“You must not do anything until you’ve discussed these options and all their consequences.”
I can not stress this enough. You must understand the consequences of withdrawing from school for the semester.
I’ve Emailed the financial aid office and they said that dropping classes this semester would not count towards SAP since nothing would be on my transcript and that federal financial aid would not be affected. However, this may cause me to not meet the yearly credit completion requirement for the state financial aid I recieve. some of the options I could do to take care of the yearly completion requirement are to take late start classes that start in mid February or March if that would allow enough time to grieve (they go at a faster pace than the ones that start in January so I don’t think I would wanna try to learn everything in two or three months rather than four months and they may not be offered for the classes that I need), taking classes in the summer since those classes would count toward the completetion requirement, and lastly file an appeal with the state since they did say that it is likely that I would get approved in my situation if I explained my relationship with my grandma and showed documentation such as a death certificate or obituary.
Choosing to do anything that may cause me to need to file an appeal later on should probably be a last resort unless my circumstances make it impossible for me to attend or focus on school. The funeral was today and I’ll allow a little more time to grieve but I’ll see how I do with focusing in the next week and then make a decision before the drop deadline next week (note: dropping is different than withdrawing because nothing Is on the transcript while W’s are on the transcript when you withdrawal. I thought I would mention that even though no one has got that wrong on this thread because some people refer to withdrawaling as dropping). I think it would best if I did try to focus on school because even if I took a break from school I would wanna try to get a Job where I can temporarily work full time at some point while I do this and that might be hard to do because I have struggled to even get part time work but finally have a part time Job again).
How many classes will you have to take during the summer? Summer classes tend to be a fast pace. How are you holding up with classes now? Can you keep up?
If you find February classes fast paced you won’t be able to handle the even faster paced summer classes, let alone several of them.
If you need 5 classes by next Fall, a way to do it: see if you can take three faster paced February classes with a physEd class for an additional easy credit, then plan on one summer class session A and one summer class session B.
I thought you had mentioned taking Biology and Chemistry previously. I would not take those classes in the summer at a faster pace. You should take those over a full semester.
If biology and chemistry were with premed in mind, that ship has sailed.
So, the best bet would be to retake any class you got a D or F in, and take some general education classes.
@MYOS1634 I think he was looking into engineering.
@MYOS1634 I was never interested in premed but I’m interested in Biology to specialize in zoology or Ecology and do something with that later on, Wildlife (similar or close to zoology), Geology, Engineering, Meteorology, and construction management. I also thought about doing clinical laboratory science or something medical related where I don’t have interaction with patients, would that still be an option?
First, worry about completing the two math classes. Then you can decide which path to take.
My grandmother passing away was not the only reason I have considered taking a break from school. I also thought about it because I still have struggled to enjoy college and fear other circumstances may cause me to have to leave school. I haven’t found a club I enjoy, haven’t transferred to a four year Institution where it might be better yet, and haven’t tooken any classes in the subject I love yet which is science.
The other circumstances are that things aren’t going great at home with my moms boyfriend. Me and my moms boyfriend don’t get along. I dislike him for the way he is and I have no benefit of being around him. Me and my mom have talked about moving out but that would kind of likely involve me helping her financially and I can’t afford to do that right right now since I’m college and have little money. If my mom decides to stay with him then I either have to deal with him or move out. I also dislike my moms boyfriend because he doesn’t try to do better than working in retail and this causes him to have little money to pay the bills. my mom has had to borrow money from me a few times to pay rent since he couldn’t pay it. Me moving out would likely involve me having to get a full time Job and quitting school or going to school part time. I wanna go to School full time so I can get full financial aid money, get involved with school, and finish faster. if I worked full time I would wanna work at a plant, get into an apprenticeship, or do something else that pays well but none of these things would be something I would wanna do forever so it would come back to doing college.
I have also considered how stressful it seems to worry about student loans when I transfer to a four year Institution. Pell grants will only cover half of the tuition each semester at Purdue and my state grants will pay for most or all of the other half. My state grants may run out before I finish my four year degree due to taking remedial classes in my first year and this is the aid I get only when I attend full time. I wanna save money to make sure I don’t have to take out loans but I fear with the bills I may have it’ll be hard to do that and my plans have to involve not taking on any debt since I’m a Dave Ramsey fan. I also thought that if I work and make good money then I can build my emergency fund and do things I actually want to do like traveling. College is what I wanna do but when finances get in the way then it seems plans have to change.
