Stepping into the forest of my mind

Stepping into the forest of my mind
Just as every journey begins with a first step, every story begins with the first word.

Wednesday, March 19, 2014

Gaining Entrance to College for the Non-Traditional Student


College Entrance exams
The big thing to remember about college is that prospective students can begin attending any semester; fall, spring, or summer. 

 

Getting accepted into college is no easy task.  College admission boards prefer intelligent, well-rounded students.  While the category percentages may vary, the boards look for good school grades and/or a high performance on the S.A.T.’s [Scholastic Assessment Tests] as proof of academic accomplishment.  Well-rounded students probably participated in sports and belonged to clubs in high school.  Traditional prospective college students volunteer their time at churches, hospitals, or community functions. 

 

You know, a person who never sleeps, has no time for family or friends.  These are tough sneakers to fill for a non-traditional student, a student over 30 years of age beginning college for the first time. 

 

This was one reason why I started at a community college or junior colleges as they are sometimes called.  Since I was a non-traditional student, with no S.A.T. scores, I needed to take a basic skills test, an entrance exam, to be sure I was prepared for college level math and writing. 

 

Okay, so I was only partially prepared for college, passing the writing portion of the entrance exam, not the math.  I didn’t have a college preparatory high school curriculum.  I was a business student.  I haven’t done algebra and rational numbers and integers, etc., for a long, long time.  I required basic skills math courses to bring me up to college-level math in order to complete the math and science requirements needed for a college degree.       

 

And that is where my college journey begins in the memoir: deciding to apply and take the entrance exam at a community college—with five children in tow for most of it.  However, even though I started at a community college, the possibilities from there were numerous.  I’ll discuss some of those possibilities together with scholarship next month.     

6 comments:

  1. Nothing wrong with starting at a community college. My husband did too. Then he wound up at Stony Brook, Cold Spring Harbor Lab, Dana Farber Cancer Institute through Harvard, and now he's at a biotech company.

    I'm sure it was a struggle for you to do that with so many kids, as I'm sure your memoir reveals.

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    1. Thank you, Theresa, for visiting my Adventures in Writing blog. Wow! Bravo for your husband. He reached for the stars--and caught some. Congratulations.

      That is my memoir in a nutshell: A mother of five still being that mother--with all the ups and downs--and becoming a college student with classwork, group projects, and extra curricular activities. And surviving!

      Thanks again for visiting my Adventures in Writing blog. Please stop by again.

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  2. I admire your determination. It's amazing all that you have accomplished. Not many students right out of high school can say that they accomplished what you have.

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    1. Thanks, Michelle, for visiting my Adventures in Writing blog. I believe determination is a part of any struggle, especially completing a college degree.

      Thank you so much for the compliment. It is greatly appreciated. Please stop by my Adventures in Writing blog again.

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  3. Wow! You have accomplished so much! An inspiration.

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  4. Thank you, Nas. Yes, I've come a long way, as I'm sure many other students have as well. My memoir will be my journey to a bachelor's degree from an Ivy League university.
    Thank you so much for visiting my Adventures in Writing blog, Nas. Please stop by again.

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