After graduating high school I decided to go to CC and for 2 years fell prey to being the worst college student imaginable. I failed many classes and didn’t do well in the few I completed. My GPA from those 2 years would be lucky to be above 1.00. After that I joined the military. Im coming to the end of a 5 year contract and am looking at using my GI bill and applying to schools feeing that I have corrected what was wrong with a young, immature student from more than 5 years ago. My fear is though, if I use my transcripts from those years, I will never be able to pull my GPA out from the sinkhole I left it in. Is there anyway to erase those horrendous years and apply as a freshman, or will I be stuck trying to pull a less than 1.00 GPA from the dirt for the next however many years?
You may not be able to apply as a freshman to most schools. But you can go to college. Check each school’s admissions information to verify how they handle returning or nontraditional students. Many schools understand people from your situation. Also when you start at a new school you start a new GPA for the new school. You are not unique. Check out colleges with programs for returning students. There are a lot of ways for you to succeed. Congrats on your personal growth.
I think you could explain your situation, the maturity you gained through the military.
Don’t risk trying to conceal anything or claim you didn’t attend college before, it will come back to haunt you later.
Your record is in a clearinghouse. So, you cannot conceal your record.
However, you can attend community college for 2 years (or even 1 if you do great), pull your grades up. Then, that record vanishes.
That horrendous GPA will be used in determining you have, basically, no credits to transfer, and it’ll prevent you from attending a 4-year university in most cases.
But it will NOT be added to your GPA at your CC. And when you transfer from a CC to your 4-year university, you will NOT carry that GPA with you, only the CC GPA will appear on your transcripts, and typically that CC GPA will not count either, only the classes taken at the 4-year will count toward your GPA.
What state are you from?
If you don’t have a state, you can use your GI bill in any state and be considered instate, so pick your relocation state well.
Personally, I’d pick California, Florida, or Virginia, because the CC-to-university path is clearly delineated, the universities are relatively well-funded, instate tuition is relatively cheap, and there are LOTS of universities to choose from.
Minnesota is another State that not only didn’t cut its university’s budget, but increased it, and St Paul’s college in St Paul, Minnesota, is really good, with excellent access to UMN-Twin Cities . However, there are fewer high-quality universities in that state than in CA, FL, or VA, because of population differences - but they DO have reciprocal agreements with South Dakota (for SD School of Mines) and Wisconsin (UW Madison - they suffered cuts but are still world-class).
Another good option if you’re into STEM is Georgia Perimeter College Pre Engineering-> Georgia Tech path; it’s not for everyone (requires lots of discipline = but I’m guessing you go that) but admission to Georgia Tech is much easier than from high school and would be a tremendous achievement.
There is a national clearinghouse with records on just about all college students. Don’t try to hide your record, they will find it, you will be much worse off.
I suggest contacting the veterans service office many colleges have and see if they have any advice. Also look for programs for non-traditional students, a category you likely fit into because of your age. These programs often accept students who attended college previously. Its worth contacting some of these programs to see if they can offer any advice.
I agree with the users above. It is best to be straightforward with your history. Be direct with an admissions advisor to the school you are looking at. Each school handles these things a little differently, so you will just have to speak with them. Overall though it is not the worst thing in the world. The fact that you have taken a break from school shows them you may have been matured. Worst case scenario, it may be worth going back to your original school, and applying for academic renewal. It would be worth looking into, as it will clean up some of your history and is typically granted to returning students who have been out for awhile.
Some schools have programs called “Academic Fresh Start” where your entire prior record is set aside and you get a do-over.