I’ve had a rocky time since high school dealing with depression/anxiety and a physical disability. Took a long time to finish my associate’s degree because I didn’t know what to major in. This Spring, two years after finishing the associate’s, I started pulling myself together, chose Psychology as a major and took 10 credits at UMass Lowell to get myself back into the swing of things, while still living near my family.
I realized at the end of the semester that I want to get out of the area to somewhere that has more woods, open space and/or a hippie-granola LGBT-tolerant atmosphere. I would want something with a good psychology department. I have a 4.0 from UMass Lowell and the community college I attended, though I imagine the gaps in schooling is a liability without work experience.
I applied to UMass Amherst. What other colleges should I look at that would be reasonable goals? Cost is not an issue since my parents have a good amount of money saved in a 529 plan.
First off, we cannot start listing off schools unless we are given a more complete and comprehensive look at your academic standing.
Some things to add:
What’s your SAT / ACT?
Your extracurricular activities?
Highschool GPA?
How many credits do you have done in total (UMass Lowell credits + Credits done at CC)
And another thing to note: I’d suggest you widen your search criteria. There is no one school that will precisely fit all the criteria you want.
There is no way to measure “LGBT friendliness” and “hippieness” of a school, the only way to get a sense of this is researching a school’s overall culture, I suppose.
In any event, your GPA is great, and if your other stats are solid, a lot of doors are open for you.
I got my high school diploma in 2008 and honestly, I’ve never seen my high school transcript. I’m guessing it’s a mess since I missed most of junior and senior year.
Well, I’ll tell you this - - you’re correct about the EC’s being your biggest barrier. If you had good/great EC’s, a lot of great schools would be within reach.
You have a lot of credits - - too many, actually, which may be a problem. You need to complete a minimum of 60 credits (two years of course work) in order to graduate from the institution you transferred to. You have completed over two years of coursework already.
This means that you’re going to have to say goodbye to 14 credits, which is A LOT. You might not even be eligible to apply to some institutions that do not accept transfers with too many credits.
You’re right about the SAT /ACT; the precise policy is that you are exempt from sending your scores if you are transferring as a junior, and / or you have been out of high school for 5+ years (though some schools require you to send it in anyway, which is fine, you have a solid score)
Since you graduated in 2008, even if you need to send your transcripts, I’d argue that colleges reviewing your app will consider it irrelevant. They care about who you are as a student now, not nearly a decade ago. So you’re good there.
What do I recommend? Take a year off (it sounds like you may need it), get involved in your community, find an organization or club that interests you. Your chances at other institutions exponentially increases if you have been involved in SOMETHING for 1+ year.
I’d like to see what colleges you’ve been looking at, just to see some of the requirements, and perhaps recommend a school based your list.
I’ve applied to UMass Amherst. Had a phone conversation yesterday with an admissions counselor at Marlboro College, which is in southern Vermont. I may make a trip with my family to see both colleges, since they are close to one another. Admissions counselor said Marlboro is very hilly, which could be difficult with my disability. Ohio Wesleyan (not to be confused with Wesleyan) and New College in Florida also look interesting. I applied to Hampshire College soon after high school but didn’t get in.
All of the above (except UMass) are taken from the book “Colleges That Change Lives”, which tries to pick small colleges with a focus on discussion and faculty-student collaboration.
Right now I’m living in the poorest city of Massachusetts. A lot of problems with drugs and crime, and I don’t really feel safe being here. No car. So the idea was to relocate somewhere I would feel safer and more excited about getting involved. I guess it becomes a chicken-or-the-egg issue if extracurriculars are crucial. One thing that I did do last year was volunteer for a political campaign, making thousands of calls.
No one is going to care about a lack of ECs at your age. What will matter is your academic history, and to a certain extent any work/volunteer history that you have. Given your documented health issues, even a lack of work/volunteer history probably will not matter at all.
Since you like the CTCL list, you might also take a look at the LACs on this list: https://quakerfahe.com/quaker-colleges-universities-and-study-centers/ If it weren’t for the hills, I’d encourage you to look at Cornell. They are pretty transfer friendly for students with a CC background. If you are a woman, Bryn Mawr and Smith have programs specifically for non-traditional age students, and Bryn Mawr is CC transfer friendly. You can check the list of womens colleges here: http://www.womenscolleges.org/
Given that you are now a non-traditional age student, don’t forget to meet with any specific non-trad advisors at the campuses you visit (and check the Non Trad forum here http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/non-traditional-students/). Ask about housing. Often older students are given the option of living in grad student housing so that they are with their age-peers.
If you don’t mind sharing any restrictions needed because of your physical issues (need flat landscape for example), you might consider re-writing your question and re-posting in the parents’ forum.
Psychology is a term used for number of specialties. So what aspect of psychology such as organizational, applied behavior analysis, etc.,do you seek? Some time ago I was employed as junior faculty information and X-Men psychology. I found myself in a very traditional psychology department that was laughingly described to me by a professional colleague who congratulated me on working in a department that promoted psychology from antiquated behaviorist perspective (1930s). RATS!! I was employed as the first person in an applied field of psychology that was neither behaviorist in orientation nor had professional relationships with rats. Find a program that meets your goals and professional orientation.
Vassar likes nontraditional students. Women’s colleges in general are friendly towards older students if you are female. Vermont comes to mind as granola friendly as well.
Avoid super tiny colleges – the number of students your age is likely to be small. UMass Amherst plus taking advantage of the consortium may actually be a good fit. Have you visited?