<p>I am currently a student at a large state school on the East coast. My first semester I had took 13 credits withdrew from one 3 credit class and ended it with a 1.68. Now in the spring I am doing equally as bad. I currently only have 10 credits because I dropped a class before the deadline. I am going to have to withdraw from my philosophy class which is a 3 credit course and after doing that I think I will have between a 2.2 and a 2.5. Making my cumulative right below a 2.0. My high school gpa was 3.3 and my SAT's were 1150 without the writing section ( I have to double check what I got on that but I had right around a 1700 total).</p>
<p>Now for my question. I am currently planning on taking a summer session and the fall semester at my local CC. Do you think that if I pull a 3.5 during both of those, with about 24 credits, I will be able to transfer into Temple or Drexel in the spring of 2012? Both of their minimum transfer gpa's are 2.5. I didn't apply to Temple out of high school but I was accepted into the Mechanical Engineering program at Drexel.</p>
<p>OK so you are a Freshman - we have all been there - First year away from home - Freedom to do what you want, and that is often exactly what one does. My first bit of advise is to take classes you have a great interest in your first year - Philosophy perhaps not being a great choice (although I was forced to take a few of those as well). </p>
<p>Here is a bit of strong advice from a pro-student - with multiple degrees.</p>
<ol>
<li><p>Pay close attention when the semester begins in each class - and not just to the topic of the class but quickly make a determination on how you will fair in the course. After my third year in college I made a rule - if from day one I could not understand the professor then I quickly dropped the class first day. Some may say well that descriminates against the foreign professors - But ALWAYS remember even if you are paying with student Loans - it is your money - spend it wisely.</p></li>
<li><p>You mention your courses, but what about your lifestyle? I know first year away time to let loose blow off some steam meet women… etc… If that is a major concern of desire, then my advice is to get a job and have fun on your nickle - and not hurt your GPA in the process. Of course you have already damaged your GPA - going to a community college might not be a bad idea for the summer to recover - but remember that summer school zips by fast - if you take a descent load be prepared not to go out - if you are not mentally prepared for that - or you surrounding are not helpful in that area (room-mates that like to party too much, then be prepared to study in the library. </p></li>
<li><p>When I was Junior/Senior - I always tried to take M-W T-R classes and had Fridays off. I had three nights of fun but come Sunday afternoon - it was study time until the next Thurs night. But this requires discipline. </p></li>
</ol>
<p>Good luck - study hard - no indication of what your major is in the post. If it is liberal art. well then - just go get a job now and think of what you want to do with your life. When you find that out then you will have a goal and that will make studying easier to focus on.</p>
<p>It wasn’t my lifestyle that hurt my grades, it was me not liking the school I was at and becoming apathetic to it. I attend Virginia Tech and as you may or may not know it is located in a small town in the middle of nowhere VA. Coming from Philadelphia this was a shock to my system and I just did not adjust well to it. On top of that I am in a suite style dorm, in building that is mainly sophomore and junior athletes. Their are 4 bedrooms in my suite with two kids in each and a common area, so basically I am limited to only interacting with the other people in my suite. My roommate and I are the only freshman in my suite and there are probably only 8 others on my floor. The rest of the kids in my suite are never really around and hang out with their friends that they already have. I have had trouble finding a group of friends to hang out with and just have not been happy since I’ve been here. I tried getting my room switched the first week of fall semester and was told to come back to the office next week when they had the list of vacancies prepared. This continued for three more weeks till I finally gave up on it.
Fast forward to the end of the semester. I tell my mom I want to come home and attend CC in the spring then transfer somewhere in the fall. She was completely against the idea and begged me to give it another try. And when I came back in January as I expected nothing changed. I was motivated during the first few weeks of classes to do well so I can get my gpa up but after that I just fell back into the routine of I hate this place so I am just not going to do anything. Now it is down to like the last month of classes and again I am not doing well.
I am currently enrolled here as undecided and my two options are mech. engineering and business. I also believe that being undecided has also turned me off to excelling here because I have no real goals to try to meet.
In high school I was set on becoming a mech. engineer. I was accepted into the mech. engineer program at Drexel and was pretty set on going there untill I was accepted here and got attracted to the whole idea of “beer and circus” that a large football school offers.</p>
<p>Also CC is my only option in this situation, correct? I am not worried about losing the credits I already have if I would be able to re apply as a freshman somewhere but from the research I’ve done I can’t do that.</p>
<p>No, you have already started college and can only apply as a transfer at this point. It would seem wise for you to go to CC & get your grades back up and re-evaluate your options. For most schools, they would require a significantly higher GPA than you have to be considered at all and especially for business or any branch of engineering.</p>
<p>I strongly suggest you go back home, live there & commute while you take CC courses to boost your grades so you have options to transfer, as you suggested in your original post. While there, you can also explore the different fields covered at CCs–some of my staff got two year certificates that pay quite well (e.g. respiratory therapists, EMTs, RNs, paralegals). This could lead to helping you pinpoint what you’d like to get a complementary 4-year degree in after you transfer and could be good for part-time supplemental income to help defray your schooling costs.</p>
<p>Good luck buckling down and getting settled so you have more options on what you want to do next after boosting your grades.</p>