I’m applying to selective colleges and am worried about how education gaps and dropped classes will look on paper. I’m an upcoming transfer student from CC and will have completed 60 credits with a 3.9 GPA by spring.
The gaps:
I attended but dropped my first cc semester In fall 2018. I took an extended break until spring 2019 where I took two classes but dropped them as well and took another break until spring 2020. I finished a full load in the spring but then Covid happened and I took another break until fall 2021. Since then I have done continuous semesters.
I have reasons why I took the breaks and things I did during them which I won’t write right now, but there’s extremely limited room to explain them in the essays. Is it something I should be worried about and is it worth mentioning in my essays? If so how do I go about it?
Yes I worked and had a leadership position there. The main positive that came out from it was finding my identity as a LGBTQ POC and having the time to discover what I wanted from higher education and a career.
I have a huge list of schools that are all transfer friendly, but my top choice NYU only has two essays; why NYU and why did you decide to transfer. I thought about weaving how I got to CC because of these breaks into the transfer essay but I’m not sure.
I’m not sure it’s a transfer in the normal sense. Why ? Because I got an associates. I gotta go to the next level. You are not transferring BU to NYU , etc
I worry about your essay type on sexuality only in this sense - I think they get a million. If it’s you and compelling that’s great. But if they read it as another of the same ol’, maybe not so.
I was gonna use a solid portion of the transfer essay as a chance to explain my breaks and the growth I had that led me to a CC because I probably don’t have to explain why I’m transferring from a CC. I have tons of drafts with different approaches so I’m not sure what I’m gonna do yet.
No matter what you write, no matter if you had taken no breaks, no matter if you had achieved a 4.0 in CC, NYU is likely not going to happen. Put in an application if you want, but you’d be well-advised to focus your energy on more likely schools. Does your CC have any transfer agreements with 4 yr colleges? Does the flagship state U in your state appeal to you? Where can you afford to attend?
imo, that’s not a good use of the essay. Your essay should demonstrate why you are a good fit for the school you are applying to- lining up what you bring to the party with what they have to offer.
The hardest part of a personal essay is having enough distance to have perspective. From where you are, each of those starts and stops came with a lot of turbulence in your world. From an AO perspective, starts and stops are a normal thing with applicants who are coming from a mix of CC + work- even in non-Covid times. Try not to see them as something you need to explain or justify, and as simply part of how things played out.
Thank you for your response and I appreciate your honesty. I’m interested in why you think NYU is not worth applying to? The transfer acceptance is somewhat high compared to freshman admissions at 27% and Im in the upper 25% in terms of GPA and credits.
I’m in California so I’m using the UC guaranteed transfer program for UC Santa Barbra. it wouldn’t be for Music Business as only UCLA and a couple dozen other schools have the major. But there isn’t any point in doing the major if I go to a school that isn’t located where the industry is so it narrows it down to basically the list I have.
My parents are paying out of pocket so tuition or financial aid isn’t an issue.
Thank you for your response! I think you’re right that the majority of schools won’t care; I’m just worried about NYU, USC, and UCLA due to their selectiveness and that being my biggest weakness in my app.
If it’s your dream, all that’s wasted is the cost of the application. The reason that I say that I don’t think that you’ll get in is that you’re coming from a community college, but you’ll be competing in a pool where most of the applicants will have very high GPAs from 4 yr institutions with high academic rigor. I’m glad that you have the sure thing for UCSB.
That’s great. Reaches are reaches for a reason. That you’ll have a place to study and learn is what matters. Hopefully it’s where you want but if not as long as you can learn, you’ll be fine !!
Some of the private schools on your list might accept you, but without money. So if your family is ready and able to pay full fare, I think that you would definitely have a few options other than UCSB. But make sure that you preserve that UCSB option!
Please keep in mind that a 3.9 from a community college is not the same as a 3.9 from a flagship state U or a highly selective 4 yr college, when it comes to transferring. You are likely to be disappointed, if you look at transfer statistics and peg yourself as a likely acceptance, since your GPA from the community college is as high as or higher than the average accepted transfer student’s GPA. There is a difference between someone transferring from, say, Brown to NYU with a 3.9, and someone applying to transfer to NYU from a community college with that same 3.9.
Also, you essentially have two semesters of CC completed, and are at the beginning of your 3rd semester. Deadline for transfer applications is April 1 for NYU - I’m assuming it’s no earlier for any of the other schools. You’re a little premature in plotting out your application strategy. Best to focus on getting straight A’s this fall, and getting involved in music production (if that’s what you want) locally, if at all possible. Then do more of the same in the spring. By late March, you should have a pretty good idea of where your grades for the spring semester will be, and be able to plan your applications accordingly.
