I would like to apologize before hand for my grammar, punctuation, and writing style. I have sever ADD and currently stressed out about the future. Would love some help, support, guidance, opinions, anything and everything!
Little Background: Went to a rigorous Chicago public school and graduated with a 3.89 GPA. Un-medicated with ADD, barely studied outside of class, never read textbooks. Honestly was a miracle I did so well. I only excel at in class discussion, presentations, and written assignments. Terrible test taker and multiple choice tests are my worst enemy. Accepted The University of Iowa for my Undergrad.
Freshman year: Huge adjustment in how to learn and study. I actually had to read, take notes, and discussion sections are only once a week per class and none really talks except for the TA. I was an open major student and took general education courses. I rushed a fraternity for social life and roomed with two friends from high school (bad idea). I studied more than I ever studied and partied less than the average Freshman due to already getting partying out of my system living in Downtown Chicago. Found myself becoming depressed but wasn’t aware and pushed myself to keep going. Ended the first semester with a 3.66 GPA which I was proud of but not happy considering how much time I applied. Second semester I took more general educations and some pre requisites for my new major, Pre-Business. Depression was increasing without my knowledge and I was beginning to burn out. I studied more and went out less than the previous semester which killed me. I hated my freshman year, I hated the school, I didn’t even do well in my classes accept for math and psych. I now have a 2.84 GPA coming from a 3.66. Do the math and you will notice I didn’t do well at all.
Currently: I want to leave Iowa badly. I think spending another 9 months and $32k in debt is not a smart idea. I dropped the fraternity and would go back with maybe 2 friends. I want to transfer to a school I belong to and that I excel in academically and socially (by the way before college I was and am I very social person that knew everyone in high school not to brag). I’ve been leaning to get out of the midwest and go either West Coast or East Coast but I can’t seem to find anything in my price range or GPA transfer range.
My requirements: no more than $40k a year, urban(ish) community, Liberal arts or liberal arts vibe, good education, and I would accept a community college as well if they have good transfer University options.
Since you said west coast, consider a community college in the SF Bay Area (De Anza and Foothill are excellent) and then transfer to UC Berkeley, Davis, etc.
Does it have to be the west COAST? and Urban? Because I have two other ideas:
University of Montana – a nice school in a very, very nice college town.
Colorado State University in Fort Collins – ditto
How about taking a year off while you work through things? Until you get the depression under control, you aren’t going to do well. During that year off you could take a class or two in Chicago if you really want to, but it would probably be best if you just get a job while you pull yourself together and investigate options in other parts of the country.
I suggest community college in California, cheaper and the UCs give you priority to transfer to top notch public. I also think it’s less demanding then 4-year college unless you purposely want to do that. Find an inexpensive area, I don’t recommend the Bay Area. COL is huge. Perhaps somewhere in San Diego area. It should be cheaper than San Jose area.
If you do decide to move to California and go the CC route then transfer to a UC, your tuition will be almost half what it would be if you were to transfer straight into a UC from another state because you’d pay in-state tuition.
OP - Before enrolling in a CA CC, do investigate the rules about in-state and OOS status. You might find that you can’t be considered in-state unless your parents would move there.
If you come to California for educational purposes, you will not be considered for instate tuition at the UCs, no matter if you start at the CCs.
OOS fees at the community colleges are expensive and housing, especially in SoCal and the Bay Area is very expensive. http://www.ucop.edu/general-counsel/_files/ed-affairs/uc-residence-policy.pdf
Before you do anything, I think you need to determine if transferring is going to solve your issues. I think you need to reflect on exactly why things went awry during the second semester, and make sure you’ve got things under control, so that you don’t face a repeat somewhere else. While a change of scenery can often be an answer for people, it is not clear to me that this is the solution in your case. You mention you were depressed. It is not clear if you sought treatment or are under treatment now. You need to be evaluated by a professional and get that under control. You mention ADD, but you are not medicated. Possibly you do need to be on medication. You did very well 1st semester, but things went awry the next. However, it seems that you still did well in two particular classes. Possibly, if the other ones were all the business related classes, maybe a Business major is not for you. Did you avail yourself of all the resources available to you at Iowa (tutoring centers, writing centers, professor/TA office hours?) to help you do better in those classes? Please do some careful reflection before proceeding.
You may end up determining that Iowa really is not the right place for you, and you do want to transfer. That’s fine. The reality is though, that your current cumulative GPA isn’t going to open many doors for you. Sure, there are some places that might take you, but it would be best to bump up your GPA first so that up so you have a better choice and can be selective. I can’t tell if you got a D or F in any of your courses, but if you did, is it possible for you to return to Iowa this fall and retake them for a better grade, while at the same time seeking out more suitable schools? The other obvious alternative is to just withdraw now, and enroll in CC, get your grades up and work towards an AA, then transfer again. However, in your case, I would suggest attending your local CC instead of moving halfway across the country in either direction, unless of course you’ve got your depression and other underlying issues under control and can ensure your success. Your local CC would be cheaper too.
Thank you for all the replies and support! In response to @justlookingnow, I received one D+ last semester and am currently taking it through Iowa online course here in Chicago. The course final is Wednesday and I currently have an 88%. If all goes well it should boost my GPA back up a few points. And in response to @DrGoogle, I thought about that but in all honesty my job is great for the summer in terms of money but is from 7am-7pm and has not helped with my state of mind/happiness. If I took a year off I would be living at home (parents are very strict) with my parents and cruising through life on standby. I feel like a need to take action now before it’s too late and I loose all motivation and study energy.
I checked out some of the community colleges and I have missed most of their deadlines to apply for the upcoming semester. Would you guys recommend going out either West or East and working there for a few months until I can enroll? Or would it be best to stay at Iowa for this semester and leave after I can apply to schools?
@DrGoogle I’m not sure about San D schools but I checked out Santa Monica College due to a post I read about it helping students get into the UC schools and they don’t have a continues enrollment. I will check out the details on the other schools mentioned too.
What do you mean by continues enrollment. Anybody can attend a CC. I did and I didn’t have a need and that’s the beauty of CC. Santa Monica City College is right next to UCSB, so it’s like going to CC. But I think it’s not a cheap area. Housing would be expensive.
@DrGoogle What i meant by Continued enrollment for example, Iowa accepts applications for the semester up until the day courses start. So anyone can apply at any time before the semester begins. I read on Santa Monica’s page that they have deadlines for each semester applications for transfer students. I will definitely check out leading CC to UCSD! Thank you for the link.
Ok I don’t know about transferring but I think anybody can take classes at CC. Because ultimately when you apply to UCSD you need two transcripts, one from Iowa and one from California CC. But head over to UC transfer forum and ask questions. I only took classes at CC for fun, not as a transfer. So my information may not be applicable to you.
You can share housing on Mesa for cheap, I know this because I just helped with housing for my kid recently, she goes to UCSD. 1shared bedroom, 2 in 1 room is about $400 to $600 per month, much better than dorm situation.