Perhaps a unique situation?

Applying to College
1

I apologize for the length, but I think it’s needed with regards to my situation.

Well I’ve been scratching my head over this one for sometime and my research on the net hasn’t come up with any real advice for my situation. Long story short. I’m from the west coast originally and after a surfing accident I graduated highschool when I was 19 (18 month rehab on a broken back). I recovered 100% so far as I can tell. My family has money but I knew that it was never intended to be spent on my education so financial aide was always something that probably wasn’t going to happen to me for sometime. So I worked fulltime and went to a Community College. I wasn’t exactly certain what I wanted to do so I focused on taking care of my gen-eds, however, I worked in the medical field. At 22 I got into a good school in boston but my savings ran out very quickly and after my family backed out of helping me pay for it I realized I just couldnt afford a private school.

While in Boston I carried a 3.4 and worked 20-30 hours a week. I applied to a state university in the midwest where my grandparents lived, as they offered to help me pay for some of the costs if I specifically came there. So in fall 2005 I headed to the midwest. Several events occurred at that time that directly resulted in my current situation. I was the victim of a violent crime, one that resulted in a disfiguring injury that even after surgery hasn’t healed. It is a topic that I have an incredibly difficult time talking about. It happened my first week in this new state and to be honest mentally it was devastating to be 2000 miles from friends and close family and have this horrific thing occur. My grandparents were not particularly supporting and my grandmother had a stroke soon after, myself being blamed and I was then ejected from that part of my family (she has since passed away). I tried to take out a few school loans but had a hard time with PTSS. It became apparent that school was something that I just couldnt do at that point of time. As the attack occurred right next to campus it was difficult to even avoid the thought behind it. I began counseling and both the school and the Doctors agreed that a medical withdrawal of all classes for that year was an acceptable course of action and that I should attend the following fall.

Fall 2006 I began my classes with some hope. I began receiving disturbing messages and dead animals on my doorstep and for lack of a better word was stalked by my attacker who was now obsessed with me. In some ways as I type this it sounds like something out of a scary horror novel. I went to my school counselor who informed me that dead animals on my doorstep and horrible written messages on my car were a very common college prank and that I shouldn’t get too upset about it, I was terrified. I didn’t even know how this person could get my address until realizing that the U. has a phonebook of all students easily accessible to anyone online. I had myself removed but the damage was done. I wasn’t sleeping and was increasingly stressed about everything. You are probably curious as to why I didn’t press charges. First reason was my family is fairly prominent out here and it was considered an “embarrassment” and I didn’t want my name to be forever associated with this bad action. I dropped out and no one really seemed to care.

I got a job in the medical field once again (phlebotomist) and worked for several years to pay back some of that student loan and to just live. I’m now 28 and I have approximately 2.5 years of school finished. I am planning on writing the U. that I went to for a medical withdrawal of that semester that I dropped out. I have made the decision that I want to go back to school and from there go to medical school (I would like to go into orthopedics). I have allowed this fear to control me for far too long and really need to get back on track. I have also decided to leave this state and apply to schools on the west coast. Now that I am an independent student my financial aide is significantly more than previously.

So here are my questions:

<li>For applications am I transfer student even though I have not attended college for 4 years now? I would assume that I am since I have previous college credit, but i have been getting different answers. </li>
<li>If the U. that I went to last does approve of my medical withdrawal (for which i have reason to believe they will). Do I even list it as a college attended and do I have transcripts from them sent to the schools that I applied to? (One person advised me not to even mention this last U as I wont have any transferring coursework from there)</li>
<li>I have a hard talking about what happened to me, is it necessary to mention it in my application to say why I have this big gap in my education? Should I mention it?</li>
<li>Academic References- The last college I attended before this state school I did very well but I’m not sure a professor is going to remember that girl that got an A in her class 5 years ago… I have excellent employment references, will that suffice?</li>
<li>Any other suggestions for my situation?</li>

Thank you so much for reading and I really appreciate the replies.

Also I realize some may question whether or not mentally I am okay to do my studies again and I believe I am, 3 years ago i discovered running and it has been the best anti depressant ever :slight_smile:

2

No, you’re not alone.

I went on indefinite sabbatical from Caltech 3 years ago due to a similar medical/financial situation and have been working since. My grades were not fantastic the first time around due to the financial pressure and my health, but now that I’m better and financially self-sufficient/stable and have proven that I can do top-notch coursework as a special student, I’m applying to transfer to MIT. :slight_smile:

Most colleges consider you a transfer student if you have ever enrolled as an undergraduate. You should list every institution you have attended.

As for saying what happened - it’s probably better to say so than not, although the level of detail is up to you. It makes it a lot easier to understand your circumstances and why you are trying to go back to school now - otherwise, it’s hard to prove that you’ll do better now than you did several years ago.

Some schools accept recommendations from people who are not professors, other schools insist on having professors and treat recommendations from employers as supplemental. If you think this is going to be a problem, talk to admissions offices and see what they’ll accept given your circumstances. I thought I would have trouble given the last time I was a student was three years ago, but I think my recommendations from my professors turned out fine - they remembered me far better than I thought.

If that is not an option for you, programs like Brown’s Resumed Undergraduate Education might be a fit since they’re more flexible about references from employers as opposed to professors.

3

ElizabeththeGrey Thank you very much for your reply and congratulations for overcoming that huge mental hurdle. I apologize that I haven’t been able to get back onto here, unfortunately my internet kinked out and the internet provider took its sweet time fixing the problem.

I don’t have a problem listing the school I just wont have any grades attached to the transcript if I were to send them in, all it would say is “Medical Withdrawal” I believe or something to that effect.

I’ve also noticed that roughly 50% of the schools I’m applying to are asking for my SAT’s. Two issues, I took the SAT when it was graded on a scale of 1600, and as lame as this sounds, I do not even remember what it was, and is this really necessary? Do I need to take it again? To me I have 2 1/2 years of college credit that shows I can do well academically, so why the need to report an SAT score that is over decade old?

Anyone else have any suggestions? I had kind of hoped for more input.

Thanks everyone.

4

You could call the school you’re interested in directly and ask about the SAT. If they really want the scores just have College Board send them. I also took the SATs 9 years ago when it was out of 1600 and I had them sent out this year. But then I knew my scores were pretty good so I thought it would be a plus to do so even though they were old. Keep in mind it takes awhile to have old scores sent… Around a month.

5

If you took the SAT I out of 1600, you probably also took the SAT II Writing. MIT at least accepted combining the SAT II Writing score and the old SAT I in place of the new SAT I out of 2400.

Probably safer than sorry to send the transcript, but you could just not send the transcript and just note that you attended but withdrew before any grades were recorded.

As for reporting of old SAT scores - takes about $25 more because they have to “pull them out of archives” (which makes no sense to me as they have mine right online where I can see them), but for me didn’t take any longer.

6

Not sure but I think they only have it online if you took it after a certain date. I took mine on my birthday in 2002(June) and I remember being annoyed after seeing the cutoff date was very close after I took them. I had to send away for my scores twice this fall. It took 5 weeks the first time and 3 weeks the second.

If you didn’t take the SAT II writing don’t worry about it. I didn’t and all of my schools accepted my old scores anyway(even ones that now require a writing test). Of course I didn’t apply to MIT.