Hello everyone it’s my first time on this website, but who cares about that let’s get to the story it’s a long post.
Let’s start all the way back in highschool
In highschool I wanted to be a graphic design/Animation major because of this I slacked off and didn’t put a lot of effort into my grades because who needs to know algebra to draw a 2D character but I digress, I had gotten a offer from a college in VA but couldn’t even apply because I did not meet gpa requirements(this was senior year). Later in my junior my aunty had asked me to go on a trip to Washington D.C to pick up my cousin from college. It was a breathtaking experience so much that I me and my mom took me on another trip to D.C in the summer and I’ve been in love ever since. This was going into my senior year of HS and my gpa was very low (2.2) I lucked out and got into a medium/big state college in IL that’s known for taking in low gpa students who later crash out after a year of partying later to be in debt to the school.
My college life so far has been up and down. My first year was amazing I had finally made a friend group considering that I had one in hs who treated me as trash and even though this college was not anywhere I wanted to be I still had a memorable first year… But with every high comes a low, I had some very easy classes that I literally did worse than I should have. C’s D’s and a couple of B’s litterd my transcripts and I got a D in one of my art classes.
My sophomore year I came in with the mindset that I am going to up my grades and hopefully apply to the colleges I wanted to go to… That didn’t happen as well the same friend group got bigger and I got blackballed out of my friend group, only getting a call if they needed a ride somewhere and I didn’t go out at all, this was also made worse that my grandpa had passed away in September and my crush rejected me a day after my birthday in November, my grades were so bad and I couldn’t come back from them it was a the point I had just given up midway through the semester and opted to just wait it out till I get on academic probation the next semester I had also decided around this time to switch my major and follow through with a dream of mines to pursue physics.
In my second semester I thought I was doing good. I had a high C+ in chemistry midway out of the semester but I have always had bad luck in the past of getting alright grades midway through a semester then somehow failing them or either not passing them because I did not read the rubric. Well that was the case I decided to reach out with my teacher and see if I was still on track to get a B. But those dreams where shattered when I realized I had missed a whole category of homework assignments we were suppose to do in another browser, my grade in that class was a 61% 4% off from a C in that class(always read your rubric). I also failed my history final which was worth 30% and it brought my grade down to a 78%.
Now here I am sophomore going on junior year. I am currently taking 13 credit hours but I have been so dedicated I’m aiming for a 2.5 by the end of the summer so I can meet some of the transfer colleges gpa requirements. But till then should I drop my 4year university and go to a CC for a semester/year till I can get in my desired college?
I feel like you need better study skills and a strong semester.
If you were on academic probation spring of freshman year, those low grades may not transfer. You might not have enough credits to transfer into a major. You’d have to check which courses would be accepted at a new university.
Where is community college, how will you afford it?
Most CCs are two year colleges so if you are going into your junior year attending a CC may not make sense. In addition, most colleges require that you attend for a minimum of 2 years in order to get a degree so a transfer after junior year likely also won’t work. Can you stay at your college and keep improving your grades?
If you friend group has broken up can you try joining some activities you are interested in on campus? Or maybe get a job off campus?
I have to stay in college for 5 years as my freshman year I was in the art program before I switched to physics so I did not have any stem classes only taking them my sophomore year(freshman level stem courses). So I’m guessing it could workout I don’t know how it would.
Also thank you for the invite to join you guys, I don’t find it difficult to make friends they were one of like 4 of my friend groups at the time. I’m currently on good terms with them and we sorted everything out but even with that I moved on and gotten a new group so it’s not all that bad. But thank you!
Academic probation first semester of sophomore year*
I agree there’s been to many times in my school career where I just put up bull*hit in hopes that I can get a C or better I do better with this technique in English/History classes since writing a paper is kind of like talking to another person through typed words with some facts sprinkled in. Never failed me and I used to get B’s-A’s on papers a lot I try doing this in other subjects such as math but it doesn’t even come close to working even though I still do it. I’m also a very bad procrastinator as I’m writing this I have a math homework assignment due in a hour. I did half of the questions but not the full assignment.
Also cost is not a issue for me, I’m blessed enough to say that my pops has been paying for my whole college experience up to this point. Blessed enough to say I haven’t even touched a fasa form yet. Though I don’t know how long until that changes.
You are making progress…but a big part of college is maturing, and you still have a way to go. That is an observation, not a slam! You are showing some signs of progress, particularly in starting to recognize your own role in your troubles, and to see that changes in your own behavior are what you need most, and getting closer to recognizing that having at least one friend group who take their studies seriously can help you stay on track.
Some posters are likely to suggest that you may have “executive function” challenges or other “learning differences” (ie, ADD-type things)- and they may be right, so there is no harm going to your college learning resource center to see 1) about getting tested and 2) about getting support for better study habits either way (b/c even if you get a diagnosis, it’s not that you magically get better at studying! there are skills and tools that help).
But mostly- yes, one day even the most doting parent will say ‘wait a minute…what am I shelling out for’. Push yourself to take more responsibility for your own choices (stop blaming friends, for example), go to the learning resources center, and then go to your advisor to say ‘right, time to get serious about college, can you help me with course selection so that I have a semester in which I should be able to show what I can do when I try, and will start putting me on track to graduate with a useful degree’.
OP- why not take a leave of absence, get a job, figure stuff out before you go back for junior year?
The great thing about working is that feedback is immediate- you don’t wait a semester to learn that something is problematic. You mess up at work- your boss is all over you. You procrastinate and are late- there are consequences. You put up %^& instead of doing actual work- someone will call you on it.
Maybe some time working on these skills is a better use of the year than going back to college?