To understand my circumstances, I need to first give you my background. So, in high school I squeaked by, never really caring for school. So my grades were poor. After graduating high school I attended a run of the mill 4-year state university (out of lack of other options). Hardly ever attending or doing my work, I pretty much flunked out after a few semesters of failure. I was placed on academic suspension. But I ended up going back for one more semester for a different major, this time actually making As and Bs. But I quit after that one semester.
Now, going on 25 years old, I have a renewed desire for education and am fully ready to go tackle college with the much more mature mindset I have now. However, I’ve decided I want to go to a TOP college. But I know I can’t just apply and get accepted with the poor academic history I have at this point. So to make this happen, I will likely have to start smaller and work my way there (REDEEM MYSELF!). I’ve taken the time to research the best community colleges in my state. I’ve found the school I’m going to enroll in which is Volunteer State Community College in Tennessee. I’m going on their 2-year associate pathway program which is designed to transfer directly as a junior to a participating 4-year college upon completion. Participating schools in this program include University of Tennesse at Knoxville and Middle Tennessee State University. Both of these are viable options. However, the school I REALLY want to go to is not on the list of participating schools in this program. That school is Vanderbilt University.
I’m a Mechanical Engineering major and for the past couple of years I’ve dreamed about going to Vanderbilt. I’m not sure how vanderbilt goes about deciding which transfer applicants to let through. I read somewhere that they admit something like 32% of transfer applicants. On their website it clearly states that they admit transfers from both 2 and 4 year colleges.
I plan on keeping my GPA upwards of 4.0 or as close to it as possible to it while at Vol State Community College. I’m really going to push and strive to get into Vandy. But can anyone here please tell me whether or not this is possible, or if there’s anything I could be doing right now to make my goal of getting into Vanderbilt more attainable? I appreciate greatly any and all help and advice. I really want to accomplish this goal.
It’s probably going to be a long shot, but it’s worth a try. When you are transferring, all grades at all post-secondary institutions will matter, thus you will still need to reveal the failing grades you have had in the past. If you have repeated courses, all attempts count, not just the best or most recent attempt.
You should aim to get as many A grades as possible. If your goal is engineering, it will take a lot of effort. Whatever happened in high school no longer matters if you can prove that you are capable of being a good college student.
I just kind of figured me making excellent grades from here on out would show that I was a less than worthy student before but have since changed and strived for excellence and success. Vanderbilt will probably be unattainable if jot impossible for me at this point.
It does me no good now to realize this, but I wish I would have given a damn about my education and my schooling during high school years. I slept through class, never did my homework, hardly ever studied, and ultimately bombed the tests. I participated in no sports, no clubs, and no extracurricular activities. I had virtually no affiliation or presence in my school beyond technically being a student. Looking back now it puzzles me that I even passed high school. I would definitely have done things differently had I known then what I know now. Iguess there’s no hope for academic infidels like me. We are doomed to a lifetime of unworthiness because of our past sins against the educational system! Lol
I appreciate your honest and helpful answer. Thanks! Any other tips or advice is appreciated.
I am going to be honest. Stop worrying about a “dream school”. Buckle down and finish a four year degree at an ABET accredited engineering program. Don’t worry about prestige – get the degree done. It isn’t glamorous and less fun to fantasize about, but it will serve you fine educationally.
'Fraid I can’t do that. I’m pushing for this school. If I don’t get in, fine. I won’t cry about it. There are other schools I could go to. But I’m not going to stop worrying about this goal. I’ll stop it as soon as I get that rejection letter.
Make sure you have a plan B and a plan C. You have gotten derailed before… it could happen again if you get rejected from what is a long shot goal. People who are successful don’t take wild swings at things. They make realistic plans and work incrementally and steadilybto achieve those plans. It may sound boring, but that is usually how it is done.
You are not the only student who had an **epiphany **after attending and bombing out as a freshman at a university. And, your previous records will be requested for any university you hope to apply to so include that in your GPA.
Engineering is a tough major for even the best well-prepared students, and you want to go to a university that will be supportive. Going to Vandy, with some really sharp, well-prepared Engineering students may not yield the results you want or intend. My dd had an engineering class, at her uni, where the professor only used one test grade for the entire semester’s grade. Engineering companies hire according to GPA. You need to be sure you can survive engineering coursework at any university.
Be ready for any bumps; your best bet is to attend a local, inexpensive university.
Ok, I give up. I’ll go to one of the bullshit schools on the list of participating transfers list for my program. I guess dummies like me have to go to schools for dummies.
The people above aren’t trying to attack you or belittle you; they’re just trying to give you some other more realistic options. Undergraduate is not nearly as important as graduate school. Keep dreaming, we all need dreams. But make sure you know what you’re going to do if you don’t accomplish your dreams.
