Hi everyone! I’m new around here so I hope this is in the right place.
I’m starting my second year at a community college this fall and currently trying to narrow down my list of schools to apply to transfer to. The problem I have is this: I didn’t finish high school, missed a lot of time for personal reasons so I don’t think there’s much on my transcript at all but what is there isn’t going to be great. I’m actually waiting on a copy so I can see what it really looks like, but I know I didn’t complete many credits and my GPA can’t be very good. I attended a different CC from the one I’m at now back in 2010-2011 for a few semesters and didn’t do great there either. I think final GPA was around 1.8.
I started at my current school last fall, I’ll be finishing my associate’s degree this spring and my GPA right now is a 4.0. Never took the SAT in high school, but thinking of taking it this year anyway. Right now I’m getting about 790 reading/writing and 570 math on my practice tests, but I believe I can get the math score up over 600 (math is definitely not my strong suit but I’m working on it). I work overnight and go to school full time so I don’t exactly have a ton of time for extracurricular stuff, but I’ve been volunteering with one local nonprofit consistently since last summer and I’m taking a training class right now to take on a second position with them.
I’m finding that most of the schools I’ve looked into that I’m really interested in are the small, highly selective liberal arts colleges (Amherst and Swarthmore in particular). I’m looking at other schools, mainly in the Philadelphia area, trying to keep a decent balance in my applications but I think Swarthmore is my top choice right now and I’m worried that I just don’t have the stats, given my previous history. Has anyone else had any success in applying to selective schools with less-than-stellar transcripts from institutions other than the one you transferred from? I’m 24 years old, will be 25 when I transfer, and I made those mistakes when I was 17-18 years old. With a better SAT score in math and good essays, is it worth it to try anyway or should I save myself the application fee and focus on more realistic schools?
I would say a good first step is to collect all of your transcripts including high school and your previous CC. You are going to want to know exactly what those transcripts say so that you can address the issues with them head on. There is no way to hide your previous performance, but you can frame it in a way that makes you look favorably. Explain why you performed poorly when you were 17-18 and how you have managed to turn around and get a 4.0 now.
Swarthmore is one of the most selective LA schools out there so naturally their admissions process is very competitive. This is doubly true for their transfer admissions. They admit transfer students based on attrition, but since they meet 100% of need and are a well regarded school, their attrition rate is extremely low. The year that I transferred colleges they admitted one transfer student out of over one hundred applicants. This was also true for similar schools like Haverford.
There is no harm in aiming high and trying for Swarthmore or Amherst. However, like any college applicant you want to understand your chances and apply to schools that would be safeties as well as your dream schools. If you are looking for schools from Philadelphia up to Massachusetts, you are going to find plenty of great schools to apply to, just make sure that you hedge your bets and find some safeties.
Lastly, talk to a counselor at your CC, in fact, I would start there. They are going to have the best idea of how far your 4.0 at your CC will carry you.
Good luck!
I definitely think you’re in range to apply and might be competitive… if you explain your unique background that is. Please do use the Additional Information section and mention your story in your essay. You need to explain what changed. Mentioning all this is very important. Your essays can either make you or break you.
Depending on the school, you are actually more noteworthy. Two colleges that come to mind are Amherst (strong dedication to community college students, underprivileged students, unique backgrounds, etc.), which you mentioned, as well as Stanford. I actually applied to both colleges as a community college transfer student this year and was accepted, although I don’t have the same untraditional background as you.
Also, consider the ACT. Some people do much better on it than the SAT.
Just remember, in the end… these are competitive colleges, even more so for transfers. I wish you the best of luck! 
Thanks guys. I’m waiting on transcripts now so I can get a clearer picture beyond just what I remember as far as the past grades go. I’ve started writing first drafts of my essays already and tried to address it somewhat in my “why transfer” essay for the common app. Basically talked about a lack of focus/motivation the first time I was in college and how I realized after I quit that I really did value education and made a mistake the first time around, then talked about my reasons for looking at the more selective schools specifically and what I want from my education. I know the numbers are stacked against me, especially for transfer admission, and I’m fine with that for a reach school as long as my application merits a look. I was just concerned my transcripts would get me thrown out of the process right away, and if that’s the case then like I said, might as well put that application fee to better use.
@eternaldream, I haven’t looked into Stanford at all, I’ve been focusing mainly on east coast schools that I can go out and visit. Which school did you decide on?
I might look into the ACT as well and see if the math section is any easier for me. I just always assumed when I was in HS that I’d take the SAT so I stuck with that, and I’m fine with R/W on it. Thinking of testing in December and at that point I’ll have gotten through my remedial math at CC, so that might help bring me up to speed too. I never finished HS math.
Really stress the realization and what you’ve done to change part.
I don’t think the old transcripts will hurt you too badly because it was a long time ago, but YMMV based on college.
Stanford was actually the only non-East coast school that I applied to haha. That’s where I’m going this Fall. Most of the transfers seem to be non-traditional students/veterans in the group this year. The problem is, the acceptance rate is literally less than 1%.
Personally I preferred the ACT much more than the SAT, but it depends on the person. Try a practice test and see what happens.
I’m hoping the time difference between my old transcripts and my current ones will work in my favor, but I guess we’ll see. I think I’ll check out the ACT and go ahead and take either that or SAT in a few months if I can get the math score up. Might lend some more weight to my recent transcripts, prove that my older GPAs are the ones that don’t really speak to my ability rather than the current one.
Thanks for all the help and congrats on the acceptances! Getting into Stanford is awesome, hope you enjoy it out there.