<p>(Note: this is a repost from another part of College Confidential, where it stayed dormant and was not getting much attention.)</p>
<p>Hi everyone,</p>
<p>I'm a rising junior at Boston College. While it's a great school and I'm happy here for the most part, I've had some psychological issues that have really killed my academic progress. Granted, these issues always affected me, but I was afraid to speak up before college (as I falsely thought people would think I was "crazy" if I told them about my anxiety and such). Only now am I brave enough to seek professional help. (The issues are described in the "LD" forum here.)</p>
<p>But now I'm stuck in a rut. 2.7 GPA, 2.3 sGPA (yes, pre-med...). Yuck. I constantly feel ashamed, even though this wasn't really my fault.</p>
<p>Biology major, by the way.</p>
<p>I've always loved sciences, and I've wanted (not always that enthusiastically) to go to medical school, but I'm losing my enthusiasm as I'm trying to decide just what the heck I should do. Do I REALLY want to go into medicine anyway?</p>
<p>Sigh...</p>
<p>I've never had a strong preference, career-wise, anyway. I can't decide what I REALLY want to do. But I really want to get at least some type of graduate degree.</p>
<p>I always feel humiliated, as if I'll be stuck in mediocre jobs for the rest of my life.</p>
<p>A feeling of "purgatory"...</p>
<p>I'm seeking professional help, and I'm ready to take this on. How will I ever get out of this?</p>
<p>Give me some advice for how to go on with my life!</p>
<p>I think it’s great that you’re seeking professional help and the advise you get there will no doubt be far more useful than anything you’ll be told here.</p>
<p>Just to note though, you’ve had untreated psychological problems yet have still managed to get to Boston college and your GPA isn’t disastrous. Under the circumstances you’re doing exceptionally well and it’s only likely to get better as you get help.</p>
<p>Almost everyone goes through periods where terrified they’re going to fail, they don’t know what they want to do with their lives and feel overwhelmed by it all.</p>
<p>Could you take a lighter course load temporarily while you pick up your grades and get yourself back on track? In any case you I don’t think you should think too far in the future. Set yourself a reasonable goal for the next week, then month then semester. Make sure you have a life outside of your studying too. I always found exercise to be so helpful, for relaxation and also just to give yourself a sense of achievement outside of work.</p>
<p>The only real answer is to have a spectacularly successful senior year. That’s what I would do in your situation. Also, stop feeling sorry for yourself in regards to your grades and career prospects. That’s not going to solve anything. You need to tackle this issue head on.</p>
<p>I had a lot of medical issues in school and graduated with a horrid CGPA (2.25) because I missed a lot of school. However, I busted my ass from 2nd sem. junior year onwards and got a high major GPA (3.85), as well as 3.5+ in each of my last three terms. That combined with my upward trend got me into grad school.</p>
<p>So no, it’s not the end of the world. You still have time to turn things around.</p>