? If I were to bring my GPA up from a 1.0 all the way to around a 3.7 or so? Please help me out! - Also, I’ve dealt with extreme adhd and other health related issues which definitely has attributed to my grades. In my essay, I want to explain my reasoning for why my past is the the way that it is? Okay thanks again everyone!
Thank you everyone!
You will need to get your health issues under control so that they don’t continue to present a burden to your studies going forward. Once you are undergoing that treatment, you will then need to revisit those subjects that you failed or received a D in just to make sure you can master them. If you are able to turn your GPA completely around (no small feat, by the way), then you have a shot at CLA but my guess is that you’ll need to finish your associate degree first.
You should discuss your plans with someone in Admissions so they can guide you on what credits they will accept and so forth. You might ask to speak to someone who is involved in outreach to the under-represented communities because they can advise you on what sort of remediation services you would have access to at the U and might even assign you to a special admissions counselor who can guide you through your journey to an undergraduate degree.
Also, speak to someone in financial aid because the path you are opting for will cost a lot money and even with federal grants you are going to need to figure out a way to pay the bills and make ends meet while you are a student. The U is in the process of raising OOS tuition significantly so you may find that the cost of attending has changed significantly from when you first applied.
No mistake about it, this will be a tough road for you. A more doable path might be an associate degree from a community college first, then work for a few years, then finish the BA a bit later on if it’s clear that finishing the four year degree is what you need for promotion and career advancement. You may find out that your work experience counts more heavily at that point. A lot depends on what you want to do eventually.
Good luck to you!
You were the perfect person to reply to this. I truly appreciate everything you’ve said here. I believe I now know what I need to work on and I appreciate you’re response!!! Thank you so much
Crossing my fingers for you @Adamheyhi! Good luck going forward and please post an update down the road.
Same to you @JBStillFlying3. Good luck to you and I will 