I’m brand new to the site, and I’m reading up and trying to put my mind at ease. I was wondering if anyone here could shed some light on my chances of acceptance as a transfer student into Cockrell.
First, I have been in the Navy for over 9 years. I will be discharged honorably in June and plan to move to Austin shortly thereafter. I took 3 semesters of college in 2004-2005 at Arkansas State and did very badly. I will be using Academic Fresh Start to wipe those classes from my admissions decision and transfer GPA.
Since 2012, I have completed 46 hours of coursework through Central Texas College with a GPA of 3.93, including A’s in Engineering Physics and Calculus 1-3. My only B was in a World History class I took just for fun (isn’t required for Engineering degree)
I have one letter of recommendation from a Navy Captain, who was my commanding officer on the destroyer I was stationed on for five years.
My backup plan is to either enroll at ACC for a semester or two, while I figure out what to do next, or simply go to Texas State.
Any help is appreciated. I am moving into a totally new phase in life without much control due to not knowing whether or not I will be accepted.
Greetings, shipmate! Looks like we’re in the same boat (no pun intended). I too have applied to cockrell for electrical/computer engineering with comp science as my second choice. I graduated cum laude (3.56) in 2014 with a music degree from excelsior when i was stationed in Bahrain. I know that sounds weird to jump from music to engineering, but it’s all skills and experience I picked up in the Navy and now in my civilian job as a network engineer. Good luck to you, bro!
I failed out of UT Dallas in 2004 and again from Dallas County Community College in 2005. I joined the Army and got my act together. I was in for five years and got my bachelors in Human Resources Management using tuition assistance. I got out, moved to South Carolina, and was pursing a Biochemistry degree from the University of South Carolina.
Unfortunately my husband is still active duty and we moved back to Texas unexpectedly. I had a 4.0 from USC and a 3.5 from Park University, but my grades from 2004-2005 dragged my overall GPA down to a 3.08. I applied to biology but didn’t have very high hopes.
Because of the sudden move and the short time frame I had in which to apply before the 1 October deadline, I was unable to secure any letters of recommendation. I had strong essays (I like to think anyway, being public affairs in the Army and having former colleagues work my writing over with a fine tooth comb).
Anyway, I found out about the Academic Fresh Start Program and used it. It’s a little tricky, because it’s all done on a very short timeline. What I had to do was apply, be formally rejected, and then submit a request through the admissions office to declare an academic fresh start. I had to go in person to fill out the paperwork, and the deadline to file it was 1 December. Given I received my initial rejection on 24 November and Thanksgiving was that week, it put things on a very short timeline indeed.
But I got in done, and about two weeks later I received my acceptance. Dropping all the Fs from more than a decade ago brought my GPA up to a 3.59 which I think is still a bit low for CNS, but I’m not going to question it. I think Cockrell is a little more competitive, but you have a higher GPA than I do when your previous coursework isn’t considered.
I don’t know how competitive you’ll be overall, but I just wanted to share my story with you to illustrate an academic fresh start is certainly possible and explain some of the challenges it brings with it. I did the ACC backup plan too and registered for classes at ACC before I even got my initial rejection from UT and I’m glad I did.
@mdarby1985@jkdean Thank you both for the responses. I have already filled out my academic fresh start contract and mailed it back. The admissions lady is acting like it can be done ahead of time, so hopefully I don’t have to be formally rejected first. One of the other ladies in the office told me it worked the way you describe. It’s confusing, and there isn’t a whole lot of information out there about how the process works.
I’m glad they have a great CC there in Austin that I can use as a solid backup plan if things don’t go as expected.
