<p>Hello everyone,
I recently finished my first semester of college at a top liberal arts school and it was an absolute disaster. I ended up with a 2.5 GPA (C-, C+, two B's), which is a huge disappointment after ending high school with a 3.8 GPA. I have lived in a city my whole life, and I didn't realize how being in an extremely rural area with a completely different social scene would affect me. Half way through the semester I became very depressed, to the point where I couldn't even get myself out of bed in the morning. I am now on antidepressants and talking to a therapist, so I am doing much better emotionally, but am concerned about going back again after break.
Ideally, I would like to transfer, but I know that my first semester GPA is a huge issue. I ended high school with a bunch of awards, I was the captain of 2 varsity teams, and received a 2220 on the SAT, but I know such a low GPA is nearly impossible to overlook.
One option I am considering is taking a little while off school to work, then reapplying to other colleges as a transfer. I don't know anyone who has taken this route, so I'm not sure if this a viable option.
In hindsight, the college I chose was not a great fit for me, but I want to figure out what the best option for my future is, whether it be sticking it out a my current school, transferring now, or transferring later. I would truly appreciate any advice. Thanks and Happy New Year!</p>
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What school do you have in mind?</p>
<p>Talk to your parent and also to your high school counselor.</p>
<p>I really have no idea what schools I should be looking at. I’m sure that the list of schools I should be looking at now are very different than the schools I applied to last year, so I honestly have no idea where to start.</p>
<p>Are you on a sports team at your current college?</p>
<p>I’m not currently playing any sports. I ran cross country and swam in high school, but my times are too slow for either sport at my college.</p>
<p>Well, you are doing the most important thing possible by getting your depression treated. Hard to tell whether it was the rural thing that caused it, though a friend of mine couldn’t stand her small rural LAC (and now lives in a small rural town and loves it). My son, my H and I loved our 3 different little rural LACs. I’m a psychologist and so many mental health issues surface in the late teens and early 20s. If you hate the idea of going back to campus, maybe a gap semester is the answer, but if you are getting help, you might want to go back and ramp up your GPA a bit. You are not failing, though it may feel so to you. You’re not on the Dean’s list, but you’re not failing. My son got his first bad grade in college. He never told us what it was but he ended up graduating Phi Beta Kappa eventually. Just do not give up on yourself for a minute! You are obviously a great student. Anyone who hasn’t ever had a difficult time is probably boring.</p>
<p>Talk to us about who you are as a person and a student and we might be able to be more helpful. For me, I’m probably going to sleep soon, so maybe not tonight. What is it about your school that doesn’t seem to fit? You don’t need to identify the school at all, of course. Better not to, but just pros and cons for you. I’ve also attended the huge U of MN and Cornell Nursing School in NYC (program doesn’t exist anymore) and Arizona State for a PhD, so I’ve about run the gamut. My small LAC was Antioch in Ohio, my H went to Oberlin and my son to Grinnell.</p>
<p>Looking back on your original post, yes it is a viable option to take time off, work (volunteer work ok) and transfer. Your high school record still stands, colleges understand about health issues and tough semesters. I’ll say it again, you didn’t fail, you just had a challenging first semester.</p>
<p>For my son, I looked at the personality of a school (the Fisk Guide helped there) so he could figure out where to apply. He’s a quirky, nerdy guy who didn’t want frats or big sports on his campus. The city campuses he applied to were Macalester, Goucher, Reed and Lewis & Clark. You might be looking for something really different.</p>
<p>Hi bethievt! Thank you very much for your posts. Here are some pros and cons of my current school.
