Back to school at age 27, after flunking out during 1st attempt?

[KingGheedora]

My cousin is 27. He's a really smart kid and did really well in high school (honors classes, lots of AP's, high GPA, decent SAT's), and got into a good school. Pretty much was on the same path I was on, and we'd always talk about computers and math/science, and play video games online together when we were younger. I thought he was even smarter than me and was kind of jealous that he had me to talk to and compete against, and to get advice from, which gave him an advantage over others in his year. He entered college after me, but interested in the same major (comp sci).

But when he got to college, due to some family drama and him not being ready for life (and being depressed as a result) he flunked out. He ended up working some jobs since then that would typically require education but he was able to prove himself and learn on the job as he went along. He came to me for advice since he sees me as someone who used who is on the path he would have been on had he not rebelled and flunked out, but I know nothing about this so I'm posting here to see if anyone might have experience or know someone who came out of a similar situation.

Basically he wants to finish his education and go on to study something in the math and/or computer science world, and he wants his bachelor's from a decent university. How would he go about doing this? He actually did okay in several of his classes, but he failed mainly because he stopped going to a lot of his classes. Are there any places that would have information on what a student like him should do?

The best I can guess is that he'd have to go to a community college and then transfer to a university. How likely is that given that he has a lot of those bad grades from his first attempt at school? Are there any other options? Are there counselors out there who can give him info on the best approach? And second, is his life experience any help in applying?

Since flunking out he's worked some jobs as a programmer and from what he tells me has done pretty well for himself, and does better than a lot of the coworkers he comes across who finished their education. I'm not sure if this kind of experience would help at all in applying to schools for someone his age and in his position.

 

[mmntech]

Return key's there on your right.

Transfer credits might work. If he was having serious family drama, he should have brought it up with his instructors. Otherwise there's no excuse. I just spent the last year returning to college after finishing university. I worked 7 days a week, went to all my classes. If you're paying that kind of money, you'd be insane not to put the effort into it.

 

[SandEagle]

go bak to skool, OP. hella hotties

 

[cliftonite]

My cousin is 27. He's a really smart kid and did really well in high school (honors classes, lots of AP's, high GPA, decent SAT's), and got into a good school. Pretty much was on the same path I was on, and we'd always talk about computers and math/science, and play video games online together when we were younger. I thought he was even smarter than me and was kind of jealous that he had me to talk to and compete against, and to get advice from, which gave him an advantage over others in his year. He entered college after me, but interested in the same major (comp sci).

But when he got to college, due to some family drama and him not being ready for life (and being depressed as a result) he flunked out. He ended up working some jobs since then that would typically require education but he was able to prove himself and learn on the job as he went along. He came to me for advice since he sees me as someone who used who is on the path he would have been on had he not rebelled and flunked out, but I know nothing about this so I'm posting here to see if anyone might have experience or know someone who came out of a similar situation.

Basically he wants to finish his education and go on to study something in the math and/or computer science world, and he wants his bachelor's from a decent university. How would he go about doing this? He actually did okay in several of his classes, but he failed mainly because he stopped going to a lot of his classes. Are there any places that would have information on what a student like him should do?

The best I can guess is that he'd have to go to a community college and then transfer to a university. How likely is that given that he has a lot of those bad grades from his first attempt at school? Are there any other options? Are there counselors out there who can give him info on the best approach? And second, is his life experience any help in applying?

Since flunking out he's worked some jobs as a programmer and from what he tells me has done pretty well for himself, and does better than a lot of the coworkers he comes across who finished their education. I'm not sure if this kind of experience would help at all in applying to schools for someone his age and in his position.

I don't know what state he is in but in NJ many respectable colleges (Rutgers, NJIT, Stevens, etc) have a program where they garauntee admission if you maintain a 3.0 GPA at the community college.

 

[KingGheedora]

Return key's there on your right.

Sorry, I had paragraphs but because javascript was disabled (noscript add-on for FF) they didn't make it through. I edited the post immediately after, about 1 minute after the original was posted.

 

[JayBlay77]

It's not impossible. I would say he would definitely have to take community college courses to use as a basis for admission since his high school grades are somewhat irrelevant. His job experience would definitely make for essay material at least as well as recommendation letters.

Two pieces of advice that I would give are:

One: He should contact the admissions advisers/administrators of the colleges that he would like to try to transfer to at some point. Explain his situation, ask for suggestions and see what they say. They may give you additional contacts to talk to.

