<p>Hi. A few months ago I came on here asking for advice on colleges and trying to get my GPA up. I tried me hardest my senior year and took 6/7 core classes and in the end ended up with a 2.87 unweighted GPA. I guess when I did my calculation I diet take out the extra 5 points in my honor french classes...When I told me dad he became very upset. He tOld me I can't use any of my grad money and that I must save or for college and that he's finding me work for the rest of the summer. I'm really upset and don't know what to do. My parents are having to put together money they don't have, when I Know my sister is right behind me and they're divorced. I feel extremely stupid and everytime I think about it I cry. All my friends have itand tell me that "anybody can have it", but I don't. The college o was going to was Valdosta State. I would need 13,105$ for a year. My best friend told me ican regain it in a year...but idk..I'm losing so much hope..what do I do? My dad said he doesn't want me to struggle like he did and I don't want him and my mom to struggle b/c of me? What do I do? Help please? :(</p>
<p>Well, I don’t know about how to try for the HOPE scholarship the second year around, but it seems to me that your dad has laid out a very good plan for what you can do: save all of your graduation money and get a summer job to add additional savings to put towards college. When you start school, try to get a work study or other part time job. That’s how you can help out with this situation. Other than that, your parents have to figure out their own financial piece. It’s not up to you to worry about or decide what they can spend or what is a struggle. They’re the adults here and it’s their money, they can dispose of it how they want. If they want to spend it on your education, you should be grateful, and just try to help out in whatever way you can. Maybe you can help your Dad by going out and looking for a summer job, so the burden for that isn’t all on him.</p>
<p>Take a breath. I’m sure you are disappointed because you feel ‘everyone’ got the scholarship and you just missed it. ‘Everyone’ doesn’t get it, really. I’m not trying to diminish your feelings at all, simply point out that you are not in the minority here. It’s good that you are concerned about how much college will cost, and that your parents will have other obligations. Many kids don’t have that insight. However as S&Proud pointed out let your parents make those difficult decisions. </p>
<p>You’ve already identified that getting a job to offset the cost is something you can do. You can also try to meet with an advisor at your university as soon as possible to find out what requirements you must meet to qualify for the HOPE scholarship next year. Print these out and post them either near your desk, in a organizer/agenda, etc., where you will see it often and can stay motivated. Try to meet with someone in late spring if you are on track to meet the goals to see if there is anything you need to do. Also see if there are any scholarships available for upperclassmen within your major that you may qualify for. Being proactive in this area will show your parents you are doing all you can and will help.</p>
<p>Best of luck to you.</p>
<p>I’m sure you know this, but whatever it takes to get the Hope Scholarship next year, try not to shave it so close. You want a cushion in case you get sick, you run into an unreasonable professor or something else unforseen happens. Good luck on finding a job and remember you can work weekends or evenings too - plenty of people need babysitters and yardwork. Every little bit counts.</p>
<p>I know this isn’t what you were hoping for, but this isn’t the end of the world.</p>
<p>BTW, for the above posters, you only qualify for HOPE after HS. You can’t not qualify and then get good grades freshman year and qualify.</p>
<p>First off, you need to pick yourself up. Plenty of people are in your position. You need to save all your grad money (or better yet, just give it to your parents so you aren’t tempted to spend it) and find a job immediately doing whatever - it just has to pay. </p>
<p>Your parents are trying to provide for you, which you should be thankful for. Don’t worry about them taking loans or whatever - if they didn’t want to, they wouldn’t because they don’t have to. </p>
<p>I do think it might be a good idea for you to attend CC for your first two years. Costs are significantly cheaper and depending on where you live in GA you can live at home and keep a job to save up money. Plus many of the schools in GA have guaranteed transfer agreements with the CCs in the state, where as long as you get a certain GPA you will be able to transfer into that school, whether it’s UGA or Valdosta. Please keep this option open.</p>
<p>Check out the GAcollege411 website and read the requirements.</p>
<p><a href=“https://secure.gacollege411.org/Financial_Aid_Planning/HOPE_Program/Earn_a_3.0_cumulative_grade_point_average_.aspx[/url]”>https://secure.gacollege411.org/Financial_Aid_Planning/HOPE_Program/Earn_a_3.0_cumulative_grade_point_average_.aspx</a></p>
<p>“Earn a 3.0 cumulative grade point average after attempting 30, 60, or 90 semester hours, or 45, 90, or 135 quarter hours of college degree-level credit, regardless of high school graduation status
A student who graduated high school before 1993 or any other student who was not academically eligible for the HOPE Scholarship as an entering college freshman may become eligible for the HOPE Scholarship after attempting 30, 60, or 90 semester hours or 45, 90, or 135 quarter hours of study with a 3.00 cumulative grade point average at the college level.”</p>
<p>You should be eligible to apply for Hope after you have completed 30 hours of coursework and earned a 3.0 gpa. </p>
<p>Have you filled out all of financial aid forms for Valdosta? You might be eligible for aid or work study.</p>
<p>Try to stay calm and work hard this summer to earn as much as you can. Best of luck to you.</p>
<p>I did I think. I received about 4,500 for my pell grant and 5,500 on student loans. My mom told me she just finished something and I should receive an award letter soon…I have an immense feeling of guilt and stupidity right now…and my dad really wants me to go to Valdosta…</p>
<p>Stop feeling so guilty and stupid. Also, 5,500/year in loans is a lot for a school like Valdosta.</p>
<p>I graduated with a 2.01 GPA by the end of high school. The Monday after my graduation, I started taking classes at GPC (GA Perimeter College) for the summer, 11 hours to be exact. Then I made sure to take at least 19 hours in the fall so that I could qualify for HOPE as soon as I possibly could. I got it for the spring semester. Shrug. It’s not difficult. What you should really be asking yourself is if going to Valdosta over GPC is going to be worth all the money you’re taking out for that year. In my case, it helped immensely for me (I go to Georgia Southern) because I met a few professors who I’m doing physics research with now, and I’m even publishing a paper later this year because of that. I definitely planned for this by contacting professors ahead of time. Had I not thought that this would’ve benefited me in several ways, I would have gone to GPC for a year.</p>
<p>You just have to calm down, and realize that no, not everyone gets HOPE the first time 'round. I did much worse than you’re doing now, almost by an entire point. College is easy, if you put in the time. Just do what I did, and get it done.</p>
<p>I firmly believe some kids are just late bloomers. Resolve to work hard, take advantage of academic skills resources on campus, and become one of them.</p>
<p>great advice so far. i’d only add this: try very hard to be honest with yourself and find out where you ‘went wrong’ with your grades (time management, procrastination, not knowing when to ask for help?). make sure you think about this so that you can improve on that area in the future.</p>
<p>and good luck!</p>