<p>I'd like to finish college in the future, but my background is somewhat complicated.</p>
<p>I previously attended two colleges: a very small northeastern LAC and then a very selective northeastern SLAC. I withdrew from the latter while a junior for personal reasons, but with good standing (that's all the detail I'll give in an app). Because of courseloads, study abroad, and credits that didn't transfer, I earned over 100 semester credits as an undergraduate -- way over some transfer limits.</p>
<p>Two years out of school later I went to Western Europe for a master's program in math. I was awarded full support, so it seemed the quickest and most economical path was to skip the Bachelor and just get this degree. I wasn't prepared for the level of the program; it didn't work out and I left after a year. You could say I failed out and lost my support. Although I didn't actually fail any classes because registration happens only after passing and technically wasn't dismissed since only my support was revoked. In the end I realized I was in the wrong subject and didn't want a career in research.</p>
<p>So now of course I need to finish a bachelor degree. Despite my rocky academic history, my academic stats were always good: 3.9+ college GPA, 2330 new SAT, 1500 GRE, and a coauthor on three papers published peer-reviewed techincal journals. </p>
<p>Rather than reapply to a previous school from a few years ago, I would rather attend a large university out west with a different major. Does my checkered background and high number of credits preclude me from admission to most/all schools? I know a few schools would allow me to eventually erase this record, but only after several years. Do I have any options in the shorter term? Or since it's been a few years since my last college class, should I look at enrolling in a CC in a state with a good flagship and try to transfer up after a year or two?</p>
<p>Any advice the forum could offer would be much appreciated!</p>
<p>If I understand you correctly, the only real obstacle I see to your attending a large u in the West is the overabundance of credits you've earned (100). Some colleges do allow transfers to come in with very large numbers of credits. </p>
<p>Have you checked the policies of particular schools of interest to you wrt how many credits you can have?</p>
<p>I know there have been prior threads from a poster (unfortunately I cannot remember her name) who had the problem of too many credits. After much research, she found several schools that <em>would</em> accept that type of transfer.</p>
<p>So they are out there, and you might find her threads via a search on this forum. At the moment, I can't think of keywords from her thread title. If I do, I'll search.</p>
<p>I know the UC system will not accept applicants over a credit limit. I don't know of schools that explicitly say it's ok in the materials, but I will make some inquiries now. Thanks for the reply.</p>
<p>Back in the last century, I was accepted as a "Senior Transfer" at my home state public U after completing a full undergraduate degree elsewhere in a very different field of study. Because of all of my credits, I had senior status, although it would have taken me at least two years to complete the full B.S. program that I was enrolled in. I know of at least two other people who did this in the same major field, and others who did this in other fields of study. I also know of at least one person who did this at another public university in another state. Not everyone actually completed a full second B.S., some of us organized our schedules so that we could prepare for graduate school in the new fields and started grad programs as soon as we had enough background to enroll in grad school.</p>
<p>Since you are changing major fields, it seems to me that at least one of your home state public universities should be able to take you now. You should create a formal case for yourself, and for your change of major, and make an appointment with the undergraduate advisor for that new major field at one of the universities that is interesting to you. That person will be able to help you out.</p>