Long story short: my 4 year plan is ruined and I’m not sure what to do about it.
I’ll be junior in the fall (well according to my credits I’m not but this will be my 3rd year at my college) and my GPA is currently a 2.0…maybe 1.9 or 1.8 at this point since I just failed one of my summer courses. I know that’s terrible and how it got to that point is a long story.
Anyway, I planned on majoring in social work, but at my college you have to apply to that major and one of the requirements is a 2.8 GPA or better. I’m obviously nowhere near a 2.8 and this is a huge problem because social work majors have a very specific sequence of classes they have to take starting junior year. Since I won’t be eligible to take them, I’m basically just stuck. I’m not sure what to do now. I really don’t want to change my major because nothing else interests me. Social work is truly my passion and I’d be heartbroken if I left college without my BSW. I know my GPA is the outcome of my poor decisions, but I really need help figuring how to recover from this. Should I just stay in undergrad for an extra year or 2 taking random classes to boost my GPA then apply to my major later? Any advice is appreciated.
Three big questions that come to mind immediately:
First, how did you get a 2.0 GPA? Did you party too much and not study? Was the work just too difficult? There is no point in continuing to spend money to attend university unless you can fix this issue.
Secondly, what do your finances look like? Are you taking on loans to attend university? Can you afford to attend university for 5 or 6 years?
Have you spoken to your academic advisor at your university? If so, what did she or he say about your situation?
If you honestly believe you are capable of completing the work of the upper level classes for Social Work, speak to an advisor to find out what your options are. One more year isn’t likely to get you to that desired 2.8, even 2 years is iffy, unless you school allows you to retake classes and only country the retake as part of your GPA. Economically, you best bet might be to transfer out and complete an associates degree elsewhere, and then transfer back in - you will have to find out if you would need to reapply as a transfer student, or if you could simply be readmitted as a returning student. Find out how they would determine your eligibility for Social Work if you did so.
The other problem with taking “random” classes is limits on the number of credits - again, speak with an advisor. To remain in good standing, you might have to be making adequate progress, and that might include the percentage of your degree plan completed as a percentage of the credits earned. You might be better off changing majors, and looking into a graduate program in SW to augment a BA or BS in something like psychology
I agree that your first step is to talk with an academic advisor. I suspect you are going to have to retake at least a few classes. Maybe you will be able to get the head of the department to waive the GPA requirment if you can convince them of your true passion for social work. Or you might just have to major in something else and go for a masters.
@DadTwoGirls No partying, I just lack motivation and self discipline to be honest. I don’t know why, I have a passion. Just no drive to match it. As far as finances, everything is being paid for by grants and loans. Mainly loans. Can I afford to stay for an additional 3 or 4 years? Maybe…as long as I spend the rest of my life paying back loans. Not sure if that’s something I’m interested in though. And I haven’t gotten a chance to meet with an advisor yet.
@CTScoutmom My college allows retakes and will only count the high grade, but I’ve already taken 4 or 5 classes over. I’m not sure if I can retake anymore. And I have considered going to the local CC but I wouldn’t have anywhere to live. My dorm is my home due to a toxic family situation. I also considered picking up a second major so I can stay an extra year or so, but like you said achieving a 2.8 in 2 years is iffy. I feel like if I switch majors I could graduate on time but my GPA will still be low and I’ll have no chance of getting into grad school.
@Lindagaf Yeah I’ll try to schedule appointment for next week to speak with one. I haven’t had a chance to since I’ve been busy working 2 jobs. I’m also going to try speaking to the social work department, but it’s a competitive program so I doubt they’ll be able to waive anything.
Grants run out; they won’t continue to fund you. Loans will be even worse, given the limited pay that social workers make and the overwhelming abundance of social workers applying for menial jobs. Loans will not be forgiven; someone has to pay that money back.
I agree with everyone that you need to speak to an advisor. You need to begin increasing your hours with tutors and, if you can’t find the motivation and discipline to complete class work, then you are wasting the government’s money, as well as your own.
I suggest you stop college for now and get a job. In a few years you may find that you acquire the drive and motivation required. My brother was very similar to you. He quit, worked and saved. He finally decided at age 28 that he was ready. He returned to finish his undergrad and then went on to law school. He never would have made it that far if he had not taken a break.
“I also considered picking up a second major so I can stay an extra year”
What does this mean?
Why do you have the idea that you should go to grad school? You should take a break from school and work to make money and determine if you ever want to go to back to school. You are burning cash by going to college and failing your courses. It’s throwing away money that could affect you for the rest of your life because of the loans.
There are a lot of jobs out there you could try to get something in social work so you could see how it is and how it pays. Even administrative job in a government office would be helpful.
