<p>Here is the general story:
My parents gave me $125k for college. I can't get financial aid because my dad's income is in the top 5th percentile, so there is no way I could get need based aid. However, my parents prefer to spend their money on other stuff like cars, vacations, houses, etc. Plus, they didn't trust that I could manage my money well. They were right. I blew through about 40 grand by going to a good, private university (and the rest of the cost was covered by a scholarship that would increase the next year if I did a good job). I pretty much failed my freshman year.. I think out of the 32 credits I took, I think I got like.. 16. I spend my time getting trashed, being self absorbed in my sorority, fooling around with frat boys, experimenting with things I shouldn't, etc.
Even if my university doesn't kick me out, I don't know if going back is the best idea for me. In fact, it's obviously not. I am disgusted by what I have become.. this summer I got an internship through a friend in NYC, but I think it might be a good idea to go home and start over at a community college. I was wondering if my previous record could be kept out of my records in any way - and if after 2 years at a CC I'd be able to transfer to a good university, granted I do well. My home state is CA. My parents pretty much don't care what I do, and I guess I just need some guidance... or should I stay at my university and try to turn my act around there.. but I think that would make me broke since I have no more scholarship...??</p>
<p>came for the lulz, stayed for the epic lulz.</p>
<p>I hate to do this, but someone has to be the one to say it: You’ve wasted a grand opportunity. There’s millions of people in this country (such as myself) who would give their right arm to be able to have their parents openly throw hundreds of thousands of dollars at them for their education, but you’ve wasted it. It just sickens me to think that such prodigal habits are still being practiced while there are millions of people whose parents have just lost their jobs and depend on financial aid and egregious private loans for a slim hope of paying for school. </p>
<p>Whatever though, I’m not your parent, or your judge, so I’ll end my rant now. Sorry, but your situation just really didn’t sit well with me.</p>
<p>However, I will answer some of your questions. To my knowledge, you can have your current college disavow the knowledge of these former bad grades from your record through a meeting with several heads of the school, such as the dean (I’m not sure exactly what this process is called, but I’m sure someone on this board will know.) Be that as it may, I’m sure that this chance at redemption is extremely hard to come by since we’d all probably like to have a grade or two removed from our records, and your stories of messing around with frat guys and not really caring about classes most likely won’t suffice. With that being said, those classes that you flunked are most likely going to stay with you for the rest of your undergrad career. I’m not sure what you’re gpa is right now, but I’m going to guess that its going to take a couple of semesters of straight A’s in order to make it decent.</p>
<p>If I were you, I’d go to a community college. That way, you won’t have all of the distractions that you’d face by living on a large college campus, and you won’t even be paying half of what you’re paying now. There’s really nothing to lose.</p>
<p>Once again, sorry for the rant, but I just can’t see how someone could be given the silver spoon and throw it in the trash while most American college kids have to swim through your dumpster, looking to possibly catch a remnant of your opulence.</p>
<p>Yeah. I like East89’s advice. Go to a community college and work. Get as good of a GPA as possible. Transfer after one or two years to whatever school you can afford. If you play your cards right, you might be able to graduate with money in the bank and not a load of debt. </p>
<p>Good luck.</p>
<p>honestly? i think you should just take a semester off and get a minimum wage job and grow up a little. what’s to stop you from throwing away the next year at community college? have you stopped to take a look as to why you threw away your freshman year? </p>
<p>what strikes me is that you did it for an entire year, not just one semester. i think you need to stop and take a look at YOURSELF before you restart at a community college. you can change the environment, but you need to change yourself, too.</p>
<p>yea, scratch my advice and go with missamericanpie. You really have some deep self assessment to do before you go back to college, whether that be a community college or private university. Bad habits are hard to break, especially when your will was so weak that you allowed yourself to slip into such detrimental activities which could have a large effect on your future.</p>
<p>umm I’m pretty sure my parents wouldn’t let me not do anything with my life and get a minimum wage job. My choices are travel or do some sort of schooling.</p>
<p>Kitson452, what is your GPA at this school?</p>
<p>hahah i wish i was a rich california girl…</p>
<p>haven’t gotten my 2nd semester grades yet, but probably like a 2.0… maybe lower. I did well in the classes I didn’t fail… but I guess that doesn’t say much</p>
<p>also… would I have to be honest about my past college experience?</p>
<p>kitson, that situation sucks, and im sure a lot of ppl on here cant really understand where youre coming from, but dont worry i do 
look what you gotta do is not necessarily change everything about you, or even yourself that much… i hang out with a tons of partying rich kids(like the people i grew up with) and they all do well in school too…<br>
what you need to do is change your priorities! why are you at college? to get an education. to set yourself up for the future. right ? then dont throw away your future on partying!<br>
im not saying dont party, definitely party, live your life, do the crazy stuff youll never be able to do later, BUT PRIORITIZE SCHOOL! and anyone on here who tells you not to party is just being ridiculous… seriously, live your life, have a good time, but do well in school while doing it
