<p>I am a high school dropout who recently decided to attend Community College. I left high school at 16, got my GED a couple weeks after my withdrawal. I technically failed my junior year of high school, but I had straight A's through freshman and mid-sophomore year. In my applications I plan to detail why I did poorly in my last year of high school and etc. </p>
<p>I attended the Community College I am at now in 2008, but I was here as a "Project Link" student, a program for drop outs that was way below my level. I withdrew from these classes, which is visible on my transcript. </p>
<p>However! </p>
<p>Now I am at the same CC, I have a 3.89 GPA. I am a part of the Honors Scholar Program here and a member of the World Languages and Cultures Club. Next semester I will be an English tutor, I got invited this semester, and I will finish next semester with 30 /transferable/ credits. I work two jobs, one work study job at the library at my CC, and as a hostess at night. I am involved heavily in the arts in my city, and I volunteer with local artisans to help them promote and sell. </p>
<p>I am planning to transfer to Smith College in the fall, just submit my application. What are my chances? </p>
<p>(Also planning on submitting apps to Hampshire, Mt. Holyoke, and Williams, but Smith is my first choice.)</p>
<p>I think anyone looking at your profile at that school would see you’re on par with most of the students they admit in terms of intelligence and capability. The main worry they’ll have is that you’d end up dropping out or having an issue at their school and not reach your full potential. It really hinges on your writing to explain why that won’t be the case and why it happened before. I can’t say if it’ll be convincing enough, but if you get past that hurdle, I definitely think you stand a good (like 70%) chance at most of them. Williams and Smith might be a bit harder but still possible. Hampshire I think has more compassion and leniency, and you stand a good shot.</p>
<p>Thank you very much for your response. A 70% chance is certainly enough for me not to get discouraged. </p>
<p>Additional information: I am 21 years old now, have a lot of work and life experience. I make under $10000/year and live on my own. My mother, who I am technically dependent on, makes under $5000/year. </p>
<p>Another worry I have is that I will be highly dependent on financial aid. Is this something that I should be worried about? At the community college I attend right now, I have an EFC of 0000, and I think I read in the Smith catalog that a small percentage of prospective students are affected (admission-wise) by their financial restrictions.</p>
<p>Is this something I need to worry about, or can I impress upon the college that I am willing to take out loans?</p>
<p>The schools you are talking about – Smith and Williams especially – have huge endowments built with alumni donations over many decades. Although those endowments took a terrible hit in the financial crisis, they are still by any standards rich. Why does this matter? This is (a) money the alumni give because they love these schools, and (b) where your financial aid comes from. Smith is especially generous when it comes to grants that will make your student loans manageable if you go into a field like, say, social work where you are not expected to assume what amounts to a mortgage on a house in debt. Bear in mind as well that schools that you have listed don’t need to worry about whether you can pay the bill. They want gifted, talented, driven young women who will be tomorrrow’s role models. This is what matters. This is why they have ditched SATs, which reflect more than anything the income of parents rather than anything within the applicant. However, there is a lot of emphasis placed on the interview. Sincerity is your strongest asset. If you talk the talk, and don’t pretend to be someone you are not, and you can impress the interviewer with the real you and not some imaginary person you think they want to admit, you will do very well on your interviews. Everybody loves the comeback kid. Go gettem.</p>
<p>Thanks! In my essay I wrote partially about how important it is for me to become a teacher- a good role model for students who feel as though they have no chance, no resources, and no support. I think that my interview will really go well, as I have a lot of experience in the working world and have no trouble/anxiety interviewing.
Thank you very much for your input. </p>
<p>I recently got an unofficial copy of my high school transcript, where it shows a general decline in grades as I approach my withdrawal year. It is true that if I have 30+ credits in college (I will only have completed 18 /transferable/ credits by the end of this semester, but at the end of next semester I will have 32 possibly transferable credits), then they will not focus so much on my high school grades?
I have a GPA less than 1.5 because I failed my junior year and did poorly in the latter half of my sophomore year, but I received an award for excellence in Latin in my freshman year, and placed second on an exam at the Junior Classical League in that same year. Is it worth mentioning these things in my interview, or should I focus solely on my success post-high school?
I must admit that I feel unsure of myself as a non-traditional traditional student, and I don’t know what will be valued most.</p>
<p>Now that I’ve completed my applications and application materials, I was just wondering if anyone else would be willing to provide me with some chances.
I’ve applied to Smith College, Mount Holyoke College and Hampshire College.
I have met with admissions at Smith College for an interview and will be attending Mount Holyoke College’s preview day on Monday, Feb 18th, where I will interview. </p>
<p>Do you think that I should apply to a “safety school” before my time for admissions/PROFILE/FAFSA is up?
Also, which schools could be considered “safety schools”? </p>