transferring with bad grades -- Virtually Advising Q+A

The Q: I'm attending a local community college and I want to transfer to another school, but I'm worried about a few problems on my record. I dropped a class but it shows up as incomplete and before I knew what I wanted to do I took a class just for fun and it wasn't for me and I got a D, that and the incomplete have lowered my gpa. Ok here's my question, can I start fresh with a clean slate at a new school?

The A: The bad news is that there's really no such thing as a clean slate in college; your transcript follows you no matter what school you attend. The good news is that a couple of blemishes on that transcript most likely won't hurt you in the long run. An Incomplete isn't wonderful, but you only have one, so admissions folks are likely to give you the benefit of the doubt and figure it was just a little bump in the road. The same thing goes for that D -- especially if it's in an elective class unrelated to your main area of interest.

If you've done well in all your other classes and your GPA is decent, you most likely won't have trouble transferring. And if admissions people ask you during an interview about those blips on your academic record, be ready to provide a straightforward and honest answer that'll show them it's not something you're likely to repeat.

Good luck, and write back if you'd like,

—Myles Helfand, General Advisor