So, long story short, I transferred from one four-year college to another. After performing very poorly during my first semester at the second college (2.3 gpa) due to financial and transportation issues (lived 30 miles off campus, had a very unreliable car and missed my finals as a result), I withdrew from the school and took a few months off to work and save up money. I applied and gained admission to a different 4-year school in the state once I was ready to return to school. However, because I was worried about being rejected due to my grades at my second school, I made the very stupid decision to leave my second school off my application and never submitted a transcript from said school. I really had no reason to do this, as the school I’m currently at isn’t selective and admits just about everyone that applies (83% acceptance rate).
I am now in the process of reapplying to my second institution, as it is a more reputable school with much better opportunities for students in my field. However, I seem to have put myself between a rock and a hard spot. If I submit my transcript from my current school to my second school when reapplying, they might notice that my attendance at their school is not on my transcript from my current school and reject my application for being dishonest with the other school. If I submit a transcript from my second school to my current school before applying so that my current school’s transcript shows the second school, I risk being kicked out of my current school for dishonesty.
What should I do here? I really regret not just sending my transcript to my current school in the first place, but I was still fairly immature back then and didn’t care about the ethical implications or consider the potential consequences.
My options are as follows:
- Not tell my current school about my time at the second school and hope the second school doesn't notice that my time at their school is missing from my transcript from my current school when I reapply for admission. If it works, I get readmitted and continue on with my life. If not, I get rejected from my second school, and if my second school notifies my current school, they may kick me out as well.
- Send my transcript from my second school to my current school before reapplying and tell them that I forgot to include it in my application. If it works, my current school won't really care and will simply update my transcript without a second thought, and my second school will see my academic history at their school on my transcript from my current school when I apply. This option could go poorly if my current school accuses me of being dishonest and decides to kick me out (I'm not sure how likely this is to happen, especially considering the fact that the school's not very selective and I'm bringing it to their attention myself. If anyone can comment on this, please do.). Even if my current school is fine with it, my second school could see that I attended my current school for a semester before requesting a transcript to be sent to my current school, and they might (correctly) think that I hid my history at my second university from my current university until after I was admitted so that I could reduce my chances of being rejected (I'm not sure if the readmission committee members can see when I've sent transcripts to other schools).
I plan on doing the second option simply to redress the issue with my current school, but I just wanted to post here to get general advice regarding what I should do in this situation. Considering how large and understaffed/underfunded these two public schools are, I’m probably completely overthinking how much the admissions committee members/registrar staff members are going to notice or care.
Any advice is appreciated!