<p>I'm an engineering major and have slowly lost interest in it during my 3 and a half years of college. Thinking back to the amount of crying/stressing I have done, I should have switched majors a long time ago. Unfortunately, I didn't and my grades have strongly showed my disinterest. Especially the last 3 semesters.</p>
<p>I was put on academic probation for the past two semesters (needed 2.0, got 1.9s. Frustrating) and this semester was the final warning and I really blew it. I had huge anxiety about not graduating on time since I was about 9 credits behind and decided to take 6 classes this semester as to not prolong my college experience any more than I would have to. But that was a huge mistake and the course load was way more than I could handle. But being the stubborn, thick headed person I am, I didn't want to drop any of my classes and was just hoping to power through it and maybe things would work out. I was wrong, very wrong. Ended up failing 3 out of the 6 classes and now I'm pretty sure that my college is going to suspend me. I haven't received an official letter but unless some kind of magic happens, I'm done for.</p>
<p>I don't even know what to do since I really only have about 24 (counting the 3 classes I failed this semester) or so credits left to complete my major. My parents are aware of my disinterest in engineering and have been pretty supportive and know that I had a good chance of failing out of college this semester. But I still don't know how to tell them that this has been the worst semester of my college career. Especially since I have absolutely no idea how to fix this, or what I'm even going to do next. </p>
<p>Has anyone been through this or know someone that has? Other than appealing the suspension I am out of ideas on how to move forward</p>
<p>Edit: Oh and for the record, I am extremely interested in business related majors. If/when I do complete my engineering degree, I am hoping to somehow get into an MBA program and pursue the business aspect of engineering. But if it is beneficial to switch into business as an undergrad, I would be willing to do that too</p>
<p>I’m glad your parents have been supportive in the past. I think you need to tell them exactly what you told us, and tell them you need help figuring out a plan.</p>
<p>You didn’t say anything about your finances, or how difficult it would be to change majors. How many semesters would it add? I would talk to the guidance counselor to see what he/she suggests, and what your options are for schools to attend. Is it a certainty that you will not be allowed to return? What other choices are there?</p>
<p>I would rather my child discover he doesn’t like his major while still in college, than have him power through and get started in a lifetime of a career that he hates. I’m glad you figured this out now. Please talk to your parents and guidance counselor to see what the options are.</p>
<p>Finances are not really an issue, I’m paying for college myself but I’m taking out loans so the most important thing to me is actually receiving a degree, no matter the cost.</p>
<p>I’m not exactly sure about the policies for my school, but I do know that after 2 semesters, I can be readmitted into the school. But I seriously don’t know what I would do with my life during that time if I had to wait? I’m going to call after the holidays to see if it would be possible to take classes part-time and retake classes that I did poorly in to bring up my GPA if my appeal isn’t accepted.</p>
<p>And unfortunately my advisor is as helpful as talking to a wall. I go to a pretty prestigious school, yet literally none of the faculty in my engineering department are helpful. Hopefully when I call next week, I can get ahold of someone that knows what they’re talking about</p>
<p>If I were to switch majors, I would probably be adding at least another 2 years. Since most of the classes that I have taken are pretty specific to engineering and would have nothing to do with business/marketing</p>
<p>Finances are not really an issue, I’m paying for college myself but I’m taking out loans so the most important thing to me is actually receiving a degree, no matter the cost.</p>
<p>finances are an issue. How much have you borrowed so far? Are your parents cosigning loans? </p>
<p>It’s one thing if you’re commuting to a local state school with low tuition, but if you’re borrowing tens of thousands every year, then adding a couple more years of college will mean huge debt. </p>
<p>How much debt will you have by the time you graduate if you add two more years??</p>
<p>What kind of income do you think you’ll have once you finally graduate with a business degree?</p>
<p>If your advisor isn’t helpful and the faculty in your major department aren’t helpful either, then I really think you need to speak with a Dean. If you get put on probation, you may well be called in to speak with a Dean in any event. Still, the first thing I would do after the holidays is make an appointment to speak with whatever Dean makes sense (Dean of Juniors, Dean of Undergraduate Engineering, Dean of Students–it all depends on the administrative structure of your school). You absolutely need guidance.</p>
<p>This is really, really the wrong attitude. This is the attitude I had, and you don’t realize the consequences. You think you don’t like your major now… imagine being limited to the jobs you can reasonably commute to from your parents house, because your student loans keep you from being able to afford to take a job you have to move out for. Imagine not being able to be self-supporting until your loans are paid off, and not being able to afford to pay them off early, or even on time. Do you know how long ten years really is? There SHOULD be a limit to the amount of money you’re willing to spend on a degree, and I wish I had had one and that it was about half of what I actually spent. The only reason I get to live on my own now is because my boyfriend pays enough of our bills that I can swing it-- he makes twice as much money as me and can afford to do that, and he has no degree at all!</p>
<p>Assessing your current debt load and how much more you’d need to take on given your current options needs to be a part of your discussion with your parents and be a key factor in your decision making going forward.</p>
<p>Clearly you need to STOP with the engineering. You don’t like it. You’re not doing well in it. You need to get the picture of where you stand with your college. If you are not making satisfactory academic progress that could impact your ability to tap whatever federal monies you are receiving. That is one hurdle. You need to figure out what you can salvage toward a business major IF that is really what you want to do which means you need to figure out WHAT you want to do. Sounds to me like you need to take at least a semester break and sort all this out. </p>
