<p>Age:32
High School GPA: 2.1
CC 98':3.0
NMU:0.0 (dropped out/not ready)
CC '10-12:4.0</p>
<p>Targets: </p>
<p>Cornell (college of human ecology/CALS)
Binghamton U.
UNC
U of T at Austin. </p>
<p>Goals: PhD in neuropsychology. </p>
<p>So I visited all the colleges and the only thing that worries me is the gap of ten years (dealt with mental illness/got myself handled/helped family with bills). The admissions director at Cornell seemed impressed and said they'd look more at the 4.0 than the the 3.0 from over ten years ago. How does one put all that into an essay? Any guidance would be welcomed. This site is a blessing since I've found it.</p>
<p>Forgot to mention I’m on the Dean’s List and am a Phi Theta Kappa member with membership in many clubs. I’m aware that no guarantees exist at any level. I’m more interested if I should scale back my options or am I on target with my colleges based on transfer gpa.</p>
<p>Welcome to CC and congrats on your incredible progress!</p>
<p>Have you checked out the Non-Traditional Students subforum (under College Admissions)? I think that because of the large gap in time, colleges are likely to place emphasis on your recent 2 yrs of college, but the posters on the NT forum might be in the best position to discuss this.</p>
<p>In what state are you a resident? UNC has a reputation for giving OOS students the same need based FA as an IS student, but I don’t think that holds true for UT.</p>
<p>Unlike the fr application essay, the transfer essay is very straightforward about why you want to transfer (a given since you’re at a CC), but also, what you’re looking for in a college and why a specific school is good for you. If a school does not ask why you chose to apply in their supplemental section, be sure to customize your main CA essay to address why you like the school. This can be done easily by making alternate versions of the CA.</p>
<p>When you have a draft of your essay, I would recommend that you look for some longtime posters on the Parents forum and ask some of them via PM if they would be willing to look at it.</p>
<p>Much thanks to the guidance provided by Entomom, and I have a further question for all of the academic adventures on this forum. </p>
<p>So I’ve maintained the 4.0 average for another semester and now am working with a professor to get a paper published in a peer-reviewed journal: “The Undergraduate Journal of Ethnography.” The professor mentioned that I would include a heading “manuscript under review” somewhere in the application when it is submitted. In addition I’ve also been invited to give a presentation on the paper at the NY society of sociology meeting in the fall of 2012. Where would I include that in the application? </p>
<p>That’s kind of a hard one as they don’t exactly fit under Honors, but they are Academic accomplishments, and so not exactly ECs either.</p>
<p>I think I would put the presentation under Honors because you were invited to give it. Definitely include the fact that you were invited in your description as there’s a big difference between invited and open presentations in the academic world.</p>
<p>Since the paper is still under review, I think it might be better under the EC category. If it was accepted, I could see including it under Honors.</p>
<p>JMO, hopefully others will weigh in. </p>
<p>So glad to hear your courses continue to go well and particularly that you’ve found a mentor, it sounds like they’re giving you very good advice.</p>
<p>Some colleges allow for a resume to be handed in–you could submit a resume or a curriculum vitae which lists your academic achievements. Or if the college has an “additional information section” you could list it there. Or if there is a short narrative space in Extra Curriculars you could describe it there. </p>
<p>At some point you just need to realize you are a magnificent square peg trying to fit in the circles provided and if you want the colleges to SEE who you are, you need to stretch the application to fit what you need to include. So, utilize “additional info” or other places where you could share this info with the adcoms. As long as the information is weighty and interesting, they will be glad you included it.</p>