Experienced Graduates Help Me Please

Transfer Students
1

<p>Hello everyone,</p>

<p>"Me"
Age: freshly 24
HS class of 2008
-honors student until sophomore year in HS</p>

<p>"The Good"
Teaching since 2007
-Tutored math-collective 3 years
-Taught art- 2 years
-Taught violin-2 years
Managed 2 Mathnasiums for one year
Currently privately tutoring 11 elementary students for the 2nd year.
-I don't work for a company
-Established by myself
-had several offers to tutor additional students but had to decline
-Maxed out (no more available hours)
Being offered a junior kindergarten solo teaching position at a private school
Being offered another position managing a Mathnasium (more responsibilities than before)</p>

<p>"The Bad"
Community college student 2007-2014 (Bridge student)</p>

<h1>of Withdrawals: 26</h1>

<h1>of F's: 7</h1>

<p>GPA 1.36</p>

<p>"Goals"
Academic renewal
-All A's ( I can do it)
Honors program
Transfer to Reed College
Major in neuroscience
College newspaper
College tutoring center
Research internship
Doctorates
Professor at research university so I can conduct research</p>

<p>"Explanation"
The last successfully completed scholastic course was in Fall 2009.
-Psyc 101 Grade: B
The last completed course was in spring 2012
-Pilates Grade:C
Reason for W's: I thought I could balance working with school, and I was depressed due to an undiscovered disease (Celiac).
Reason for F's: Carelessness and denial both led to those F's. I would go to class for about a month max, and, then, without much thought, I would stop going and add "withdraw from class" to my to-do-list while never actually doing so.
-Most recent F was spring 2014.</p>

<p>Why all of a sudden do I care? Well, after going through a great deal of maturity due to discovering Celiacs, having a miscarriage, and breaking up with boyfriend of 8 years, I decide to take a full semester in Fall 2014. Completing the semester with 3 W's & an A in Eng 100, my denial had subsided and I finally printed those dreadful transcripts and calculated my GPA. I was mortified and decided to reduce the amount of hours I will tutor for Spring 2015 so that I can go to school full time. </p>

<p>BUT THEN .........I was offered a teaching position this morning. I would be teaching a junior kindergarten class at a private school I formerly worked at. </p>

<p>The reason I am considering taking this job is because I hope it will negate my many withdrawals and failures, but I wont be able to go to school full time to transfer in 2 years; it would be more like 3-4 years.</p>

<p>I don't know if that is substantial reasoning to take that position and challenge. I would need to juggle school, working more than full time, and taking care of my dog. He is a handful and I am the only one to care for him.</p>

<p>Also, there is that managing position... very part time....</p>

<p>Just trying to figure out if I should continue to work full time........... up until last week when offered the managing position.........i had my mind set on going to school full time and working towards my many goals.</p>

<p>I am completely crushed. I have always dream of the "college experience" where i get to immerse myself in books and discussion....that is my dream... i want to fully stuff my brain with as much knowledge as possible. i feel like i need a more realistic goal.... although my choice of career has been a dream of mine since before high school.... </p>

<p>What are your thoughts? Would teaching without credentials & a degree or running a learning center be impactful enough to negate my transcript? If I reach all my listed goals would It make a difference? Is getting into Reed realistic?</p>

2

<p>This probably more properly belongs in the Transfer Students section, because you’re talking about transferring undergrad even though you do have a long-term goal of being a research professor. (Edit: I moved it to Transfer Students, but left a redirect link in Graduate School.)</p>

<p>I think that you need some time. Your history of Fs and withdrawals is long (5 years, since it seems like the last class you got above a B in was in 2009) and recent (the most recent one was just last semester). You could use struggling with celiac disease as an excuse for one semester or even a year, but for 5 years? I think you’ll need some time to step away from college for a while - if for no other reason than to display maturity and distance from your community college failures. Three to four years actually sounds like a great length of time to work and give yourself a little distance, assuming that you can support yourself in the meantime.</p>

<p>Your story kind of reminds me of my husband’s though. He was great in high school but just hit a wall in college. Lots of Fs and Ws on his transcripts - he would do the same thing, go to class for a month and then stop going, not bothering to withdraw. He also started working close to full-time hours (strangely, also tutoring and managing an after school program) and that didn’t help with his grades. He did that for 5 years as well, and his GPA was something like a 2.1. Eventually he ended up joining the Air Force for 4 years; he was 23 when he joined. Serving in the military really gave him a sense of discipline and purpose, and he did exceptionally well, getting promoted very quickly, becoming one of the fastest NCOs in the AF, and winning several awards. When his four years were close to up he decided to go back to school and finish his bachelor’s degree. His record of distinguished service and glowing recommendations from his supervisors (plus some high SAT scores, which he had to retake for the first time in nearly 10 years, lol) allowed him to get into Columbia’s School of General Studies. He was 27 when he began, and he is getting that college experience that you want, both classes and in student orgs (he was recently elected VP of a student org he’s in).</p>

<p>I tell you this to say that 1) stepping away for some time is good, and demonstrating success in another career can really help you overcome a weak transcript from years prior and 2) it is possible to have a college experience when you’re a bit older, in your late 20s or so, if you want one. Of course, it won’t be exactly the same, as your life experiences and the things you want will set you apart from your teenaged and early 20s peers.</p>

3

<p>I appreciate your response- it gave me another perspective. I admit I was crushed to read that you advice I take time off from college to mature, but out of all the responses I have received, it was the most practical and caused me to look at and approach my situation in a different way. Thank you for being blunt!!! :]</p>

4

<p>@julliet‌ </p>