Old college transcripts

Colleges and Universities A-Z Columbia School of General Studies
1

<p>How important are previous college transcripts if they are over 11 years old? I'm contemplating applying to GS For fall 2014 entering class but I've been out of school for over a decade. I completed a little over 60 credits but there are tons of withdrawls and inc that converted to F/WIN's. I'm fairly confident that I can ace on admissions exam. If I write a compelling essay, score well on the admissions exam & have good LOR's, do I have a shot? Anyone on this board apply to GS after a long hiatus from academic life?</p>

<p>Please excuse typos/gram errors as I am on an Ipad.</p>

2

<p>You MUST submit them. However they won’t be a huge problem. GS is the school of second chances, they want to see the truth about you. In your essay discuss why you had trouble then, and how it won’t be the same this time, and they’ll be looked at appropriately.</p>

3

<p>Hello Campaigner,</p>

<p>Thanks for the info…I had a similar question about the idea of second chances…</p>

<p>I am from an Ivy League University (I was an ED candidate) but I have had a break. I had to withdraw from all my courses due to medical reasons.</p>

<p>I matriculated two years ago. I took some classes at the Columbia Summer Session as an undergrad at my home Ivy (which was not Columbia) during my break and basically failed cause I had a lot of issues getting back into school work. (I also have a very complex guardian situation where my guardian was in jail). Also, I was too eager to prove myself again (this comes from the fact that in high school I was taking classes at UPenn as a senior in hs, had a 3.9 GPA from a Prep School, had national answers in science, and received letters from schools like Yale to apply).</p>

<p>It was really recently that I did those courses. I am wondering if I bring those grades up by taking courses elsewhere if I can bring up my grade to get in, or if that is not a possibility at all.</p>

<p>I am feeling really hopeless…if I was smart enough to get into an Ivy straight out of HS in ED, I feel like it is in there somewhere - it has just taken me a long time to find it again. Also, I have had really ****ty health issues where I have had to have been in the hospital & my ever so loving guardian who clearly was not who we all thought he was.</p>

<p>Also, do I have to send those transcripts from the summer? Since it was just a summer course and it wasn’t at my home institution and I was on leave.</p>

<p>If I do, does anyone have any suggestions on how can I improve or what I can do? I mean I think that I need three more semesters to pull up my grades. But does that mean that my grades at Columbia’s summer will overshadow all of my grades at a non-Ivy while i try to pull them up?</p>

<p>Sorry for the huge jumble, I am just feeling like super helpless about this whole situation.
I have seen a lot of GSers post that they had a horrible hs record…but I have a horrible college record and a stellar hs one. I feel like a lot of that is because I never got into the rhythm of college cause I had a horrible first year experience.</p>

<p>I really appreciate hearing feedback!! It is so kind to see that the GS community currently is so willing to help out! </p>

<p>Oh and also, two more quickies: </p>

<ol>
<li><p>Is it possible to get into medical school from GS even after you have had a ****ty set of academic records…I really never thought that I would have some unfortuante circumstances out of hs that would predominate my life</p></li>
<li><p>If you get rejected…can you apply again, and how long do you have to wait… </p></li>
</ol>

<p>I am feeling really really hopeless…I used to be such an overachiever and now I feel like so disillusioned.</p>

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<p>Hi Neuronerd,</p>

<p>I guess I’m not as well informed as campainger coz I just got accepted and haven’t even visited the school, but here are my two cents.</p>

<p>Basically GS asks you to send ALL your previous transcripts, including summer courses ,exchange etc, so you would have to submit your Columbia transcripts as well.</p>

<p>I wouldn’t say a bad Columbia grade could ruin your whole application, but it really depends on how well you did in your previous ivy school. If you had medical issues and still managed to get a GPA of 3.5 or something then I suppose it should be fine as long as you have a compelling story to make it up. I had some personal issues(somehow count as special circumstances maybe) and only got about 3.5 at Penn but had no problem getting in. However, if you had some Cs or even Ds then I guess you got some troubles as consistently under-performing in different ivy schools might rise a red flag. In the latter case, I would recommend you to enroll in other schools and take a few semesters of courses to boost your GPA and prove your academic potential. </p>

<p>Regarding your two questions.</p>

<ol>
<li><p>I am not very familiar with med school admission but I guess they only look at the transcript from the place where you graduated and your MCAT score. If you feel unsafe then you do have the option to relinquish all your previous credits and start as a freshman at Columbia once accepted. </p></li>
<li><p>If you get rejected from GS, you could reapply in the next round. However, if you got rejected from CC/SEAS, you would have to wait 3 years before applying to GS.</p></li>
</ol>

<p>Hope it helps and please do take it with a grain of salt!</p>