Yet here I am, still going back for a 2nd semester on academic probation. It sounds bad, but after reading the letter about it, it is basically them periodically making sure that I maintain a better gpa. This could potentially be my last semester at this college, which could make an end to my college career.
I have never wanted to try in school before, but being on academic probation is a big fat sign that if you don't do better, you are getting the fuck out. I agree. Before the letters came for me and my parents, I had already told my parents that my grades weren't that great and if I didn't improve this next semester that I would either go to a cheaper community college in the area or just not go to college at all. Either way, I told them I don't want to waste your money on an educational fantasy of getting a college degree. If I don't do well, I am probably better off not going to college. I have a brother and a sister, and my parents will be putting both of them through college in 4 years too. I would not want to be the brother that drained all his parent's money so that my brother and sister, who by the way are both more academically talented than me, wouldn't be able to have a wider selection of colleges to apply to (bigger money range).
I have a theory that the only reason why I am not on the other one, which is academic suspension, is because I raised two failing grades to passing, but at the same time I had a B in one class and by the end of the year, it had turned into an F.
I don't feel stupid though, I mean they WERE science classes....ya nvm I'm not going to make that excuse. Science just isn't my strong area. I didn't have an effective study system because I never had one before. I used to call homework in high school "homework" because it was work that didn't need to be done at home.
However I need to change that. It is a responsibility of mine to obtain good academic grades and I owe it to my parents to at least make an effort so that if I do not end up at college next year, I can reflect honestly and say that I tried my best, but college just isn't for me.
All in all, college is a way to get a better opportunity to get a higher paying job compared to someone without a college degree. In the end, it all comes down to money because that is what you need to stay alive in the real world when you have your own rent and responsibilities to take care of.
What school do you go to? Why did you take science classes if that isn't your forte? I'm glad you are taking responsibility now though. Good on you for that one, and I wish you luck. Though I have to say, that takes skill to get at .75.
just remember that most things are easier with a college degree than without a college degree. this has less to do with the actual knowledge you gain through school than the perception of it. But you're still young. Dont think in terms of money. think in terms of passion and interest. I know it sounds cliche, but after all, you will do better in what you enjoy.
I have yet to meet someone that regrets getting a degree. Even if they are in careers that don't make use of it, even if they have a lot of debt because of it. I've met a lot of people that wish they had a degree though.
On January 13 2013 05:37 dongmydrum wrote: just remember that most things are easier with a college degree than without a college degree. this has less to do with the actual knowledge you gain through school than the perception of it. But you're still young. Dont think in terms of money. think in terms of passion and interest. I know it sounds cliche, but after all, you will do better in what you enjoy.
I enjoy stocks and researching companies to invest in. My dad also is entrusting me with 3,000$ to put into investments for him too. Unfortunately this has almost no applicable use for my current situation
On January 13 2013 05:36 docvoc wrote: What school do you go to? Why did you take science classes if that isn't your forte? I'm glad you are taking responsibility now though. Good on you for that one, and I wish you luck. Though I have to say, that takes skill to get at .75.
Its a liberal arts school, sciences are general requirements that I have to take either way
At Georgia Tech, freshman joked about the square root club - that is, people whose GPAs would go up if you took the square root of them. There were a surprisingly large number of people in that club.
Your RAS (reticular activation system, yeah funky word, I know) is probably focused on other things of value. A lot of students place value on the knowledge they get from school simply because from a young age they were told it was valuable. It seems like you've stopped "buying in" and because of that you feel like it's a waste of your time and energy to continue.
impressive i skipped nearly every possible exam, missed one major project and just gave up like a little child half way through semester and still only managed a 2.10gpa
You cannot get that low of a grade by lack of ability. That kind of grade is only possible through sheer effort.
Suck it up and actually go to class. Many classes have grade buffers in either homework, participation, or even simple attendance. Those, no matter how lacking your abilities may be academically, is guaranteed points.
On January 13 2013 06:30 Klonere wrote: impressive i skipped nearly every possible exam, missed one major project and just gave up like a little child half way through semester and still only managed a 2.10gpa
For some reason I can't imagine skipping "nearly" all your exams results in a C average. Nice story but 100% false.
On January 13 2013 07:16 ktimekiller wrote: You cannot get that low of a grade by lack of ability. That kind of grade is only possible through sheer effort.
