What chance do I have at transferring to a good school?

Transfer Students
21

Frankly, you should go back to your community college and meet with an academic advisor. Ask for help with planning your coursework so that you can transfer. Did you take placement tests at CC, so that you know what math and English levels you should be in? You are no longer considered a first time college student because you have been to college. It sounds as though you haven’t done enough course work to transfer to a four year university. Sort out your problems and do your two years of general education, or at least enough so that you can transfer. My opinion is that trying to study for the SAT is pointless now. Colleges will not care about a new SAT for a student who is long out of high school and has already attended college.

You are going to have a very difficult time transferring out of state. It’s entirely possible that your community college credits are not going to transfer to an out of state four year university.

I’m troubled by a lot of what you say:
“I don’t feel I’m capable. I don’t feel I can do it.” (Do you mean go to college again? Yes, you can, but you may have to take some remedial coursework. You will have to commit to it. You will have to go to class, read the books, do the work, and study.)

“I don’t want to aim for a school up the road that admits everyone.” (What is wrong with that? I’m not sure you have a lot of other options. At this point, aim to just get on the road to a degree. When you get a BA or BS, you can aim high for grad school.)

“Even if I didn’t get into a top program, if I aim that high, it’ll open up more programs to me.” (This is very confusing. What do you mean? You will not be able to get into a top program, because you haven’t got a good transcript, according to what you have said here. You need to work really hard and get good grades to prove you can handle the work. Your goal right now should be to aim for a program you can see yourself studying for, not just a top one.)

“I’m nearly genius level as far as intelligence goes, I just never tried hard in high school.” (Unfortunately, no college is going to know that you are a genius because your test scores and community college course work do not support that. There is little point in taking the SAT again, because you are already a college student, several years out of high school, and will have to apply from scratch. Colleges will admit you based on your current transcript, not a new SAT score.)

“I don’t know what I’m looking at.” Go to your CC, ask for placement tests and see what math you need to retake.

“Should I bother to go back?” (Do you want a degree? Do you want a career, or are you happy with just a job? If you want a career, I suggest you go back. You are young. 20 years old is very young. I didn’t graduate from college until I was 24. My degree got me my current job, nearly 30 years later. If you think you will one day regret not pursuing your future goals, you should go back.)

Right now, you should be focusing on just getting back to college if you feel ready. You have work to do, but if you want a better future for yourself, you need to be proactive and take steps to get back on a good path. Good luck to you.

22

" I’m nearly genius level as far as intelligence goes" - can you explain what brought you to this conclusion?

23

Do not take multiple courses in summer session. Take one class, just to get your feet wet. Do not quit your job, but maybe cut back to 40 hours a week.

24

OP, I think you should start with counseling. A lot of what you said is troubling and seems to be a quite distorted view of reality. That may be limiting your ability to succeed academically.

25

Rather than just doing what needs to be done (get your act together and work hard to get an education), you have a lot of caveats of why things haven’t happened in the past. You need to develop an action plan for your future and stick to it. Nothing to it but to do it.

26

Are you still in the NYS Vocational Rehabilition program? They have counselors who can guide you. Will they continue to help you pay for school if you’ve taken a break? Paying up to the cost of SUNY’s ~$6k tuition and ~$8k/year for room and board is a good deal if it’s still available to you, and the academic counseling is a great benefit. You should also talk to an academic advisor at the community college near your home. They can tell you what paperwork you need to return to school. If that’s where you started college it shouldn’t be difficult to register for a course next summer.

You should go to college if that’s what you want to do. Having a learning disorder can make it difficult to test well, so your best option might be to finish at your NYS community college and transfer from there. SUNYs have a guaranteed transfer program. NYS residents who have a degree from a NYS community college are guaranteed a spot at one of the 4 year SUNYs. It may not be their top choice, but they can get a 4 year degree. If you want to be an engineer, then the SUNYs are a great option.

27

@jym626, I just saw your post. NYS has a [Vocational Rehab program](https://ocfs.ny.gov/main/cb/vocrehab_manual/08-32_CollegeTraining.htm) that will pay up to the cost of SUNY tuition (~$6k) and up to $8k/year for room and board (~$14k/year total). Students who are eligible for the NYS TAP or Excelsior Grants will only get one of the 3 (the VR tuition Grant, the TAP, or the Excelsior), but it sounds like they can get Pell and the VR room and board grant.

28

That sounds like a great program, @austinmshauri. Our state had a voc rehab program but last I heard, available funds are minimal. That said, this student’s target schools are inappropriate given the academic record.

29

For future students who wonder about the program OP is enrolled in that helps pay for school:

NYS has a [Vocational Rehab program](https://ocfs.ny.gov/main/cb/vocrehab_manual/08-32_CollegeTraining.htm) that will pay up to the cost of SUNY tuition (~$6k) and up to $8k/year for room and board. Students who are eligible for the NYS TAP or Excelsior Grants will only get one of the granrs, but it sounds like they can get Pell and the VR room and board grant.

