Is it too late to change my future?

Its the second semester of my Sophomore year in high school and my grades are terrible. My Freshman year GPA was a 2.2 with failing history. This year I just have not pull through. My grades are comparably the same or even worse. I had been skipping classes due to my depression and anxiety issues, though I dont plan on letting anyone know. But now I want to change, I really do. I have pretty much 2 more years of high school and I really want to have the best chane possible to make it into a University. I live in Seattle, so University of Washington is basically a go to. I really want to have a decent job when I grow up and going to a University is one of the “easiest” way. Would it be possible? With a average GPA of 2 would it be possible for me to raise it for me to get a decent chance? I really am committed to change my habits for the better. I also plan on retaking some classes if possible to raise my GPA. Anything you guys would recommend me doing?

Let’s see, if you haven’t committed a violent felony where you’ll be tried as an adult (I assume that you haven’t), then it’s not too late to change your future.

Make an appointment with your school psychologist to discuss your depression and anxiety issues. What will most likely happen is that he or she will me with you and your parents and and may provide a list of practitioners (psychologists or psychiatrists). A psychiatrist will interview you and determine if you would benefit from being on medication. Psychologists meet with you to help you develop strategies to change your habits. This is all good for you so do it.

Next, stop worrying about your GPA. Worry about learning material. Perhaps get a tutor. Don’t take honors courses, take “college prep” courses, they are easier. You don’t apply to college for another 2 years, so you have time to build a record. Your going to have to work at it, but do the best that you can. There are colleges for everyone.

Stay off pot because it damages your young brain and harms your short-term memory, which is very bad for learning in school.

In the mean time, consider what kinds of things interest you. There are a lot of good ways to make a living. Some involve college, but some don’t.

Good luck.

It’s never too late to change your future. Step one is realizing your mistakes. Step two is taking action now that you’ve realized your mistakes. Start studying, listening to your teachers, and talking to someone you trust about it (if you have to).

So one of my kids suffered huge anxiety throughout hs and then fell into a depression. At some point we as a family realized that this is “just” high school and we could all chill about it. No matter how badly he did, or even if he dropped out and got his GED, he would have a bright future ahead of him.

I mean that sincerely. This is just high school. Your whole life is ahead of you. There’s plenty of time.

Maybe to ease your anxiety, it’s helpful to know that–

  • college is waiting for you whenever you decide to go. You can go right after high school or you can go much later. Or any time in between. Going to college later is so common that there are many programs set up for students like that. They are called "non-traditional students." Many schools welcome non-trads.
    • you can make up your "bad" grades of high school in community college. Also, CC is a cheaper way to get through undergrad. One track is to take time off from school. Then, when you're ready, start in community college. You can transfer then to a 4-year college. Because CC is cheaper than most 4-year colleges, you can save money. Many 4-year colleges welcome nontrads because of the different perspective they bring to the college campus and discussions.
    • if you decide to attend a 4-year college that does not accept your CC credit, that's okay too.

The further out you are from school, the less likely colleges will look at yoru SAT scores or you high school grades.

So see if you can relax. There are so many ways to move forward in life, Many paths. One other advantage to attending college later is that you can experiment with jobs and career tracks before you start college. You will make better use of your college time then, and you will be more mature. Your experiment with careers can take place before you have anhy student loans to worry about.

Focus on fun at high school. Focus on just finishing high school and don’t worry about taking the most rigorous classes. Do lots of stuff outside of classes–you might just find your passion that way.

If you do all of this, you may avoid taking psych meds and such. Your anxiety will probably go away.

Also, many people who have visual-spatial reasoning do poorly in high school and are “late bloomers” You could look this up and see if maybe you are more visual-spatial in your processing. They are often labeled learning disabled (misdiagnosed) and given ADD and ADHD drugs, incorrectly. Visual-spatial learners tend to be extremely creative people, Einstein and Edison were VS learners, for example. Both did poorly in traditional schools and bloomed later. Trad schools test only one kind of learning. That can be torture for people with different kind of intelligence–until they graduate and find their own paths. That’s why they are late bloomers. Hang in there! You are not alone.

Best of luck.

Here’s something about visual-spatial intelligence. It’s missed by IQ tests and high schools just aren’t equipped to deal with it. The classes don’t recognize this type of learning. Colleges, depending on which you choose, can pick up on this type of learning. See if this describes you at all-- https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/recognizing-spatial-intel/

Best of luck.

First of all I really want to thank you all for the kind replies. About the visual spatial intelligence, it actually some what matches me which is really confusing to me. Do you guys know where in real life I can go to learn more about this?

OMG I’m in my 40’s and i still ask myself this question.

Dear OP, I was a terrible high school student. I made nothing but Cs in 9th grade and nothing but Fs in 10th grade and skipped most of the time. I decided in my mid 20s I was ready to really focus on my future.
I went to CC and made straight As. No one in my family could believe it because I was such a poor student.
I then transferred to the local Uni and now have a master’s degree and a great career.

There are many roads in life to take. Life is not a race. I am rooting you on!

You need to take care of your depression first, then look at getting your academics back on track. If your grades do not come back up to UW Seattle levels, there are other choices. You can choose a different four year college or go to community college and transfer.