Two: Some colleges have what I'd label as "sister" community colleges. For example, at U of IL Champaign-Urbana, Parkland College is a big source of transfer students in terms of community colleges. Parkland offers a ton of courses that match with UIUC's courses so that they transfer properly. And you may or may not have a better chance transferring in since UIUC is familiar with Parkland.

 

[MagnusTheBrewer]

Depends on the school he wants to attend. Some schools will take any transfer credits and go from there. Others will require a semester or two of community college credits at 3.0 or better. His experience will definitely help.

His experience and age will put him way ahead of the average kid straight out of HS in finishing his education.

 

[PieIsAwesome]

I don't know what state he is in but in NJ many respectable colleges (Rutgers, NJIT, Stevens, etc) have a program where they garauntee admission if you maintain a 3.0 GPA at the community college.

Yeah, here in California most of the UCs (including UCI and UCD) offer guaranteed admission for transfer students if you complete certain requirements. Requirements like minimum GPA (like 3.0 I think) and units completed, specific classes completed, and major transfer requirements completed.

 

[Locut0s]

Wow EXACT same situation I'm in just about. Although I don't even have the programming jobs he had. I'll be going back to university eventually for sure. But I'm 28 now.

 

[djheater]

You shouldn't be hung up on those grades. There are lots of adult students in the exact same position. Universities know this and there are programs for adult students that are geared toward this circumstance.
Universities have learned that there are some adult students who screwed up previously and are now old enough and experienced enough to be excellent students.

 

[FreshCrabLegs]

...

 

[gaidensensei]

He gets a copy of his transcripts, talks to some counselors (visit the school in advance). Not sure where you're from, but some colleges offer counseling to prospective or general people that are not currently students. I know for a fact all the CSU's do.

If he's completed most of the breadth and general prereq courses he can pretty much use those to his advantage. The best is if he had a degree for less problems but with what he has, better than nothing.

Minimum GPA is still pretty high for the UC's, it's probably increased from the 3.0+ and above like stated from Pie.

The real problem these days is the lack of space, your cousin would be treated as a "non-traditional student" in some cases, but I'm guessing he can still be considered a first time undergraduate transfer.

Worse comes to worse he can always take two options for side classes if he can't readily enter an university:
1) community colleges that are apart of a transfer program with accredited universities
2) Extension programs offered by all UC's, CSU's. I think extension registration started last April for UCLA winter? Better hurry up.

Once he has enough of those courses racked up he can go back as a transfer or some sort of degree/cert offered.


There's a huge problem and budget crisis / deficit with the californian education system, I'd recommend that he shake a leg to get started because it's not likely going to get better anytime soon. Lots of spaces, courses, seats for non-traditional students are being cut as a result of the money issues.


PS. I've never attempted, but heard of this from another.
You can apply as a first time freshman. All you have to do is omit your previous college information. Very doable with out of state institutions. I'd imagine he would need new national testing score(s) however.

 

[Hacp]

He should have dropped the classes. Taking an F is always worse than dropping. From the information provided, it looks like his GPA is around .5 . Not impossible to upgrade that and get into a decent university but it will take a lot of time. If he has a stable job that pays decent, why bother? Its going to take 1-2 years to get the GPA up, and then another 3-4 years to finish the degree at a worthwhile institution.

To answer your specific question, yes community college is the road he needs to take. He needs to look up a 4 year university that would be his target destination and then look up CC schools that have transferable credits. The biggest thing I need to point out is that converting a low grade like a .5 to a 3.0 is hard. You practically need to get A- or As in all your courses to do so. Assuming he had 30 credits, you need 70 more credits with a 4.0gpa to get to 3.0 which is the point where respectable universities will admit transfer students in science/math programs.

If he really wants to do it, the best approach would be to take the minimum standard first year courses for comp sci majors(like calculus,introduction to programming), then fill the rest of his schedule with English/liberal arts classes for the easy A.

 

[Imp]

That's the one good thing about having to write letters of interest, or some sort of blurb to accompany university/grad applications.

I almost flunked out during the second semester of my first year, came within 2% of being told to sit at home for a year. Same deal, didn't go to classes, wasn't ready, got put on probation and did pretty good for the remaining 3 years.

He'd probably have some luck writing letters directly to the application's committee/Dean/whomever to explain his situation and what he's done to change. Most people take rejections as absolute.

 

[xSauronx]

You shouldn't be hung up on those grades. There are lots of adult students in the exact same position. Universities know this and there are programs for adult students that are geared toward this circumstance.
Universities have learned that there are some adult students who screwed up previously and are now old enough and experienced enough to be excellent students.

seriously.

he can probably (As many mentioned) start at a CC in a program crafted for transfer to a university and get right to work. its never too late. besides, a community college is a cheap way to knock out two years of school.