@suzyQ7 I just figured in this day and age a master’s is required. Almost every social worker I’ve met told me a master’s is the only way to surviving in the field. I guess taking a break would be smart but I’m just not ready to face my living situation since I basically depend on the dorms. And what I meant by picking up a second major is if I decide to take up another major I’ll have to stay longer to complete all of the requirements. My idea was that: find second major->spend this upcoming fall and spring semester taking necessary classes for second major->after a year my gpa will hopefully get to 2.8 or close enough for acceptance into social work program->start social work classes. But I’m not feeling too confident in this plan…
I agree with others that it sounds like you would be better off taking some time off from university. The grants are likely to run out soon, or at least before you graduate. The loans are going to be a problem down the road and it is better to have 2 years of loans than to have 3 or 4, and still no degree. It doesn’t sound as if you are going to suddenly turn into an A student.
The majority of Americans never get a university degree and do fine anyway. However, many others take time off from university and then return and do well.
I don’t think that university is working for you right now, and piling up additional loans to me seems like a bad idea.
Respectfully, you don’t have a passion, you like the idea.
People with a passion get it done, not to put too fine a point on it.
Maybe college is not for you at this moment in time?
If the fact you are taking out loans that you will have to repay someday hasn’t motivated you to put the work in by now what do you think would motivate you? Be honest with yourself here. The worst lie you can tell is the one you tell yourself.
Think seriously about who you are and what you are prepared to do to reach your goal. If you are not prepared to put the (now much harder) work in maybe stop borrowing money and consider getting a job. Take time away from college. Maybe you’ll never return or maybe you will.
One of the great things about America is that you can reinvent yourself, several times if need be. Nowhere loves a second act quite like the US. It might feel catastrophic right now but you have options. That’s the good news. The bad news is, short of winning the lottery, all of your options invole hard work.
Part of the problem, you have, is that you don’t seem to understand your program. Plus, you don’t appear disciplined enough to get the grades you need to complete your degree. The BSW won’t make you very employable so you have to do grad school.
Getting an MSW requires an internship, which means more study, which means more loans. You won’t get any other grants or scholarships in grad school. In our facility, that was 9 months of free work from our interns. The facility liked the freebie work, but none were offered jobs because our facility would get a new batch of MSW’s. We had 10 graduating MSW’s in our facility, and few found jobs worth their loans and their time spent working for free. One gal had $240K in loans! How do you pay that back with a job that pays $20 hr before taxes?
Take the time off. Your living situation is all the reason more to do so. I don’t know what part of being a social worker appealed to you, but I know people who work (yes, paid positions) in non-profits who don’t have any degrees or only their AA. Stop wasting your time and your money. Take a few years off, work for a bit, and get a stable situation going so you’re ready to hit the ground running. You don’t need a masters by 25 or anything to be successful.
The good news: there are ways to be useful to society doing things that are similar to social work. … without being a social worker. An obvious one is becoming a guidance counselor. You’d need to switch to Teaching, get a psychology or cognitive studies minor – and you’d have to read this website assiduously, every day. But it’d be a clear path. There’d be a Master’s in counseling down the road after you’ve worked a while but not immediately. You’d be useful to kids and families, especially if you start working in under served communities, rural areas, the inner city. You could become the point person for homeless students.
Plan to graduate in 5 years. Most public university students do. But dont take random classes - use the credits to build your resume and a transcript that makes sense wrt your purported professional goals.
I would recommend staying at your college to bring your GPA up to a 2.0+, then transferring to an instate public university that used to be a normal school /teachers’ college. You can’t transfer unless you have a 2.0 or 2.5, meaning you need to aim for straight As and Bs. That means doing the reading, taking notes, writing questions that you can ask at office hours - and goinf to office hours every week or so. Always go to class. Get a tutor in all subjects and meet right away - the goal isn’t just to pass, the goal is to get an A. Join study sessions - or organize one. Become a model student. Don’t expect grades to magically become As - all these months and years of slacking off and procrastinating have left traces in your brain. You’ll have to work hard to create new habits and retrain your brain. But it can be done.
Get evaluated for add inattentive. It CAN be an issue that flies under the radar, especially when students are underachieving.
Wow, great post @MYOS1634 . This is when CC is at its best.
OP, you have had some great advice here. You’ve done a good thing by coming here looking for help. Follow up on this. Remember you are young. It’s okay to make mistakes, but try to rectify them. Best of luck to you, and keep us updated.
I think you have not lived up to your responsibility by taking other people’s money to finance your education without putting forth the requisite academic effort. Continuing along the same path with more school (as you did with your second academic year) will only exacerbate a bad situation. You should work to repay the loans ASAP and then re-focus on a career path.