Pros:
-great education
-beautiful campus
-small classes
Cons:
-EXTREMELY remote town
-very small school student body
-combination of small school and small town means that I see the same people every day, which is very strange coming from Manhattan.</p>
<p>The social scene has also been a challenge for me. At least among my group of friends, the only option on the weekend is drinking. I don’t mind drinking occasionally, but from my experience, most of my friends only want to drink Friday and Saturday night, and feel so horrible during the day on Saturday and Sunday that they don’t want to do anything. Freshman can’t have cars, so I often feel extremely isolated being stuck on campus for usually a month at a time.</p>
<p>I would LOVE to be able to transfer to a school like Northeastern (I was accepted last year with merit aid but turned down the offer), but I know a 2.5 GPA won’t cut it. My main concern about taking a year off is that I function my best when I am extremely busy and have a ton of stuff on my plate, so taking some time off may not be a good idea for me.</p>
<p>Thanks again for the great advice. I am really looking forward to getting back on the right track, it’s just very difficult to figure out what the best path to take is.</p>
<p>xtransfer - Do some research. It is often difficult to get merit aid as a transfer. </p>
<p>Regardless of your plans, do try to add EXERCISE to your daily routine. It seems that many students (especially former atheletes) get caught up in academics in college and don’t give their body the workout it needs. Perhaps you could even find a running buddy.</p>
<p>I fortunately don’t need any financial aid, which will hopefully make the process of transferring easier if I choose to take that route.</p>
<p>I didn’t realize what a huge impact not being on a sports team or exercising regularly would have, but I have definitely been trying to workout more often. It’s a little disheartening to no longer be able to run like I did in the past, but I’ll get there. I didn’t eat very much over the few months and lost a lot of weight, so I’m trying to gain some weight back and get into better shape.</p>
<p>I second the exercise idea - intermurals may be a good option? A hundred years ago, I attended a small college in a dull area. There was a TREMENDOUS amount of drinking, and like you we saw the same people all the time. I didn’t start off well my freshman year, but it got much better once I adjusted and found good friends. That said, I tried to convince DD to go to a similar school, and was somewhat disappointed when she chose a school in an urban area. Not only does she love it, but she says that becuase it is urban it is much easier not to drink. As she says, the fact that there are lots of fun options that don’t involve drinking close to campus means that the drinking is more of a choice than a requirement. I would vote giving it another semester, and then considering an urban school or one that is close to an urban area. Don’t be surprised if this semester is much better than last - you know what to expect, and you are ready with new strategies!</p>
<p>First semester is an adjustment for so many kids. While transferring or a gap can, indeed, be the right move, can you stick it out for the rest of this year, maybe even next year, bring the grades up, experiment with some academics, give yourself time to explore those other options? Find a running buddy, put yourself on a swim schedule, get involved in some meaningful activities, etc. </p>
<p>You were capt of 2 varsity teams in hs- if the first half of a season hadn’t gone well, you clearly stuck it out, worked harder, played smarter. I hope you can translate that to this challenge. Then see what turns out to be your next good move. After the right time to learn a bit more about your strengths, needs- and what you want and need in the next place. Good luck.</p>
<p>X- my son had a huge transition going to a small LAC where he no longer played a sport (3 sport athlete, two sport captain in HS). It was definitely a redefining year for him in the way of “if I am not a student athlete, what am I?” kind of way. And like you, he always seemed to do his best when faced with a full plate. And since he had been used to being known, vs having to put himself out there, his entire social life was a little off kilter too. He earned the first C of his life first semester freshman year and even thought about transferring sophomore year.</p>
<p>So from this point of view I offer the following advice:</p>
<p>While I can’t say if finishing off the year is the right choice, I do think keeping up the exercise is good for you. As a cross country runner, NOT running is going to be worse on you than a lot of other people. S ended up doing an Iron Man (modified) for a fund raiser and joined a group that took local kids under their wings (sort of a big brother/big sister kind of thing). While never a joiner in HS, hanging out with a kid who will never have the opportunities he’s had was an eye opener. Plus, time spent was usually on the weekend days, which had the additional benefit of giving him the opportunity to meet other kids on campus. Even with a small school, there are kids you’d never meet otherwise. And finally, as great a student as he was in HS, not playing in college was a loss. So… as hard as it was, he finally embraced his nerdy side, which was a lot harder than it sounds.</p>
<p>It was definitely an identity crisis for him, which yes, probably caused some depression and in his depression he sort of shut out a lot of other opportunities/people in the process and ended up isolating himself. Whether you stick it out for the year with the goal to bring up your grades (and maybe run a marathon in the spring?), it’s my opinion that focusing on shorter term goals might be beneficial to a longer term plan.</p>