Possible to Transfer to a Selective or Semi-Selective University after One Year of Community College

Applying to College
1

Hello, and thank you for reading this post.

I want to start off by saying I had a rough run in High School; my little sister suffered from a multitude of medical problems, I was diagnosed with anxiety and depression, and that cycle of low self-esteem due to a bad grade led to depression and more bad grades. I would always start the 1st semester well, all A’s, then I would get a lower grade, and the next semester would be a wreck. Needless to say, my High School GPA wasn’t stellar, and I ended up going to community college for that reason and due to corona. I’m not “stupid” or have low abilities; I took multiple AP’s, was involved in a bunch of clubs. I just let perfectionism, coupled with a fear of failure, get in my way, and that was my ultimate downfall.

I don’t want this to define my life or my college years. I dreamed about going to college when I was in preschool. I want to transfer after this year (I’m a freshman) so I can have three years at a 4-year school. I’ve considered taking next year off to work on my resume and do some volunteer work (Not for my resume, I wanted to take a gap year and do it this year, but the virus stopped those plans). I love learning and am looking (Maybe dreaming) of going got schools that run between a 35% acceptance rate and 70% acceptance rate. A couple of Jesuit universities and then places like UMD or University of Delaware for the latter statistic.

I am majoring in Finance and, I am taking 16 credits this fall, and I am sorry to say they’re basic courses, English, Statistics, Philosophy of Religion, Environmental Science, and Macroeconomics. I plan to do well in them. What courses should I look into for the spring semester?

I am currently doing a lot of voltunerring at my church (Genuine Interest) and after this semester I’m going to try and get a summer internship

If I get a high GPA, do I have a chance of getting into a selective or semi-selective school after one year of Community College? What things can I do to make myself more desirable to those schools? Or do I not have a chance and its all a pipe dream?
Thank you.

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If you apply to transfer after one year of community college, then generally you are applying during your first year at community college. This means that universities only have one semester of college grades to look at. This means that your high school grades will also matter quite a bit.

If you apply to transfer after two years of community college, then you will be applying during your second year. Universities will have three semesters of college grades to look at. This will make your high school grades much less important.

Regardless, there is no harm in applying to universities now and seeing whether you get in. If you get in then you transfer to a university. If you do not get in then you continue at community college and apply again in a year. There is no harm in applying twice a year apart. If they even notice that you already applied a year earlier then this will just make the point that you are serious about transferring. If they see an additional year of good grades this will make the point that there is a valid reason for you to apply again and you are ready to do well in university.

I do know someone who like you had a bad high school GPA. He did very well at a rather mediocre university, transferred to a highly ranked university, did really well there, went on to a PhD, and became a tenured professor at a university that he never could have gotten accepted to straight out of high school. Universities know that students mature at different times. It is possible to do this. However, you will want to do as well as you can in all of your college courses. I would not start college until you are ready to put in a strong effort. If you are ready to put in a strong effort, then you can do this.