Suck it up and actually go to class. Many classes have grade buffers in either homework, participation, or even simple attendance. Those, no matter how lacking your abilities may be academically, is guaranteed points.
Well my classes didnt have homework buffers and attendance. I didnt do well on exams which is what killed me. I didnget an A on a test for one of my failing classes which helped me pass it, but those kinds of grades were far and too few in between and. I have no clue why i did so good
I'm also making an effort to do better in school my cgpa right now is 2.79. I'm striving for a 4.0 this term to try and push that up to 3.0+ I haven't ran the numbers to see if that is even possible. It might take a another term.
Anyway, i decided to get more organized. I bought a 3 ring binder, and plastic page holders that have the 3 holes so you can put it in the binders.
Next, I loaded up Microsoft Publisher and created a plan. Basically, i have tables for each class detailing every piece of work due in the class for the whole term and when they are due (homework, quiz's, projects, exams, etc). I got all the information from the class syllabuses.
Anyway, it seems really nice and handy. This was the first week of class so i haven't used it much yet (little work due first week). But so far 4.0 in every class.
On January 13 2013 09:25 Jibba wrote: Serious question: did you attend your classes? How many did you skip?
At first, I used to skip a lot of classes. I remember skipping my bio class for a week straight, and then there were spots and days sprinkled throughout. Same goes for the rest of my classes too.
Towards the end of the semester though, I realized that I should start going to classes so I forced myself to go to classes so I didn't miss them anymore for about a month in a row.
On January 13 2013 06:11 Spiffeh wrote: Your RAS (reticular activation system, yeah funky word, I know) is probably focused on other things of value. A lot of students place value on the knowledge they get from school simply because from a young age they were told it was valuable. It seems like you've stopped "buying in" and because of that you feel like it's a waste of your time and energy to continue.
A word of advice from someone who has been in your shoes. Drop out of school this semester. What?!?!? WHY? It honestly doesn't sound like you are mature enough to handle college at this point in time. Perhaps you need to get a job and work 40+ hours/week for a few years. It sounds like you have very little discipline. Mayhap's your lack of motivation is the reason why you do not care about school. Either way I recommend not wasting your parent's money, on another semester of tuition. Like I said I've been where you are now. It took me maturing, learning discipline, and figuring out what is that I want from my life to get myself to go back to college. And after a 10 year break, between full-time college, I'll be graduating this semester.
You have to be kidding me. You tried your best... at what? Getting the lowest GPA possible? Why don't you actually try to get good grades instead of not trying? Also, you're right that you owe it to your parents (especially if they're paying for your college education), so just do it.
Don't waste your time in college if you don't want to be there. Or wait until you want to be. Work until then, or figure something out. I wasted 18 months of my life trying to learn computer science because everyone told me "you like computers so you should learn about them computers" or whatever. I tried hard but tanked badly because even if you try hard without ambition you'll suck. I could have gotten good grades but I didn't have any drive and pretended to myself that I was doing my best when really I was slacking off.
I dropped out and I worked a sh*t job as some low level IT in an engineering firm. Getting trampled over by dumb yet educated people all day made me realize that, like yourself, I'm not an idiot but I had to find something that interested me. Why the fuck would you learn something you don't care about? Education for the sake of knowing shit is useless if you don't care about said shit, and education for the sake of getting yourself a career is useless if you'll hate your job. Not to mention the immediate financial incidence to your parents.
I would echo the sentiments of others saying you should drop out, get a job, and then maybe come back to college when you really want to be there. College is what you make of it, and it is only worth the money if you are INTELLECTUALLY and EMOTIONALLY invested in actually learning and getting something out of your courses.
On January 13 2013 12:04 metbull wrote: A word of advice from someone who has been in your shoes. Drop out of school this semester. What?!?!? WHY? It honestly doesn't sound like you are mature enough to handle college at this point in time. Perhaps you need to get a job and work 40+ hours/week for a few years. It sounds like you have very little discipline. Mayhap's your lack of motivation is the reason why you do not care about school. Either way I recommend not wasting your parent's money, on another semester of tuition. Like I said I've been where you are now. It took me maturing, learning discipline, and figuring out what is that I want from my life to get myself to go back to college. And after a 10 year break, between full-time college, I'll be graduating this semester.
Don't recommend doing that to anyone unless you know them personally.
Just because you were unable to mature at the needed rate doesn't mean everyone will fall into the same shoes.
You also don't know nearly the entirety of his story, to say you have been in the same situation is ridiculous.