My only advice is that you is stop listening to Dave Ramsey. But no one else can decide if you should drop out and go to work for family reasons. Most students who do never go back, honestly. And it is much harder to get a degree the older you get. But if you aren’t making good progress to a degree, you shouldn’t use up your FA eligibility now.
To be on the safe side at minimum work towards getting at least an associates degree so that at least you have some degree in your hand that would help you get employment if you were to run out of financial aid and not be able to complete a bachelor’s degree. You need to make yourself a priority and stay focused on doing what is best for you and your future. You have to take care of yourself first before you can think of helping other family members. Focus on the goal of becoming independent. Your education is your ticket to a better life for yourself and your financial freedom. You can not change your past but you have control of your present and can have a bright future if you make good decisions now. Life is tough but you can not allow the behavior of others to get in the way of you staying focused on your goals and creating a better future for yourself. This internal motivation to make the best of your circumstances has to come from within you. Pick one path or goal for yourself and do everything you can to achieve it. You have to take responsibility for yourself because you don’t have anyone you can rely on to financially support you so the sooner you start working towards that the closer you will be to achieving your goals. Opportunities are not just going to fall in your lap. You have to seek them and do everything you can to get a positive outcome. Utilize all the resources the college has on hand to achieve your goals.
@intparent I appreciate your advice. I should probably still save money and apply for scholarships (there are different eligibility requirements and not all require a 4.0 GPA) to lower my debt but is it bad if I did have to take on debt for college or something else later in life?
I know I stay focused @raclut because I know that there likely always will be distractions.
You can only borrow a total of $27,000 in federal loans for your whole four years. Maybe a bit more if you are Pell eligible.
That level of debt to get a college degree is well invested, especially if the alternative is to work a minimum wage job the time it lasts.
However apprenticeships in a trade are quite valuable too. I know Indiana is desperate to recruit people in some trades btw. The pay is good.
Same thing for nurse assistants and nurses.
How are you feeling, SuperGeo? Things going okay so far?
I have to play the game catch up for a minute since I just got back from my grandmas funeral and school was cancelled on Wednesday due to bad weather.
It’s past the drop deadline and I decided that I will do my best to get through this semester. I’m almost caught up with understanding things and should hopefully be able to understand it for next weeks first exams. Hopefully I won’t have to retake any classes after this semester because it would be ashame to waste the time of a whole semester not earning credit for classes whether my future worked out or not. Hopefully this experience makes me stronger. As for math I gotta say that Triginometry is kind of hard because it is so much different than algebra.
@MYOS1634 I’m not or wasn’t on academic probation. I may have had bad grades in classes but didn’t do bad enough to end up on academic probation.
Ok then. You’re courageous, but do take care of yourself. Go to the counseling center and ask for someone who can help you with grief, go to tutoring and office hours in every subject so that your professor knows you’re diligent.
I hope you can get an associate’s degree first and foremost, and without debt. Community colleges have many career-focused classes and certificates that could help boost earnings when you work.
Many many people, including my own daughter, take many years to finish a 4 year degree. I met one woman at a class I was taking who took 17 years to graduate. She had 4 kids and took a class or two at a time (you must take two classes to qualify for financial aid). There are online programs, distance programs, low residency programs. Adult learner, extensions, continuing ed programs.
Please do not amass debt with your family situation. And yes, aim for independence.
If you have a clinical depression, ADHD or other learning challenge or any other documented diagnosis, you should be able to get the accommodation of a reduced course load, as well as extensions on papers and excused absences etc.
Right now, the issue of getting caught up after your absence for the funeral is a separate issue from your longer term apprehension about functioning. You should be back to normal so to speak, academically, after catching up. But the larger issues about your future loom.
Finish your associates and try to get trained for a job that you like. Then , if you truly want a 4 year degree, do it over a longer period of time in one of the many programs geared to that path.