[QUOTE]
From NYS VR website: For students who meet economic need, NYSCB will pay actual tuition costs (after the application of all comparable benefits) up to the rates established by the State University of New York (SUNY)…

Residential and Off-Campus Students: NYSCB will pay actual room and board and day-to-day transportation costs needed to attend college up to a maximum of $8,000 per academic year. The consumer must provide documentation of actual room costs (a college bill for residential students; a copy of the lease agreement or a written statement from the landlord specifying the number of individuals sharing the living space and either a receipt from the landlord for the consumer’s portion of the rent or a copy of the cancelled check payable to the landlord). Meals are calculated at the rate of $400/month.

30

I am also in NYS. I agree with the above posters that you should go slowly and that you should start at a CC. You could try one online class or one class. The CC near me has classes that meet only on Sundays or only at night for people who work. Check if yours is the same. I worked full time and attended night classes at a CUNY school. I was your age and absolutely loved being in school with older and returning students. They all wanted to be in school so badly and had so much to offer.

Another option is to apply for a job at Tesla, if you are on LI. They are hiring and the people I know who are working there really like it. You would get exposure to the areas you seem to be interested in pursuing.

If you can still get voc rehab money, go for it. My 22 year old was eligible but didn’t pursue it, either. He’s dyslexic and dyscaculic and dysgraphic.

31

As I thought- a state rehab program. Where I live they are getting very hard to qualify for, due to very limited funds.

32

If you are talking about NYS voc rehab, when my oldest son was eligible for it, we were told that it did not cover colleges outside of NYS. He’s 28 now, so maybe that’s changed, but it would seem more likely that OOS would not be covered now due to financial concerns. I find it hard to believe that NYS would offer Excelsior, which is limited to in-state, while allowing disabled students to have OOS schools paid for. I suggest getting your degree in NY and then moving to California. By the way, I also responded on your other thread.

33

The NYS program is a need based one, @jym626, so that probably limits how much the state ends up paying. I agree, the OP would benefit from finishing at the local cc and transferring. The SUNYs are great schools and have excellent engineering programs. He can get a great education at a very reasonable cost.

34

re your age - it’s not too late. Anecdotally, my nephew is 29. He went to school, floundered around, ultimately graduated but never got a job that required a college degree. Spent time as a waiter, cook, worked a number of odd jobs. Kept on asking how he could make 6 figures as if that just happens to everyone. Ultimately he got serious about what he wants to do and he is now in a nursing program and will graduate with a nursing degree at 30. You already know what you want to do (he didn’t). That’s a big advantage. There are many steps you’ll need to take to achieve your goals. Sometimes the process may seem daunting (start with one class, get counseling, etc.). These are all great ideas. This isn’t going to happen overnight. Just figure out the steps and be systematic about knocking them out. Step 1 is about getting to step 2, not designing vehicles. That comes after you finish the last step. if you really want it, you’ll do it.

35

Good points, @austinmshauri. We can’t tell from the OP’s posts if he still qualifies for voc rehab services. Do they offer tutoring services? It sounds like this student may need to take remedial classes to get back on track (do NYS CC’s use the compass for placement?) Are they time limited or do they limit what they will spend on a student? We can’t tell if the OP has used/exhausted any of these services in the first attempt at college.

In other threads, the OP has indicated that he has a good job at a car dealership, but it is a long drive, has long hours, and is 6 days/week. Sounds like the best plan would be to consider reconnecting with Voc rehab to see what services he qualifies for, getting into a remedial course and take the compass placement tests and perhaps try to take one class, with support, at the local cc near his home.

36

NYS CC’s use Accuplacer, at least the one near me does.

The voc rehab is need based. My oldest son got a book grant but that was it. Fortunately, I could pay the CC tuition. Unfortunately, he dropped out after the first semester. I believe that you have to make some sort of progress in order to keep receiving the grant, although the bar may not be as high as Excelsior (30 credits a year).

I don’t know that this student would be eligible for Excelsior. My 22 year old son with LD’s went to CC for a year and then dropped out. We were told that he would not be eligible for Excelsior because he wasn’t a first time student when it came in to being.

37

The OP has started several threads about returning to school, but seems to leave them and start others. OP, you might consider either sticking with one thread or returning to the threads you have started and responding to posters so that they can be of mor assistance.

38

One of the key things that college requires is the ability to plan and stick with a long-term project. Lots of plenty-smart people struggle with that- sometimes for temperament reasons, sometimes as aspects of what are seen as LDs, sometimes for maturity reasons, sometimes developing those muscles, etc. Whatever, whichever, sometimes justrecognizing that fact is an important first step. Then you can take steps- lay out a plan, with milestones along the way, to keep you on track. If OP is not getting traction, that could be part of the challenge.

39

I’ll simply point out that if you are at an ABET accredited engineering program it WILL be rigorous, no matter the name of the university.