Is it possible to “start over,” in community college? I found a degree that I want to pursue, but don’t want my past grades to haunt me for the rest of my life. I am currently a college freshman at a community college, and only have a 2.8 GPA. Is it possible to essentially start over when wanting to attend another community college for a specialized degree?
I am willing to put in as much effort as I need to in order to get great grades this go around, and realize that I probably should have taken a gap year in retrospect. Am I screwed here, and do I need to submit transcripts from the community college that I am currently attending, to the one that I want to attend? I felt that I wasted a year’s worth of education and my parents tuition money, and don’t want to make that mistake again.
I am more focused, and determined to get better grades and get the most out of an education
@collegeugrad1234 You can’t start over. Any 4 year university you apply to can (not saying it will, but can) get a hold of your academic history. There are some online tools out there that allow them to access such information. 2.8 is really not that bad. Do you have any Ds or Fs that you can retake? That could potentially bump your gpa higher. Check if your current school offers academic renewal.
If you really want to go to a different cc, take your old transcripts there, ask them to evaluate it, and continue taking classes you need for transfer. If your gpa isn’t quite 4.0 by the time you apply, that’s ok too. Just make sure to do better than the last time. Some schools like upward grades trend. They will see what you started with and what you made of it. Good luck!
I do not have any D’s or F’s on my transcript, I’ve been mainly getting B’s and C’s in my coursework. If I spend say two more years in community college and get A’s, how would my 2.8 GPA be viewed at the other community college? Would it factor into a cumulative (overall) GPA, or would my GPA be factored as GPA from community college 1 and GPA from community college 2?
Each college and university decides for itself how it will evaluate the transcripts of transfer applicants. You will need to send official copies of all of your transcripts when you apply.
No, it is academically dishonest. The universities will know that you hiding things from them. Your best bet is to get grades academically renewed whenever possible.
Ah. Alright. Guess my 2.8 GPA is screwed until I bring it up.
Every school will have different rules but it’s pretty safe to assume that wherever you apply, you’ll be expected to list all coursework from all schools and explain any gaps in education to make sure you’re not hiding anything. Hiding anything or lying could get any possible offer of admission rescinded, so it’s not worth it.
I was in a similar position to some degree. I’m a bit older, 30, and did some schooling right out of high school and I didn’t do very well. The second time around when I got serious, I did much better, but I still had those grades weighing on my GPA.
What did I do? I took a heavy course load of easier classes to boost my GPA. I looked at the few community colleges around me, attended several of them, and took a bunch of really easy classes online with easy teachers (checking out Rate My Professor). I was also able to use the “additional comment” section on my application to explain my grades and why they were what they were.
Now I have a 3.8 GPA and have applied to transfer into a very difficult program and I feel pretty good about my chances.