<p>Your best bet for an MBA is to have a few years under your belt in the workplace so I would set that aside in your thinking for the time being. Also if the MBA will help your job trajectory at whatever company you happen to land, sometimes there is a tuition reimbursement program. You are putting the horse before the cart so to speak to bring up the MBA. Figure out what you are going to do over the next couple year or two.</p>
<p>*imagine being limited to the jobs you can reasonably commute to from your parents house, because your student loans keep you from being able to afford to take a job you have to move out for. Imagine not being able to be self-supporting until your loans are paid off, and not being able to afford to pay them off early, or even on time. *</p>
<p>This is soooo true. There are a number of kids who think that they’ll just live at home for free while working and paying off their big loans. BUT…what if the job offers are ELSEWHERE and require that you pay a good amount of rent? </p>
<p>And, if you’re living away at college now, it may not be easy to adjust to living back at home for a few years. You may be used to having your independence…coming and going as you please…doing chores when you feel like it…having a significant other spent the night. At home, your parents may expect you to follow “house rules” and conflicts will arise.</p>
<p>I’m not sure how you move forward. Do you have any marketable skills from your engineering degree? Can you program? Which engineering major? </p>
<p>You can either work for a while and figure things out, or go right back to school. You would need to find a school that would accept you as a transfer. Most schools will only transfer a maximum amount of credit, so you’d still be looking at 2 years, maybe 1.5 if you go to school summers. </p>
<p>Maybe look into transferring to a school with low admissions standards that’s still of high quality. I’m thinking of places like Arizona State, University of Kansas, etc. </p>
<p>Make sure you’re in good financial standing with your current school so that they will transfer your transcripts. </p>
<p>Ok- the upside is that you kind of know engineering now. That is extremely helpful. </p>
<p>I’d suggest you go into technical marketing or technical sales eventually. Those are both well paying fields. </p>
<p>I think your intuition is right about night courses. Frequently there is a night school or a distance ed that is affiliated with a university that has more flexible criterion than the day school. You may be able to take a couple of courses through there while you are getting yourself back on track. </p>
<p>It might also be helpful to identify what about engineering led to your problems. Was it the math? The funny greek symbols? Too much technical work?</p>
<p>BTW- since he college hasnt suspended you yet it is worth groveling. What do you have to lose? If you can get one of your F’s turned into a Incomplete you will be out of the ditch. It not impossible you will find sympathetic professor. I think Ted Kennedy was forced to do it- why not you?</p>
<p>I agree that an engineering degree would be useful for a career in technical sales/marketing. There are jobs in high-tech sales out here in California, and although you hate engineering, you may find you enjoy marketing or sales work. For example, my son is an English major who discovered he really, really enjoys high-tech public relations work. The important thing is to finish your degree. There’s almost always a way to come off academic probation. You may need an extra year to complete your degree, but don’t lose sight of your goal: to earn your own way in the world.</p>
<p>I have had a paid engineering internship and actually enjoyed it, but it wasn’t something I could picture doing for the rest of my life. That’s why I was kind of leaning toward getting a business degree later in life because I’m more interested in that aspect of things. Like dealing with clients rather than actually creating/overseeing processes. </p>
<p>And if I do graduate with an engineering degree, paying off my loans shouldn’t be impossible, since the money I made even from just having an internship was as much as my dad makes after working for 30 years…</p>
<p>I would rather stick it out and finish with engineering because I don’t want to feel like 3 and half years of struggling was a waste of time. And I would like to put my degree to use, even if that isn’t exactly what I want to be doing for the rest of my life. It would be a stepping stone into the business aspect of things. </p>
<p>I will be calling the school after the holidays to officially know my options, so wish me luck!</p>
<p>And for the record, I’m chemical engineering</p>
<p>Don’t wait around until the new year to put the groveling plan into action. Cruise by their offices and see if they are around. If you are going to get an I its easier to try to get one now.</p>
<p>Assuming you are not allowed back next semester, you might want to consider taking some time off from college, working for a year or two, and figuring out what you want to do with your life.</p>
<p>Go to work, finish your degree in engineering when you can, get into sales / application engineering where you have more ppl contact, and after a few years working get a business grad degree if you still feel like you need it and can afford it. Even w so so engineering scholastics you are ahead of the game and can move in lots of interesting directions.</p>
<p>I would try and get through the engineering degree. The one red flag I see with your wanting to get a MBA is that a lot of schools require at least a 2.5 and the good business schools want a 3.0 or higher… at least the ones I’ve checked out. If you think you want to ditch the engineering why not try taking 1 business course next semester with some engineering classes?</p>
<p>I promise you, even if you finish your degree and take a job with that company doing the job you were doing, that’s not going to be what you do for the rest of your life. Your career will develop over time.</p>
<p>There are many schools that will accept up to 90 credits of undergrad work from transfers. You could always change schools as well as majors. There are online schools, low residency schools, and many colleges/universities have “adult learner” programs or continuing education programs that allow for day, evening, weekend and online options. Many of these programs offer business degrees (for some reason, online degrees are most often psychology or business).</p>
<p>Also, when you transfer, you start over with that GPA.</p>
<p>I can understand that you want to finish what you started. But you should also know there are many options before you, whether for a year off w/some classes, or for finishing up.</p>
<p>I am surprised that any advisor allowed you to load up on classes that way, since you weren’t doing that well in the first place. Are you sure you want to finish in engineering? Will jobs want to see your transcript? (I don’t know much about engineering)</p>