Long academic history...

[kamandsam]

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I consider myself a non-traditional student as I'm 28 with 3 children and am currently pursuing a PhD.

My question is does anyone have experience (insight) into the way an applicant would be viewed based on the following:

I started college when I was 17 and messed around for 2 years earning an incredible 1.75 GPA for 60 credit hours. I stopped school and returned two years later. Since that date I expedited my undergraduate experience where I took as many as 26 credit hours per term. Not including the first 2 years I have a respectable 3.5 GPA for my BS. I did a Master's in environmental science with a GPA of 3.45, wherein I took a few med school courses (long story) and did well. I also earned a few fellowships and awards. In brief I have basically been in college for 10 years. How would the admissions team look at this history?

Thank you for your help!

 

[bjhath]

I consider myself a non-traditional student as I'm 28 with 3 children and am currently pursuing a PhD.

My question is does anyone have experience (insight) into the way an applicant would be viewed based on the following:

I started college when I was 17 and messed around for 2 years earning an incredible 1.75 GPA for 60 credit hours. I stopped school and returned two years later. Since that date I expedited my undergraduate experience where I took as many as 26 credit hours per term. Not including the first 2 years I have a respectable 3.5 GPA for my BS. I did a Master's in environmental science with a GPA of 3.45, wherein I took a few med school courses (long story) and did well. I also earned a few fellowships and awards. In brief I have basically been in college for 10 years. How would the admissions team look at this history?

Thank you for your help!

Your situation doesn't sound much different than mine:
I am 33 and married, no kids though. I started college out of high school at a military academy and left after two years with a whopping 2.2 for ~70 semester units. I took some time off, but returned a couple of years later and finished both my bachelor's (3.3 GPA) and master's (3.3 GPA) in mechanical engineering at Cal. I then worked for several years at a national lab before transitioning to dentistry. I have been taking prerequisites for the past two years. And yesterday, I was accepted to UoP!

I think you can definitely sell yourself as being a mature, experienced applicant. In my PS, I briefly touched on my poor academic performance and subsequent successes, saying something like, "life experience has shown me I can accomplish anything I pursue...though I did not perform well when i first started college...I returned focused and mature and have excelled at..." and then go into your PhD/fellowships/family/etc.

As long as you demonstrate strengths in other areas as well (community service, dental shadowing/etc., leadership) then I think you can definitely sell yourself.

Good luck!

 

[kamandsam]

Your situation doesn't sound much different than mine:
I am 33 and married, no kids though. I started college out of high school at a military academy and left after two years with a whopping 2.2 for ~70 semester units. I took some time off, but returned a couple of years later and finished both my bachelor's (3.3 GPA) and master's (3.3 GPA) in mechanical engineering at Cal. I then worked for several years at a national lab before transitioning to dentistry. I have been taking prerequisites for the past two years. And yesterday, I was accepted to UoP!

I think you can definitely sell yourself as being a mature, experienced applicant. In my PS, I briefly touched on my poor academic performance and subsequent successes, saying something like, "life experience has shown me I can accomplish anything I pursue...though I did not perform well when i first started college...I returned focused and mature and have excelled at..." and then go into your PhD/fellowships/family/etc.

As long as you demonstrate strengths in other areas as well (community service, dental shadowing/etc., leadership) then I think you can definitely sell yourself.

Good luck!

Thank you for your response. It is so great to hear that you were successful, especially considering our similarities. I really appreciate it.

 

[kamandsam]

Anyone else with a similar situation?

 

[ean]

My situation is somewhat similar. I actually just posted my path through dental application yesterday. The post was titled '4 years - it can happen' or something like that; feel free to read over it. To make a long story short, I had a poor GPA early on, took a few years to improve it, and I will be completing a Masters in June. Yesterday, I received two acceptances to dental school, so I definitely think it is possible for you to get accepted. If this is what you want to do, then I suggest that you pursue it whole-heartedly. If you are going to be completing a PhD, then you should be golden. With a PhD, you should definitely get some interviews, in my opinion. Every year, it is a crap shoot as to who will get accepted and who won't, but if this is what you want to do, then pursue it, even if it takes a few years. In the end, it will be worth it. Best of luck in your endeavors.