Looking for help.. not sure if this is the right forum.

<p>I'm 20 years old. I've worked a handful of half-assed jobs and I'm looking to finally make that "advancement" step in my life.</p>

<p>I see it as a "better late than never" thing, although I don't know for sure if my "break from academics" will effect my chances.</p>

<p>I was homeschooled from 8th grade untill 12th and I obtained my G.E.D. a year before my class was supposed to graduate.</p>

<p>I then never went on to college or any sort've vocational school. I did obtain my C.N.A License in hopes of getting tuition help from an employer. No luck there, of course.</p>

<p>I'm looking at going into a Community College and working towards my Associate's of Science in Nursing and eventually transferring to a 4-year school and getting my Bachelors.</p>

<p>My question is, where do I start?</p>

<p>Being Homeschooled, I've never taken the SATs or ACTs. So I know I'll need to take a placement test. I already have a school in mind. It's not too local, but it's close enough.</p>

<p>I was wondering if anyone could guide me (hold my hand, per se :p) step by step through the process and where to start.</p>

<p>Any help (or direction on where I can seek help) would be greatly appreciated.</p>

<p>Thanks in advance for your time to even read this thread, I really do appreciate it.</p>

<p>Have you contacted the school or looked into their admission requirements? If it's a community college, you might not need the SAT or ACT. Find out what you need to do and apply.</p>

<p>If you maintain a high GPA and work hard, you will have little difficulty in entering a 4-year school. I'm not sure about requirements for nursing programs, though.</p>

<p>Basically their admissions board gave me a few steps, and they were -</p>

<ol>
<li><p>Submit the Application (pay the fee, as well)</p></li>
<li><p>Apply for FSFA (of course! hehe.)</p></li>
<li><p>Take the placement test. (If you don't have ACT or SAT scores) (So I'm guessing I can skip actually taking the ACT/SATs :p)</p></li>
<li><p>Bring High School Transcripts or Photocopy of G.E.D. scores (I have this one done) to the registar's office.</p></li>
</ol>

<p>The basic admission steps I understand.</p>

<p>I'm looking for more out-of-the-box things that I could be missing that aren't listed on their guidance information.</p>

<p>It's hard to explain exactly what I mean, haha. </p>

<p>Quick sidetracked question though, you're saying even though I haven't taken the ACT or SATs that I'd be able to get into a 4Year w/o them granted I maintain a high GPA and persevere?</p>

<p>I'm really all wrapped up in the idea of finally getting my life back on track and I've been working diligently towards getting it done.</p>

<p>I don't have any of the pre-requisite courses done yet and the fall semester is a bit too close to when I'll be ready. </p>

<p>I have to take the placement test and then do the pre-reqs, I'm guessing the Spring 2k7 semester is around when I can start.</p>

<p>I have a question - if you take pre-reqs from a CC, do they start by the semester? I see nothing listed on their site (<a href="http://www.mcclf.edu%5B/url%5D"&gt;http://www.mcclf.edu&lt;/a&gt;) about taking those classes after a semester has started. </p>

<p>I know I've gone pretty far off topic here with these questions, but .. yeah. I'm a bit nervous and I want to achieve as much as I can in the small time frame I have. I understand that things being done by semester means the longer it takes me to act - the longer it'll be before I start pushing towards my goal in life.</p>

<p>Thanks again for any help and time!</p>

<p>You probably can start at a community college this fall if you wish to.</p>

<p>If you wish to go to a 4-year college, you can take the SAT or SAT this fall (There are great review books that you can get at your bookstore. There also are some free sites that can help you via the Internet), and apply to college this fall. There are many 4-year colleges --particularly second and third tier those in urban areas -- which have fairly large populations of nontraditional students like you.</p>

<p>Some that come to mind are University of the District of Columbia, Marygrove College (Detroit), University of Mass.-Lowell, and Harvard's extension school (which is far easier to enter than the regular undergrad program at Harvard).</p>

<p>You also could go to college via distance learning. Edison University in N.J. is, for instance, completely distance learning.</p>

<p>You might be able to find out more info about options by doing a Google search on "nontraditional students" "undergraduate."</p>