<p>So I live in Colorado Springs, CO and have an odd college history. After I graduated high school, I enrolled in the city community college, but shortly into my first semester my dads already bad back worsened. I had to withdraw from school to help take care of my dad and work to bring in more income for my family. After a year, my brother graduated and moved back home and I was able to go to school at the University of Houston. While there my parents got divorced, my brother started graduate school and my dad was forced to go out on disability. So after a year I had to come back to Colorado to take care of my dad again. While at University of Houston I got a 3.0 and 40 credits and took place in a few clubs and held a part-time job for the Houston Rockets. Now that Im back in Colorado my dad is getting slightly better, enough for me to go to the local community college again. I plan to start this spring semester and continue in the fall to earn my associates. After that I would love to transfer to the College of William and Mary since my parents are getting remarried =] and my mom can take care of my dad. I plan on raising my GPA to at least a 3.7, tutoring, and doing as many extracurricular activities as I can. I am a Native American and black American female (dont really know how much of a difference that makes) and a very strong writer and have already started working on my essay. I am a very hard worker and am willing to do whatever it takes to strengthen my profile. I guess Im wondering that since I had to withdraw and transfer already and Im an out-of-state community college student do I have a decent chance at getting in spring 2012 or am going to have to go against all odds and make a miracle happen =)? Also is it better to transfer in the spring or fall? Thanks for any help and insight.</p>
<p>Given that family circumstances were the reason for the lapses in your enrollment we will be understanding of that. You will be asked to explain the lapses in enrollment in the application so just be sure you do a thorough job of explaining each lapse and transfer.</p>
<p>The most competitive applicants for transfer have a 3.5GPA or higher so your 3.0 in 40 credits will make you less competitive than other applicants who have consistently earned higher grades. Given your GPA from the University of Houston, we would recommend you wait and apply for the Spring of 2012 rather than the Fall of 2011. This will give you more opportunity to show improvement in your grades. It might even be best for your to apply for the Fall of 2012. That way we’d have this spring and next fall’s final grades when evaluating your application.</p>
<p>We’d also recommend you explore our transfer web site so that you ensure you’re taking the courses we like to see (some math – preferably stats or calc, some science including a biological and physical science, some social science, some English, some history, etc). These are the types of courses that W&M students take in their first few years and they fulfill W&M’s General Education Requirement. Finally, we recommend that you be a full-time student (we prefer 15 credits per semester).</p>
<p>Hope this is helpful.</p>