you remind me of a friend of mine, shes the craziest party girl i know, like seriously crazy… yet she managed to get a 4.0 in swedens(where im from) #1 high school and get into the best business school in the country… she parties waaay more than most people, but she knows school is the most important and when she studies, she studies.</p>
<p>to me it seems like youve changed a bit, youve realized its not ok what youre doing so pull yourself together, prioritize, and learn to fight temptation… as for frat guys 
if youre gonna be hooking up with them, you might as well get something else out of it, like homework help and stuff </p>
<p>i know a lot of people may not find this post very good/likeable/correct/whatever, but i dont care… i think ive given the soundest advice here… because it seems to me like none of the other comments really know what its like to come from having a lot of money and partying… anyway, we all make mistakes, learn from them, grow :)</p>
<p>^ thanks for that
finally one non-bitterjealous hater</p>
<p>Stop hatin, bros.</p>
<p>Go to CC. If you pull up your GPA you probably could transfer to a private or even a UC after 2 years at CC. Which metropolitan area are you located in? You should research your CCs and find a good fit for you.</p>
<p>All is not lost. You still have presumably 85K in the bank. That’s a fortune when going to public schools, especially if you work part-time to supplement it. I know kids with zero in the bank/money from parents who work their way through CC and manage to live on their own.</p>
<p>Take a semester where you are going full time (to meet your parent’s requirement) but the courses are ones you feel confident in passing. You need a successful semester under your belt.</p>
<p>Don’t take this as defeat, but the first step in taking charge of your life and constructing something worthwhile and meaningful. You aren’t the first to make these kinds of mistakes. What will separate you is how you respond to it.</p>
<p>Good luck,</p>
<p>Annika</p>
<p>thanks annika! I live close to De Anza College (in the Bay Area), which has the highest rate of transfer to UC’s or something like that in CA, so that’s good. I think that’s what I’m gonna do!</p>
<p>Great! De Anza is the quarter system, so the classes fly by fast. Just letting you know to be prepared for that if you haven’t experienced that before. If you want a CC with a semester system, West Valley College is an option and they have a solid Honors Program which perhaps after you get your GPA up you could look into. Foothill College also has a strong Honors Program and transfer program. In the South Bay area, those would be the 3 I’d recommend looking into. PM me if you have any specific questions that I could help you with!</p>
<p>Annika</p>
<p>I totally understand where you’re coming from in terms of your financial situation, I have free tuition at NYU but I’m not going back because I HATED it. People constantly hate on me and tell me that I’m wasting $200K opportunity and I’m getting so sick of hearing about it. I’m just going to do what makes me happy and so should you!! Life’s too short, right?</p>
<p>My advice would be to travel around a semester and then maybe enroll in a community college to get your gpa up. Then maybe apply somewhere else–the CA community college system is amazing and it’s not tooo hard to transfer from a CC to a UC if you keep your grades up. </p>
<p>Or hey, college isn’t for everyone and its REALLY okay if you don’t go back. You’re fortunate enough to be in a fabulous financial situation, so take advantage of it!! Do something crazy for a bit, something that makes you truly happy and will help you find yourself and figure sh-t out :)</p>
<p>And, yes you will have to include copies of the academic transcript from this first bad year of college when you apply to transfer. BUT that is OK. Because by then you are going to have two years or so of solid grades from the community college, and you will be able to write a terrific transfer essay on how much you have learned from your mistakes. LOTS of people turn their lives around this way every single year!</p>
<p>You are going to be just fine.</p>
<p>Wishing you all the best!</p>
<p>Thanks guys, everyone who has provided me with positive feedback has made me feel a lot better about my situation - and a lot more confident about future success! =)
Do you think that whatever schools I apply to after the 2 years @ CC will attribute my improvement to the fact that i was not in a ‘university’ environment? And would this make them uncomfortable with putting me back into such an environment (aka accepting me)?
Or should having a solid transcript/ maybe getting a job/ activities be enough?</p>
<p>kitson,</p>
<p>I empathize with your situation; I come from a very affluent family myself, however, I did all of my partying in high school, during my junior and senior years. This caused my GPA to go from a 4.0 UW to a 2.0! A little disgraced, after graduation I went to Santa Monica College, a CC out here in LA, and the rest is history. Without any distractions like frat parties and keggers I’m excelling; once in a while I’ll go out and party with friends from UCLA and USC. I’m sure you have the academic capacity to succeed–you did get into a private university. As for me, I currently have a 4.0 GPA and I plan to apply to UCLA, USC, Stanford, UNC, and Syracuse–places I could never dream of a year ago. </p>
<p>As for your question: “Do you think that whatever schools I apply to after the 2 years @ CC will attribute my improvement to the fact that i was not in a ‘university’ environment? And would this make them uncomfortable with putting me back into such an environment (aka accepting me)?”</p>
<p>I’m fairly certain that the schools you apply to will understand that you have matured over the last 2 years. Plus, you’ll have a great essay and story to bring to the table come admissions time–colleges like that. Good luck with everything and PM me if you need some advice!</p>