Transfer Application Help

[laurawho7]

Hey everyone, I need to have my transfer application postmarked by Feb 15.

My problem is this, I have an AAS from my comunity college in Maryland ( I now live in Maine) in General Studies. I have not taken any of the preqs for Nursing since I had no idea that I would pursue Nursing 10 yrs ago! LOL I am enrolled trying to work on some of the preqs but I won't have any grades till May. The application states that I should have a GPA of 3.0 with 24 credits. My GPA from the community college is quite low, because when I first went to school after high school I didn't want to be there and did poorly. After 8 years and having been diagnosed with ADHD I returned to school and my 1st semester back I got a 3.58! All the rest of my classes were at least 3.0 from then on, however, the cumilitve GPA is 2.6.

My questions to all of you are: what can I do to strengthen my Application? They only admit students once a year and if I don't get in, by this time next year I'll be done with all my preqs and won't have any classes to take. Also, any suggestions for how to explain my low GPA would be appreciated.

Thanks everyone!

Laura

[karmyk]

I believe it depends on the program you're applying to. Many programs require an essay in the application, and they often suggest that you take advantage of the essay to explain academic issues in the past. Some programs mainly pay attention to prereqs (so make sure you do extremely well on those)... Some also only count your most recent [x] amount of units. Some programs also take into consideration community service (especially volunteering at a hospital) or work. Strong letters of recommendation should help as well.

If possible, you should try contacting an admissions advisor at the school you're interested in applying to... He or she would most likely be capable of giving you the best advice in the issue, especially for the particular program you want to get accepted into.

[VividDreams]

Some colleges around me have what they call an "academic fresh start." Meaning if it's been at least 10 years, they don't worry about those previous grades.

The junior college I went to didn't even want a transcript because my credits were waaayyy more than 10 years old.

I would go in and talk to an advisor and see if the same might hold in your case, even though it's not quite been 10 years.

Good luck in returning to school!