I really want to take time off from school, but I don't want to suffer with the consequences.

Parents Forum
1

Hey everyone,

I’m in my third year of college. I’m studying Biology. I’ve been doing poorly in college for the past three years. My GPA right now is a 2.8. Semester after semester I keep making the same mistakes. I procrastinate, I get distracted, I put off assignments, homework, reading, etc. I know I shouldn’t do this and I tell myself each semester, “Okay I’m going to do things differently this semester, I don’t want to make the same mistakes in the past.” However, I go right back to my old habits of procrastination, not studying, and not doing my work.

I find the reason why I keep doing this is because I’m not motivated. Instead of studying or doing my homework, I would rather watch YouTube videos or surf the internet. When I know I have an exam coming up in the next two or three weeks I tell myself, “Oh I have plenty of time to study, I’m good.” I end up wasting a lot of time, and the weeks fly by. Then I find myself two days before the exam, not prepared and not have studied. I get too comfortable knowing that I have a lot of time to study, then time flies by. Instead of studying, I do other things. When I fail exams, I don’t even feel that bad about it because it has become a bad habit.

I feel horrible because my mother asks, how am I doing in my classes. I lie and tell her I’m doing well, because I’m too afraid to tell her I’m doing poorly. She’s going to be pissed because I keep making the same mistakes, and she took out a loan to cover my tuition. She’s going to feel like she is wasting her money.

The reason why I’m doing poorly is because I don’t really want to be in school right now. I want to take time off to sort out what I want to do with my life. The only thing that’s keeping me from doing that is my student loans will start to go in repayment, and I would lose grant money from my school. They can’t defer their grants. I lost my scholarship twice for not being able to maintain the GPA requirement.

I had a 3.9 GPA in high school and was number seven of my class. Now I’m struggling in college. High school was easy, but college isn’t. I believe I wasn’t ready for college and it’s reflecting in my GPA.

I don’t know what I should do. I don’t want to keep doing poorly in my classes, and being further in debt. So what should I do?

2

Can you take a years leave of absence? Get a job. Take the year to evaluate what you are doing.

Then…hopefully go back and finish that last year.

Other option…could you go part time?

3

I’d suggest that you seek out counseling at your college.

You can also consider taking a leave of absence for a semester or a year until your sort things out a bit.
Step one is to be honest with your mom and work together to find a plan that will work for you.

4

@thumper1 I can take a leave of absence, but after six months my student loans will go into repayment. Would I be able to defer them during my time off? What if I decide to get a job during my time off. Could they still be deferred? I would also lose a $3,000 per year grant from my school if I take time off. But I’m asking myself, should I take time off anyway even if I lose grant money? I don’t think it’s worth it to keep slugging my way through college, being unhappy, and doing poorly.

If I go to school part time, I will receive less money and I still won’t get that grant.

5

You should try speaking to a counselor at your college before you make any decisions.

6

First of all, speak with a counselor at your achool. They work with students like you all the time, and will have ideas for you. While you are at it, get screened for executive function issues and ADD. You might benefit from formal help in dealing with the distractions around you and in organizing your time.

If you work during a year off, you should be able to save the $3,000 you will lose when you lose the grant. That is not a big deal. Yes, your loans will come due after 6 months, but it isn’t like you have to pay them all off at once, you just need to pay a certain amount each month. Get the details from your financial aid officer. And again, if you are working, you can plan for this and have money sitting in the bank ready to go toward your debt. The loans will go back into deferment when you re-enroll in college eventually.

My biggest regret from my college years was that I didn’t take time off when I was uncertain about my career goals and burned out. I powered through because of my loans and fear of loss of other financial aid. If you can work out a good way to take the time off, I say go for it.