Transfer Question

Colleges and Universities A-Z Barnard College
1

<p>I am really interested in applying as a transfer, but I need some advice on how to address certain aspects of my life that have affected my academic career so far.</p>

<p>Basically, I have been supporting myself since I was 18 with no help at all from my parents, and that has definitely taken a toll on my academic performance throughout the years. I work full-time as a waitress and go to school part-time - usually about 9 to 12 hours a semester. I have gone to 2 community colleges (I’m attending one of them right now) and also went to a local state school (the University of Texas at Arlington) for a semester. At both community colleges, my gpa is a 4.0. My classes are a breeze and offer no challenge at all, which is, essentially, why I’m looking to transfer.</p>

<p>My semester at UTA, however, did not go so well. I didn’t have a car at the time and my city has no public transportation, so I spent the entire semester constantly scrambling for rides to class and often not succeeding. I was most dependent on my mom for rides, and she is completely crazy and does A LOT of drugs. Sometimes she would refuse to take me to class because I wouldn’t give her cigarette or gas money (which I didn’t have, otherwise I would have given it to her if it meant doing well in school). Due to this, I was forced to drop one class and ended up failing another. (I actually made an A in the class itself, but to get credit for the class, we had to take part in a certain number of experiments - it was a psychology class - and I just couldn’t manage to get all of the experiments done. I think I did about half.)</p>

<p>Anyway. My gpa for my short stint at that school ended up being a 2.85 - which is HORRIBLE, I know. Also, I am involved in virtually no extracurricular activities because, well, between working 40 hours a week and all of my schoolwork, I don’t really have time for anything else.</p>

<p>How can I work all of this information into my application? Do you think it would help if I contacted the admissions office and explained my circumstances before applying? I’ve heard it’s bad to talk about your negative qualities in your admissions essays, so I’m afraid pointing out my low gpa that semester would only hurt my chances. Would it seem like I am just making excuses for poor performance?</p>

<p>My high school record is really good, if that information helps at all. I graduated number 4 in my class of over 400 people, took all AP classes, had plenty of extracurricular activities, yadda yadda yadda. My test scores are also strong: 800V/650M on the old-school SAT.</p>

<p>So… anyone have any advice? (Sorry this is so long-winded.)</p>

2

<p>Jubug, I am so sorry your parents have been non supportive for you, and that they seem to have their own set of issues...</p>

<p>I do not have any direct experience with transfer applications, but I do have acouple of questions and/or suggestions.</p>

<p>First, I definitely think you need to include info about your circumstances in your application. Obviously working 40 hours per week has had a significant impact upon your academic career as have your travel woes. I think your idea of calling to talk to an admissions person is a good one, though this is an incredibly busy time for them and I am not sure how much time they would have to talk.</p>

<p>The larger question that looms out there for me is how you will be able to "afford" to go to Barnard if you are accepted. Unfortunately I am pretty sure that your parents' income status would have to be considered for computation of any financial aid whether they are willing to help you or not. Barnard is very expensive and I am not sure you could afford to go there even with a full time job....and Barnard is not a place you could take a full load and work full time, I am pretty sure.</p>

<p>I guess what I am saying is that I think you could possibly get admitted as a transfer if you were able to explain your circumstances effectively, but I am not sure, given what you have told us here, that Barnard would be a realistic school situation for you....even getting there would be expensive. I cannot imagine doing this without parental support. </p>

<p>Sorry to sound so negative....just trying to get the picture here.</p>