Likelihood Of Transfer After GPA Tanks

Would appreciate insights from admissions professionals…

Student was an honors student on track to graduate. Personal issues arose and student failed 3 classes, resulting in GPA dropping just above a 2.0. Student is considering returning to complete degree, however wants to explore other schools, several of which have high admissions criteria. Recommending that student try to return to “school of record” since they have all background and there would be a higher likelihood of readmission vs. trying to a competitive school with only academic records as a baseline. What is your guidance? Thanks.

Personally I can’t see a school with high admissions criteria taking a flyer on a student with a GPA just north of 2.0. I recommend s/he go back to the original school to get the grades up.

I might be wrong, but I’m guessing that the best indicator of academic performance in college is…academic performance in college, and I suspect college admissions committees subscribe to this. If you have the chance to go back to the original college, it seems like that is the place to start.