Did I destroy my chances of getting into a good college?!? PLEASE HELP!!!

Transfer Students
1

<p>I am a currently Political Science at a CCC. I graduated high school with a 3.8 gpa unweighted and over a 4.0 weighted. I took all AP/IB classes and got a very decent academic scholarship to a top 50 school. Around that same time I entered into a very emotionally traumatic relationship that really took its toll on my academic performance. I ended my first semester with a 1.6 gpa- I basically stopped going to class. I then transferred to another top 100 school in the same city where I did OK, but nothing near my potential as a student. I was still in the relationship and at this point I was even supporting him financially. I was able to coast by with a 3.0 until I placed into too high a level of Spanish and got a D, which lowered my gpa to a 2.7. Again I contribute most of my grades to lack of attendance. I eventually managed to find the courage to leave the awful person I was dating and moved back home to attend community college. Since I have been home I have made a 4.0 gpa at community college and currently have an internship. My high school resume is impressive and I was able to get into a number of top schools as a senior year. I also consider my resume overall to be very strong. I have traveled to some pretty amazing places to do humanitarian work. I was a National Honors Society member, I was a top varsity track athlete at my high school for which I won many awards, and so forth. I even won some competitive national scholarships! I have done other community service in college such as mentoring. But now that I messed up my first two years despite my previous accomplishments I feel as though I have ruined my life!!!! Should I tell the colleges I apply to my story? Or will they only think I am unstable and/or crazy? I am a strong person and I have worked very hard with myself to move past the past two years. And even though I am doing well now, I feel as though I blew my chances at going to a good school, and/or good graduate school. My dream schools right now would be UMD, UC Davis, UCLA (which would be a miracle). Its so upsetting knowing that the schools I worked so hard to get into after high school and was accepted to wouldn't even take me now. What can I do to increase my chances of getting into a top school again?</p>

<p>Any honest and informed advice would be much appreciated!!!</p>

2

<p>Sit down with the transfer counselor at your CCC so that you can discuss your academic history, and the best pathways for achieving your long-term goals. That person will have good suggestions for how you can package yourself in your transfer applications.</p>

3

<p>I am a Director of Admission (Chester College of New England), but we do not have the major you seek, so I feel OK on (hopefully) advising you on this matter. I can’t speak for all colleges, but I think we understand that things happen on occasion. Certainly, your performance in high school is impressive (I love IB’s); however, I think a lot of people will want to see true validation that these matters are behind you. A 4.0 GPA is certainly a good thing; however, it can be said that - usually - a 4.0 is not as difficult or challenging to achieve as it is in MOST universities or 4 year colleges. They may want to see that you can excel at college level work in a college environment like you did in high school. In other words, they want to see proof. If your dream is to return to a top tier college, you may have to excel and a 2nd tier before they permit it. Also, you never know, there may be some colleges that all-of-a-sudden discover they have not hit their enrollment goals for this fall. In the last minute, they may go seeking. It happens. Don’t throw in the towel, yet.</p>

<p>I have not looked over this list, and it is a couple months old, but here is a list of colleges still looking for applications:
[College</a> Explorations: Colleges Still Accepting Applications for fall of 2011](<a href=“http://collegeexplorations.blogspot.com/2011/05/colleges-still-accepting-applications.html]College”>College Explorations: Colleges Still Accepting Applications for fall of 2011)</p>

<p>Good luck!</p>