/graduates from CC this week, should start uni in the fall
// 27

 

[Mide]

Yeah as others have mentioned, there is usually a minimum GPA that must be met before he will be Readmitted. I would go to a CC, take all of the GenEd classes like Eng 101/102 and other BS classes that will transfer over...like a foreign language requirement, math, etc. Then if his GPA is up again, apply to a real University and start taking the core classes through that. Not worth it price-wise to pay University rates for low-level classes.

 

[KingGheedora]

He should have dropped the classes. Taking an F is always worse than dropping. From the information provided, it looks like his GPA is around .5 . Not impossible to upgrade that and get into a decent university but it will take a lot of time. If he has a stable job that pays decent, why bother? Its going to take 1-2 years to get the GPA up, and then another 3-4 years to finish the degree at a worthwhile institution.

To answer your specific question, yes community college is the road he needs to take. He needs to look up a 4 year university that would be his target destination and then look up CC schools that have transferable credits. The biggest thing I need to point out is that converting a low grade like a .5 to a 3.0 is hard. You practically need to get A- or As in all your courses to do so. Assuming he had 30 credits, you need 70 more credits with a 4.0gpa to get to 3.0 which is the point where respectable universities will admit transfer students in science/math programs.

If he really wants to do it, the best approach would be to take the minimum standard first year courses for comp sci majors(like calculus,introduction to programming), then fill the rest of his schedule with English/liberal arts classes for the easy A.

I don't know his exact GPA, waiting to hear back from him on that, but I don't think it was as low as .5. He actually got A's and B's in some classes, and then F's in others, nothing in between.

 

[KingGheedora]

Does your cousin want to reenter the college he dropped out at? If so, he should try a different tack other than the advice posted above.

He could try the readmission process instead. Could save significant time and the deadlines are significantly closer to the start of the quarter.

Example: Readmission UCLA
http://www.admissions.ucla.edu/prospect/Adm_tr/reenter.htm
http://www.registrar.ucla.edu/soc/policy.htm#marker-1004902

Hope that helps and g/l to your cousin.

OK, this is exactly what he needs, the school has a similar process to those outlined in your links and he's going to go through with that. Looks like he has to go to a CC for a couple semesters and get decent grades first.

Nice, neither of us had any idea this kind of thing existed.

 

[Wag]

Education sets no age limit. I have yet to finish college and am in my early 40s. I plan to return one day.

 

[sdifox]

well, he is probably ready for school now.

 

[GasX]

<= 41 and back in school

Harvard might not look at him, but most schools look favorably upon older mature individuals looking to better themselves. They are usually better students than most of the jackasses graduating high school.

 

[PieIsAwesome]

PS. I've never attempted, but heard of this from another.
You can apply as a first time freshman. All you have to do is omit your previous college information. Very doable with out of state institutions. I'd imagine he would need new national testing score(s) however.

I don't think this is a good thing- it's like lying on your application. If the school finds out they could kick you out.

 

[daishi5]

I did something slightly similar. I pretty much stopped attending, failed one class, and just dropped out for a few years to work in the real world. (I passed the rest of the classes that semester.)

I had not completely ruined my GPA if that matters. When I went to talk to a few counselors, and professors at University of Illinois and Bradley University, they did not find it strange at all. The Bradley professor talked about how the hardest part would be group projects, dealing with the attitudes in other students that I had already grown out of myself. From my conversations, it seems the Universities like students who want to go back, because they work hard.

 

[classy]

Education sets no age limit. I have yet to finish college and am in my early 40s. I plan to return one day.

Never to old to learn. Have him get started anywhere, then make adjustments accordingly.

 

[jaedaliu]

Does your cousin want to reenter the college he dropped out at? If so, he should try a different tack other than the advice posted above.

He could try the readmission process instead. Could save significant time and the deadlines are significantly closer to the start of the quarter.

Example: Readmission UCLA
http://www.admissions.ucla.edu/prospect/Adm_tr/reenter.htm
http://www.registrar.ucla.edu/soc/policy.htm#marker-1004902

Hope that helps and g/l to your cousin.

How far did he get in school? I got kicked from my undergrad and was able to get back in to finish my degree. It wasn't an easy process. I had to go talk to the dean of engineering in order to get reinstated.

After having worked, school is going to be a lot easier.