Hey everyone I’m a high school junior and I have a 1.3 gpa, yes I know this its sad but I feel lost right now as I don’t know what to do. I’ve been considering dropping out and getting a GED so that I could attend a community college to bring my GPA up and then hopefully transfer to a university to pursue what I want to major in (Metaphysics/Theoretical Physics or astronomy).
What is the reason for 1.3 gpa?
Failed most of my classes mainly because I never did any homework. Always understood the material and got good grades on my tests but for the most part I just refused to do the homework, which now in hindsight I regret.
Unless homework accounts for well over 50% of your grade in each class, the numbers don’t seem to make sense…
Will you be able to graduate? If so, then I would stay in high school and get a regular diploma.
Do you live under a rock? There was lots of publicity recently about the fact that the GED has been made much harder. People actually sit in all day classes to learn enough to pass. How is that easier than high school? GED is not recognized by many employers. It shows you lack the discipline to do basic high school. You will always be at a disadvantage. It’s a flag that you might have been in detention, jail or a mental health hospital. Man or woman up and repeat the classes you need. You should major in something realistic because you’ve already proven you hate to study.
I agree with @bjkmom and @OspreyCV22; you should treat this as a (harsh) lesson learned, man up, and find a way to graduate HS or obtain a GED. Try to figure out exactly where things went wrong - were you too lazy, or did you not budget your time well, or was it some other reason?
I was harsh but I stand by my words. It occurs to me though that you might be going to a nightmare high school or you have problems with your family or your neighborhood. Go see your guidance counselor. Be sincere. See what your school system can do to keep you from dropping out. I know my county has an alternative school with <10 kids per class. They will bend over backwards to keep a student from dropping out. It affects their Federal funds. I looked up my children’s high school and the dropout rate is .74%. That’s less than one kid per year. Even a move to a school across town might give you a fresh start.
Also in my state it is illegal to drop out before age 18. Are your parents ready for some push back from the authorities or is it legal where you live? Good luck. Finish this year. There are kids who will graduate with lower GPA’s than you have now.
Sorry, I posted last night from the ER on my Ipad, It was too much of a nuisance to post much.
Here’s what I suggest:
- Try very hard to stay in school. You want a HS diploma, not a GED, for a wide variety of reasons. First and foremost, there’s no negative connotation to a diploma. A GED shouts “I had trouble getting through high school.” There’s no reason to broadcast that message. The reality is that once you get into any post-secondary job or schooling, no one cares any longer about that GPA. So hang in there and graduate.
- The point behind my earlier question was this: I strongly, strongly suspect that your low grades are NOT just a function of a lack of homework. It simply can't be that important in determining grades. How has your attendance been? Have you gotten a number of zeros for missed tests that you chose not to make up? Or is the work really that hard?
You’ve got to start by being honest-- with yourself, not necessarily with us. You don’t have to tell us anything. But you’ve got to figure out what mistakes you’ve made in the past if you’re going to avoid repeating them in the future.
- Either way, what you've posted thus far seems to indicate that a major in "Metaphysics/Theoretical Physics or astronomy" might not be entirely practical. Those majors demand things that, up to now, you seem not to have demonstrated. You have to do well academically. You have to keep up with the assignments. Basically you have to do the things that kids with 4.0 gpas do. I'm sure there are exceptional cases. But I'm guessing they're few and far between.
- Make an appointment to see your guidance counselor. Tell her that you really do want to graduate from high school, and ask her what it's going to take. What courses that you're taking now are necessary to pass-- and which ones are you confident you can pass? What can you do over the summer to help? And what coursework do you need next year? This isn't a time for pie-in-the sky promises. Nope, it's time for academic triage. Which courses do you have the best odds of passing? And what do you do about the ones you're not likely to pass?
Concentrate between now and the end of the school year (31 teaching days for kids in my school) on what you have to do to pass the courses you can, of those you need to graduate. So if you need 4 years of Phys Ed, do what it takes to pass Phys Ed. If you can graduate without that language class (and you’ll only know this after speaking to your guidance counselor!!) then it becomes a lower priority. It’s a numbers game at this point-- you want to put maximum effort into compiling enough credits to graduate. It’s not about which courses or teachers you like best, it’s a scavenger hunt for the credits you need to get that high school diploma.
- While you're in guidance, ask about making another appointment to take some sort of a career inventory test. You seem well spoken, and you seem to write well. Take a test to see what your strengths are, and which careers/ areas of study seem best suited to you.
- If you do want college, ask about those colleges that specialize in kids who haven't had a strong showing in high school. There are colleges out there for kids just like you-- "late bloomers" who didn't decide until Junior year that they wanted and needed a college education. Your guidance counselor should be able to help you here. In the time between now and that meeting, spend some time on google and on Naviance doing some preliminary research here. Realize that your guidance counselor, like every guidance counselor, has a couple of hundred kids to guide. So the majority of college research falls into your hands, not hers.
I hope that’s been of some help. Know that you’re not the first kid in this position, and you’re not in the world’s worst position. Lots and lots of kids every year find themselves having to grow up very suddenly when the idea of not graduating hits them in the face. The one huge advantage you have is your age-- you still have a whole year to get it together.
Good luck to you!