<p>I'll be frank here. I was not a good college student at all. I was undisciplined, lazy, and didn't have a very good sense of how important it really was. I've moved all over the country in the last 5 years for various reasons, taken classes at several community colleges in a desperate attempt to raise a GPA so maybe I can get back into a university and get a Bachelor's. My transcripts are a confusing mess and they've been building for years. I'm almost 28 now (although I haven't been taking classes the whole time) and am tired of not having a degree. Worse off is that I can't really get into any universities because of my low GPA and it would be insanely easier, and worth the financial hit, to just start over and apply as a freshman although I don't think that's allowed by any schools. Coming out of high school I was able to get into the schools I applied to because I met freshman admission requirements, but of course because of a low GPA I won't meet transfer requirements now. Obviously I wish I could go back in time and handle things better knowing what I know now, but I'm just wondering if there's any way to improve my situation that is NOT taking a bunch of community college classes while adding to my confusing stack of transcripts.</p>
<p>Those ancient transcripts will continue to follow you for your entire life. That’s just how it is. Dig them all out, and take them to the closest community college. Ask one of the admissions officers there to tell you what your options are. Then, take them with you and pay a visit to the transfer admissions office at a college/university that you would like to attend. Find out what your options are there. You may be surprised.</p>
<p>You can’t ignore the past and start as a freshman. All schools require you to list prior institutions attended, and in case you decide to “forget” about them you will be easily caught because there is a national database that colleges use. You’ll be even worse off once you’re caught submitting false applications.</p>
<p>However all is not lost. You fall into the category of non-traditional students, and many colleges have special procedures for evaluating those applicants. So look into that. In general what I think you need to do is take some classes to show you are now able to handle college courses, and those app procedures for non-traditional students will focus on what you’ve done lately and not the overall GPA. Best of luck to you.</p>
<p>Non-traditional students are growing in number and importance. I know that many universities are realizing that and are creating programs for them. Boston University has its Metropolitan College to cater to their needs, but I’m sure there are many others too.
I found this website which has state-specific info on programs:
[Welcome</a> to the Nontraditional Student site, for students going back to school after a break and people who help them.](<a href=“http://www.nontradstudents.com/]Welcome”>http://www.nontradstudents.com/)
Note: I don’t have experience with that site so I don’t know if it is good or not…</p>