<p>Hello, I'm Jeremy. I'm new to this site and I am trying to gain a bit of insight as to my situation. I am 23 years-old and I am finally at a point in life where I can start college 100% but I have a fear that maybe it's too late to make it to where I would like to go. I have the drive and ability to do whatever workload I need to do to get into and through any school I can get into, but I would truly like to get into a somewhat prestigious university. The reason I am having to start so late on the college path is because I have had to work since about 11 years old to keep food on the table in my household since my mother has been near-fatally ill most of my life and she was my only parent, amongst other issues beyond my control. I am currently getting together the money so I can take my SAT's as soon as possible, as I have only gone through one year of community college and it was a waste overall. The standards were incredibly low and honestly I want to be pushed as hard as I can be. As far as academic capability, I know I have what it takes as I frequently help my co-workers with their homework when they don't understand it and most of them are finishing bachelors degrees and a couple getting masters that just try to see what I know. What are my chances at getting into a good university for economic engineering or something similar, or possibly even the likelihood of being able to complete my schooling in an Ivy League school one day? I'm not trying to be a sob story here or be any bit burdensome, but I honestly just don't know if I just have a pipe-dream to be the first person in my family to get a college degree. Any advice and insight is greatly appreciated.</p>
<p>Ivy League colleges take a very, very low percentage of transfers. Harvard’s transfer acceptance rate is at about 1-2%.</p>
<p>That said, there are certainly prestigious schools you can transfer to. Cornell is the most “transfer friendly” ivy league. I have heard that Penn is also a reasonable goal with top grades. </p>
<p>Something else to consider are the more adult oriented college educations that Harvard and Columbia offer. They are more non traditional and are separate from the regular college. Columbia’s is called the school of general studies and Harvard’s is called the Extension school. However, these two do not give particularly good financial aid. </p>
<p>Something to consider, which I would highly recommend, is to try to transfer to a top state school. It will be cheaper and more practical. If you do well, there is no reason that you cannot go to an ivy league grad school. </p>
<p>However, don’t get too caught up in the “ivy league” label. There are many other schools that are just as good, such as University of Chicago, Williams, Middlebury, Vanderbilt, MIT, Stanford, and many others that I am forgetting right now, lol. </p>
<p>What state are you in? It really makes the most sense to transfer to a state school. If I were you, I would apply to transfer to state schools and then to schools that “meet need.” Since you will be over 24 when you transfer, you will be evaluated as an independent and will receive a lot of financial aid at these schools (unless you have a lot of money yourself). Schools that meet need are generally very highly ranked and difficult to get into. Schools that do not meet need will likely be very expensive, because there are fewer scholarships for transfers. </p>
<p>It is concerning that you say you already did a year at CC - did you do poorly that year? Those grades will still factor into your GPA. </p>
<p>As far as what you need to do - maintain a very high GPA and do extra curriculars. It helps if these relate to your intended major. For example, if you like science try to get a research internship, work at a science museum, be a science tutor, etc. If you like English volunteer with a newspaper, etc. If you like math, you can definitely tutor that once you have taken courses, you could do math research, etc. A job is also a perfectly acceptable EC, even if unrelated to your major, because obviously you have to support yourself somehow, and it shows responsibility and work ethic. </p>
<p>You are not too old for this! You’re still very young. Many people need to mature before college. I wish you luck, let me know if you have more questions!</p>
<p>I live in North Carolina. When I did the courses in community college, I honestly slept almost everyday and had to dumb down my work in the classes, the students in my classes couldn’t grasp most of the vocabulary I used so all of my essays had to be proof-read by the professors. They even told me that I really needed to get into a university instead of holding myself back in the current community college. I mainly want a university because I need a challenge and I want just one chance to prove I am more than I’m given the chance to present. As far as my age, I wasn’t able to factor in schooling until now because I have been running a household and taking care of an ill mother mostly by myself since I was 11…there was no way to go to my public school courses, work enough to keep the bills paid and start taking courses for college early. I know the odds are definitely against me, I’m pretty used to that by now. I just need one opportunity to prove what I can do and I hate the fact that money is essentially the only major factor that has kept me from being able to do so. </p>
<p>Also, the Ivy League ideal I was meaning to present to my situation was just a “for-instance” because I want to make something of myself more so than my family before me and frankly to prove to the people around me that I am more than a simple “product of my environment.” (Sorry for the rant…)</p>
<p>No, the rant is fine. You sound like you’ve made the most of an undesirable situation, and I have no doubt that you will succeed if you put your mind to it. </p>
<p>So I’m assuming your grades from
CC are good?</p>
<p>I would recommend finishing up 2 years at a CC and transferring to Chapel Hill if you can. Are you interested in grad school? You could definitely get into a top tier private for that if you do well.</p>
<p>So, just stick with the community college for now? I did well (3.7 GPA), I just get bored easily because they aren’t really teaching me anything that I didn’t learn back in my middle-school/early high-school years. I was supposed to graduate at 14…but due to my situation, I was unable to keep up with everything and maintain the household. As far as grad-school, I am definitely looking to do that. My objective in the long run is a Masters/PhD in Environmental Engineering.</p>
<p>My mind is definitely in this 100%, everyday! It is just chaotic when I am my own support since my family has never really gone to college aside form my biological father who doesn’t really have faith in me doing much with my life…another story altogether.</p>
<p>How many credits do you have? If you have 30, you can apply as a sophomore transfer. If you have 60, a junior transfer. But since deadlines to transfer for fall 2012 have passed, it makes more sense to just continue, provided you have not already finished 60 units.</p>
<p>You are doing very well despite your difficulties! Like I said, when you are 24 your finances will be independent of your families, but if they are low income you may be able to afford a private school that meets need anyway. There’s certainly no harm in applying. It is also important to note that with a high GPA from UNC, along with research experience, you could certainly get into an ivy league or comparable grad program.</p>
<p>As of now I have 15 credits since I’ve only completed one semester. I’ll have 30 after the Fall semester though.</p>
<p>So you’re definitely going to have to stick out at least another semester. I’m not sure how transferring will work since you would theoretically have 45 units if you did another year, which is more than a sophomore transfer but not as many as a junior transfer. The UNC website seems to be geared toward junior transfers, I’m not sure if they take sophomores: <a href=“http://admissions.unc.edu/Apply/Transfer_Students/default.html[/url]”>http://admissions.unc.edu/Apply/Transfer_Students/default.html</a></p>
<p>Different schools have different rules regarding units required to transfer. I would suggest making a list of the schools you are interested in and calling to see what their specific school requires.</p>
<p>Alright, well registration is in July for the local school so I can go ahead and get another semester out of the way and see how many credits I have st the end of that and see if I need to take anything to equal it out to 30 credits and look into the local university transfer programs. As far as a transfer goes, if I do decide to look into schools that are out of state, would it be worth aiming for? One of the big factors with schooling is getting away from here because being around the environment I’m stuck in has a way of being an anchor around my ankles…know what I mean?</p>