Hello, today I come to all of you for help with my current situation. Not so much help, but just knowledge and advice on it all because things have been really rough for me.
Currently, I’m in my second semester of community college. Last semester I did okay, 3.0 GPA. This semester I’m doing horribly. I’m struggling to get work done, I’m struggling to find motivation and I just feel extremely burnt out from school. There’s a lot going on outside of my school life that is also really affecting this.
Basically, I’ve been thinking a lot about just dropping my classes for this semester and taking a break from school until I feel confident I can do it to the best of my abilities. These thoughts initially came from the fact that I switched majors but at the time it was too late to switch classes so now I’m taking credits that don’t apply towards my degree anymore. But then many other things happened and right now I’m probably at my most unhappy and stressed point in life that I’ve ever experienced and I’m having a really hard time dealing with it.
All of these thoughts have been killing my motivation all around and some days I just find myself laying in my bed literally all day. I struggle to get myself to the gym, I struggle getting out and seeing friends, etc. I don’t want to go on a tangent about my personal problems.
The advice I seek is this: what are the consequences to dropping out for now?
My plan was to drop out now, and then when I felt ready apply to an actual 4 year college (start fresh, as a freshman - if possible) instead of a community college. I just feel I need to get my life together at the moment before I pursue something that I will invest so much money into and that basically decides my future and right now I really don’t feel like I’m ready for it. Thank you for any help or advice you all could give.
If you are lying in bed all day, maybe you’re depressed-especially since you say you are at your most unhappy and stressed. I’m not a doctor or psychologist or anything but maybe you should talk to someone? They should have counseling services at your community college. Good luck. Hope you feel better soon.
Immediately go to the counseling office. I agree there may be some depression issues here. Or they may be able to help you balance your school and personal problesm.
Make an appointment with your advisor. You need to talk to them about how to best handle this.
WORST THING TO DO: just drop out and not tell anyone. Then you will fail your classes and it will go into your GPA that will follow you. You will have wasted your money on these classes.
BETTER THING: If it is before the Withdrawal Date, talk to your advisor about withdrawing from all your classes. Then they do not affect your GPA. They will be on your transcript, but if it is just one semester with W’s that will be fine.You will have wasted your money on these classes.
EVEN BETTER THING: Get some counseling, perhaps some medication, and withdraw from one or more classes if there are some classes you still think you can get a B in. Talk to your advisor about this option. You will waste some money on some classes but get some value of others. Even if these classes are not in your major, they will be useful for general electives.
BEST THING: See a psychiatrist if referred by the counseling center. If you are diagnosed with a medical condition such as depression, Talk to the Dean of Students about a medical withdrawal. I think in this case you may get your money back.
TL;DR: Talk to Counseling Center, talk to your Advisor or Dean of Students, Withdraw properly from classes so it does not affect your GPA.
At this point, it is unlikely that you will get a refund of tuition/fees. If you recieve financial aid, it is possible that you will need to repay the school/goverment for part or all of the financial aid receive. You goverment loans will need to repaid after the grace period. You will not be able to get your transcript until this is repaid (this does not apply to goverment loans). It is unlikely you will be able to transfer or start at another school until this is repaid. Schools will want to see ALL transcripts of the schools you attended. There is a national database that will show that you attended this CC. You will also likely to have SAP (satafoctory academic process) issues which could impact your ability to receive FA in the future at this school or any school.
If you properly withdraw (it is extremely important that you follow all the rules) then this will probally have no real long term consequences. You need to see how this will be reported on your transcript. However you are no longer a Freshman in the eyes of admissions for most schools (you need to verify this). There is no true do over. Your transcript will need to be sent to any new school.
Does your school have a counseling center? It would be worth your time and effort to see if there is any other path,
Also look on your college’s website …search on Withdrawal. It seems like you can get part of your money back (or have less to pay in loans) if you Withdraw early enough. But check your college.