Leaving 3 schools off my application

Applying to College
1

<p>So back in the mid 90's I was young and struggling. I attended two community colleges and one university. I did less than mediocre at all 3 schools. I was also struggling to pay bills and make ends meet and ended up taking out emergency loans to help me pay rent. I ended up dropping out, never finished and never went back. I owe over $2000....plus I went into a lot of student loan debt which I'm still paying. </p>

<p>Fast forward i am now in my early 30's and trying to get into a very well known school that caters to older, 'non traditional' students. I am pretty confident that based on some pretty interesting and unique life /business experience I have built up over the last 10 years that I have a pretty good chance of being accepted. </p>

<p>Since this happened in the late 90's am I required to report these schools? Will it come back to haunt me? My grades were mediocre but some of the credits might possibly be transferable. ...I just can't afford to pay over $2000 right now, what with a big move out of state and no guarantee that I will get accepted into the school of my choice. </p>

<p>I know everyone is going to say "INCLUDE" the transcripts...but really, is there any alternative around this? Is there any chance the school could accept non-official transcripts or is there any way I make the community colleges release my transcripts without paying?</p>

2

<p>It’s not an issue of credits being transferable. You need to certify whether or not you attended colleges previously. You can lie or not lie. </p>

<p>As an incentive, they will check your truthfulness. Most likely they associate with this: [National</a> Student Clearinghouse: Degree verification & enrollment verification](<a href=“http://www.studentclearinghouse.org/]National”>http://www.studentclearinghouse.org/)</p>

<p>They’ll pop your little SSAN into the computer and viola: out pops your attendance records.</p>

<p>Don’t lie. There’s not an alternative. They clearly want to know if you have unpaid school debt in the past and if you’re current on payments.</p>

3

<p>Fairly certain they won’t hold your mid 90’s academic mediocrity against you. Schools like the one you describe are probably VERY familiar with cases cases like this- people who didn’t do so hot in school the first time around and genuinely want to give it another try. In fact, the vast majority of people applying are probably in a similar situation.</p>

<p>What’s this about $2000? It’s going to cost you $2000 to get those old transcripts sent…?</p>