No, I know they didn’t attack or belittle me. There’s nothing wrong with anything said here. I’m just agreeing with them. I’ve been an academic bottom-feeder all of my life. Ever since kindergarten and before. Academic infidels such as myself don’t get second chances. We have to accept our community college/joke 4-year college educations and forget about success. Who am I kidding seriously? Vandy wouldn’t touch me with a 39.5’ pole. I’m almost 100% certain that my high school grades were THE lowest of all non-special ed students. My GPA was probably like 1.75 or something. I’m not sure, I just know it was an utter joke. My attitude didn’t change in college. I didn’t attend well over half the time, didn’t study, didn’t do my work, bombed the tests, re-took certain classes an untold amount of times and still failed. Think of the poorest possible model of a college student you could construct in your mind and you haven’t even come close to me. So I am kidding myself to think Vandy wouldn’t look at my application and die of laughter.
Not to bore anyone with a transformation story, but that’s essentially what happened to me. What should have motivated me to give a damn in high school is now doing more than motivating me. I now have a burning desire for education. But I guess it’s too late. In the mind of the college, I’ve demonstrated all my life that I don’t have a desire for education. I doubt a 4.0 GPA at a community college is going to change Vandy’s mind. Besides, high academic grades are not their only criteria for admission. There is sort of a “whole person” evaluation to getting into these top private research colleges. It’ll just never happen. Guess I better start deciding which crappy state college I’m going to.
Don’t beat yourself up over a past failure. Believe me I held onto my regret for years about my own academic prison record.
I failed out of my first school in pretty spectacular fashion: 1.68 GPA with 83 credits and 14 W’s on top of that (yes, 8 semesters of fail). My worst semester was a 0.68, that took some serious slacking skill.
Fast forward to the ripe of age of 28. I finally have my shit together, I start from scratch at my community college, end up graduating with 70 credits and a 4.0 (got to speak at commencement). I got rejected from my state school because they factored in my old grades and said I wasn’t good enough, rather rudely to my face in fact. The dean of the engineering school intervened and got that decision overturned a week later. Even if that had fallen through, I had a $20k scholarship waiting for me at my plan B school and a plan C school beyond that if I couldn’t get into plan B. I could have cast a wider net and gone to a school like GA Tech, but I kept my options local because I was married, had a kid, and owned a house.
Now I am starting my final semester of a top 10 aerospace engineering program, president of tau beta pi, two great internships under my belt, on track to graduate with latin honors (top 10%) and on my way to a job working on mars rovers for Caltech’s Jet Propulsion Lab starting in June.
Don’t buy into the elitism of education. I’ve worked with people from MIT, Caltech, Michigan, Georgia Tech, Stanford, etc. We’re all speaking the same language of math and engineering. There is simply not a huge divide between top students in undergrad engineering programs as far as brains. The biggest difference I see is the amount of ambition. As long as you’re hungry enough to do what it takes to succeed, good things will start to happen even if you aren’t in a “dream school.”
I respect you for your transformation. Please do not be so hard on yourself–all of your experiences have made you into the unique and exceptional person you are today!
Vanderbilt is an amazing school, and I think you should work as hard as you can and apply.
As a back up plan, I suggest that you look into other viable ways to get a “prestigious” education.
I am in no way attempting to offer professional advice. This is just my take on things. I will offer an example of an alternative plan using a university that I have firsthand knowledge about.
Cal Poly SLO has an excellent engineering program. It may just be a state school, but it is has earned international recognition for its engineering department, and is also described as one of the best college towns in the U.S. A nearby CA community college named Cuesta has a high transfer rate into Cal Poly. If you were interested in Cal Poly, I would recommend taking a year or two at Cuesta and then try transferring in (at the same time, you could apply to Vanderbilt).
I know an Cal Poly alumn who was a mediocre high school student. He took a couple years at a CA community college (not Cuesta, but it worked for him) and then transferred into Cal Poly. He admits that a couple strings had to be pulled, but he ultimately earned his degree in aerospace engineering from Cal Poly. He has been steadily employed for many years now, and says that his peers are shocked when he keeps up with and even outsmarts the Ivy League graduates.
Maybe Cal Poly isn’t the school for you, but I would encourage you to search for a situation like that! Where there is a will, there is a way.
The take away? Shoot for the stars, but also find a doable back up plan that you wouldn’t hate. Don’t lose faith in the schools not blessed with Vanderbilt’s stellar reputation, and certainly do not lose faith in yourself. Also, it cannot hurt to network and make connections. If you can befriend someone involved in the college scheme, they might be able to put in an influential good word, or at least advise you on how you can achieve your dreams.