Does anyone have anyone here have experience on going back to school after dropping out?
My GPA is low at 2.4 and I failed all my classes Fall 2012. I currently stand at 169 credits. I was going to school for a BS in Biology. I was a naive kid and often spent my spare time playing video games and not studying. I just cared about passing with Bs. After failing all the classes of my last quarter my GPA plummeted from a 3.1 to a 2.4.
So anyways I enlisted on a five year contract into the military which ends May 2018. I plan on going back to school Fall 2018. I’ll have my GI bill which will help tremendously on college tuition.
Where I am now. 2017 will be my year to prepare for the future. Dropping out of college has had a tremendous impact on my life and rarely a day goes by where I don’t call myself out on arrogance, and then remind myself to be a successful person. While I still play video games occasionally and have hobbies, I know their place and time and can focus on the task at hand no matter how mundane it is (Thanks Army…).
I am nervous about the mistakes of the past. Now that I have a solid career path planned and extra-curricular activities I’ve decided to pursue, I plan on applying to several colleges in several cities. At least 10 colleges (Yes, it’s going to be expensive). I do fear about complete rejection at all schools because of my past. I’m hoping I can make an aggressive persuasive essay, for them to look past.
I have 169 credits which goes to show I was really close to graduating. I know I’ll have to retake a lot of courses however just due to credits transferring and such. I plan on talking to advisors on obtaining my BS the most efficient matter. If all goes well I want to graduate Spring/Summer 2019. After that hopefully I’ve built up a local name for myself with the professors and I can have earned some favoritism and academic performance to accepted into the graduate program.
So a few questions.
For those who got accepted into college with poor grades from dropping out. What do you believe were your strong points that led to a decision of acceptance?
Did you have to retake course sequences? I have the year of Bio 180, Chem 180, O-chem, Phys 180, Java programming, and Calculus. I’m hoping those transfer as they take an entire academic year to complete. I was going for BS in Biology but I wanted to join an Bio-engineering graduate program at a different school as mine didn’t offer one so I was taking the classes required for that even if they weren’t needed for a BS in Bio.
For my last question. Is switching majors a fluid movement. I now want to pursue an graduate degree in Business Management. I am prepared to take another one to two years for a typical Bachelor’s in Business Administration if that is needed however, I would prefer to just finish my BS in Bio since I’m so close and then switch to business.
Reason I ask this is because my Ophthalmologist had a BS in Forestry, Master’s in BA, and Phd in Ophthalmology on this. So he someone how managed.
Of course I’m looking for advice that has already been presented online but I’m asking here too!
Thank-you for your time and advice.