Jumping to such generalized conclusions so rapidly is not beneficial in any part of life. Didn't need my degree to know that.
EDIT: I got below a 1.00 my first semester, changed majors and attitude and graduated with a 3.7 as a computer science / interactive media dual major. So I have 'been there' too. And it didn't take me any extra time, just 2 semesters with an extra course.
On January 13 2013 12:04 metbull wrote: A word of advice from someone who has been in your shoes. Drop out of school this semester. What?!?!? WHY? It honestly doesn't sound like you are mature enough to handle college at this point in time. Perhaps you need to get a job and work 40+ hours/week for a few years. It sounds like you have very little discipline. Mayhap's your lack of motivation is the reason why you do not care about school. Either way I recommend not wasting your parent's money, on another semester of tuition. Like I said I've been where you are now. It took me maturing, learning discipline, and figuring out what is that I want from my life to get myself to go back to college. And after a 10 year break, between full-time college, I'll be graduating this semester.
Don't recommend doing that to anyone unless you know them personally.
Just because you were unable to mature at the needed rate doesn't mean everyone will fall into the same shoes.
You also don't know nearly the entirety of his story, to say you have been in the same situation is ridiculous.
Jumping to such generalized conclusions so rapidly is not beneficial in any part of life. Didn't need my degree to know that.
EDIT: I got below a 1.00 my first semester, changed majors and attitude and graduated with a 3.7 as a computer science / interactive media dual major. So I have 'been there' too. And it didn't take me any extra time, just 2 semesters with an extra course.
Thus it was all about you maturing as a person and figuring out what you wanted. Until OP does that college is a waste. Mature fast or mature slow, but gain the maturity before wasting any more time/energy/money. The OP doesn't, from my perspective, sound like he/she really wants to be in school (sorry OP).
On January 13 2013 12:04 metbull wrote: A word of advice from someone who has been in your shoes. Drop out of school this semester. What?!?!? WHY? It honestly doesn't sound like you are mature enough to handle college at this point in time. Perhaps you need to get a job and work 40+ hours/week for a few years. It sounds like you have very little discipline. Mayhap's your lack of motivation is the reason why you do not care about school. Either way I recommend not wasting your parent's money, on another semester of tuition. Like I said I've been where you are now. It took me maturing, learning discipline, and figuring out what is that I want from my life to get myself to go back to college. And after a 10 year break, between full-time college, I'll be graduating this semester.
Don't recommend doing that to anyone unless you know them personally.
Just because you were unable to mature at the needed rate doesn't mean everyone will fall into the same shoes.
You also don't know nearly the entirety of his story, to say you have been in the same situation is ridiculous.
Jumping to such generalized conclusions so rapidly is not beneficial in any part of life. Didn't need my degree to know that.
EDIT: I got below a 1.00 my first semester, changed majors and attitude and graduated with a 3.7 as a computer science / interactive media dual major. So I have 'been there' too. And it didn't take me any extra time, just 2 semesters with an extra course.
Thus it was all about you maturing as a person and figuring out what you wanted. Until OP does that college is a waste. Mature fast or mature slow, but gain the maturity before wasting any more time/energy/money. The OP doesn't, from my perspective, sound like he/she really wants to be in school (sorry OP).
It is more the social setting in school. A couple of my friends were talking about how their gpa's were shit coz they had 2.0's. I feel VERY VERY VERY uncomfortable saying that I have a .75gpa and that I'm on academic probation. I posted this on TL to see what some responses would be, and suffice to say, if this is what I get online, I don't want to know how people are going to judge me about it in real life
On January 13 2013 12:04 metbull wrote: A word of advice from someone who has been in your shoes. Drop out of school this semester. What?!?!? WHY? It honestly doesn't sound like you are mature enough to handle college at this point in time. Perhaps you need to get a job and work 40+ hours/week for a few years. It sounds like you have very little discipline. Mayhap's your lack of motivation is the reason why you do not care about school. Either way I recommend not wasting your parent's money, on another semester of tuition. Like I said I've been where you are now. It took me maturing, learning discipline, and figuring out what is that I want from my life to get myself to go back to college. And after a 10 year break, between full-time college, I'll be graduating this semester.
Don't recommend doing that to anyone unless you know them personally.
Just because you were unable to mature at the needed rate doesn't mean everyone will fall into the same shoes.
You also don't know nearly the entirety of his story, to say you have been in the same situation is ridiculous.
