Could use some advice or opinions please (adult student)

Parents Forum
1

<p>I originally posted this in the transfer section, while I received many views I havent got any responses yet. Figured maybe some in this section has had a kid go through something similar, or they did themselves and can offer some help!
Hi,
I am new to the site so please bare with me. I would love some input and suggestions on my problem. I will make it as short as possible.
This fall semester I will be graduating from my local community college with a 3.3 gpa. I am looking to transfer to a university to complete my bachelors in either early childhood education or special education.
My problem is previous schools I went to, I did rather poorly. Failures, withdraws, basically a train-wreck. These grades date back to either 3 or 9 years ago. Basically I got my stuff together, started working hard, and I really would love to take my 7 year career as a nanny and turn it into a professional teaching degree. My "dream" so to say is to teach pre-school or kindergarten.
The problem im finding is how on earth am I going to get accepted to the schools. My average gpa of ALL my college courses attempted will sit around a 2.3-2.5, which is enough to get into the schools im applying to. However, almost all, from what im reading, the schools require you to have a 2.5 to get into the upper division education programs, which I will be borderline.</p>

<p>It kills me that my past is coming back to haunt me. As requested, I will send all my transcripts to all the schools.</p>

<p>Side notes, I am also a veteran and an adult student...if that matters any.</p>

<p>So my questions, with my previous failures, turned into what I consider a nice gpa, can I get accepted into state or private schools around the chicagoland area. I do not care if I get into any top schools, nor do I plan to apply to any. I just want to go to a school that will get me a degree that allows me to teach young children.</p>

<p>Second, how will they calculate my gpa? Will they even care about my one semester failure of a semester 9 years ago?</p>

<p>What about to get into the educational department/programs? Do they take all my courses I have ever taken to see if I make the 2.5, or just the courses that transfer over?</p>

<p>Do any schools admit students into the college, take a few courses, then try to apply to the education department?</p>

<p>Are there any waivers or probation I might be able to get into?</p>

<p>At this point, other than doing great my last semester, and writing great essays, is there anything I can do at this point?</p>

<p>Thank you for reading and any advice or suggestions is welcomed!</p>

2

<p>I am not an expert but since no one else has given you any answers, I will attempt to give some suggestions. Hopefully, if I am offbase, someone else will step up and head you in the right direction.</p>

<p>As an adult student, a veteran, and a community college graduate, I think you should make an appointment with an admission rep from a college that you are considering. Does your college have articulation agreements with any 4 year colleges? When I was a transfer counselor at our local community college, we had written agreements with a number of state schools that had clearly written out policies. Does your current school have a transfer counselor? Although I would not want to give you false hope, I don’t think most schools will count classes from 9 years ago against you, especially with your recent record.</p>

3

<p>Thanks for your response,
I did speak with an academic adviser at my current school, and they were not much help. He just wrote out a list of schools he thought I should apply to with no consideration of what im looking for in a school, and some on the list I would consider out of my reach. I do plan to make appointments with admission reps to a couple of the schools I am considering.</p>

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<p>I know very little about schools in the Chicago area. Here in PA, our state universities are former state teachers’ colleges. They have the most liberal agreements with community colleges and transfer credits. A neighbor tried to transfer credits into Pitt and they were not quite as generous with what they would accept. (My neighbor went back to school in his mid-thirties with community college credits and a certificate in piano tuning; he completed his doctorate in geology)
Since your current school counselor doesn’t seem to be much help, I think you should try to get an appointment with one of the admission reps soon so that you can find out if they will require any other courses before admission.</p>

5

<p>Your questions are too specific to answer easily - and may have different answers depending on the school. My guess is that at smaller private schools they’ll give more weight to your recent coursework. If you haven’t addressed the fact that you have turned over a new leaf, you should do that in a cover letter/extra essay. In any event I’d pick up the phone and call the schools that you are interested in and start asking questions.</p>

6

<p>Do you qualify for the post 9/11 GI Bill? Even if you don’t, google “yellow-ribbon program STATENAME” and you should find links to the websites of colleges and universities in that state that participate in that program. These institutions are committed to being veteran-friendly in admissions. Visit a couple that are located near you that also offer your potential major, and see what advice the admissions counselors have.</p>

<p>Wishing you much success!</p>