Jumping to such generalized conclusions so rapidly is not beneficial in any part of life. Didn't need my degree to know that.
EDIT: I got below a 1.00 my first semester, changed majors and attitude and graduated with a 3.7 as a computer science / interactive media dual major. So I have 'been there' too. And it didn't take me any extra time, just 2 semesters with an extra course.
Thus it was all about you maturing as a person and figuring out what you wanted. Until OP does that college is a waste. Mature fast or mature slow, but gain the maturity before wasting any more time/energy/money. The OP doesn't, from my perspective, sound like he/she really wants to be in school (sorry OP).
It is more the social setting in school. A couple of my friends were talking about how their gpa's were shit coz they had 2.0's. I feel VERY VERY VERY uncomfortable saying that I have a .75gpa and that I'm on academic probation. I posted this on TL to see what some responses would be, and suffice to say, if this is what I get online, I don't want to know how people are going to judge me about it in real life
People here don't know you, they judge you off of incomplete info. It's the interwebs. You can expect your RL folks to have more of a grasp on what you should do.
i was in a similar position. been thru 2 years passing about half my classes with a gpa of like 2.0. i always felt like crap in the winter because i knew i was just gonna be wasting more money and time. but i also have this really sweet summer job, im lifeguarding at an outdoor pool. making a little money, being in the sun all day, hanging out in the summer - i honestly felt like a million bucks. i was so happy i was telling other people that i was just so happy (lol). but then, summer ends, im back in school. well my hapiness and great moods started to fade away as i returned to my previous ways of doing poor in school. at one point i basically broke down and started crying after i missed 2 exams in a class that i had already failed twice. if i failed again i could not retake. in another class i had a 49 on exam one. buti managed to turn it around. i started going to ALL my classes. i got a78 then 101 on exams 2and 3 after the 49 on #1. and i even passes the class i missed two exams in ( was able to retake) .
and guess how i felt over xmas break? fucking awesome. that feeling from summer had returned.no worries of classes or retakes or anything on my mind
so now im 2 weeks into the semester and attending every class and actually putting some real effort in. and i still feel great.
tl;dr the feeling of success is fucking awesome , that feeling alone could be my sole motivation.
Drop out, work a minimum wage job for a year or two, then go back. It's honestly your best option if you don't feel like trying in college. The only thing that would turn around that .75 gpa is getting 3.5 and higher your remaining semesters, and I don't see you doing that with your current mindset.
If you can't handle the beginning, you won't be able to handle the middle, let alone the end.
Go to a community college for 2 years first, then transfer to a bigger college IMO
That, or find a job
Either way, I don't think staying in college is the right decision now. Anything short of getting amazing grades won't help your GPA, and a college degree with a bad GPA is still a difficult sell in the job market
I am sensing that you're having trouble finding motivation for school. Get a job or an internship. If you enjoy what you do, then you can set a goal and work towards that. If you don't enjoy what you do, think of education as your only way of escape your job and use that as your motivation to work harder in school. It isn't some motivation technique, its real life.
first class was today. I made sure to make a good impression on the teacher (he knows me by name) and he was also giving some extra credit for answering questions.. I got a 100% quiz grade for knowing that the inflation in the US was 1.8% last year lol
Consider yourself "story topped" i got a .33 if i remember correctly. Went on academic probation for a quarter, and came out of the whole ordeal better than ever. Had to lie like crazy to keep myself in school though (it was originally a suspension). I blamed the whole thing on depression so they gave me mandatory counseling for 2 quarters. I would not repeat that experience again.
EDIT: Deciding whether to continue or not (100% effort required) is a decision you need to make soon. The classes get harder but dealing with it gets easier, you realize your limits, you choose classes more wisely, you manage your time better, and you understand what does and doesn't motivate you. Dont quit on yourself before you are sure of the direction you want to go in life.
I have already made the decisoin that I am staying in school for the rest of the year. Im going to be on top of my homework and everything, but I agree I need 100% effort here
On January 15 2013 07:09 iheartEDM wrote: I have already made the decisoin that I am staying in school for the rest of the year. Im going to be on top of my homework and everything, but I agree I need 100% effort here
Best of luck iheartEDM. I hope you do commit to really work on school; but more importantly, yourself. If you need suggestions on building good study habits, I know that the TL community would be more than willing to offer suggestions for what has worked for them in the past.
EPT
