Should I drop out of college again?

College Majors Engineering Majors
1

I’m at a point in my life that I don’t know what’s good for me anymore. I dropped out of college with a 2.65 gpa having 80 credits complete. I tried to join the air force for a year but it was taking too long so this year I went back to school and got a 3.0 in the spring semester. I was so happy. My overall gpa had bumped to a 2.71. I was finally doing well and learned how to study. In the fall, I guess my courses got more difficult and I’m pretty sure I got 2.0-2.5. I have around 45 credits left. Even if I make 4.0s for the rest of my school years, I’d still be below a 3.0 gpa average.

My major is petroleum engineering. I’m also 24 years old. Should I drop out with the low gpa and just join the military or continue on with my studies.

2

It would be best to try and figure out why you are getting such a low GPA; not studying enough, not studying effectively, etc.? A 4.0 the rest of the way out is, obviously, not going to happen (for most, not just you).

I might actually vote for the Air Force. Learn a trade, get some technical training and in all likelihood the engineering will actually make more sense with some of that experience. You can then go back to school and finish up, if that makes sense at that point, and maybe have college paid for.

3

In a second to what @HPuck35 said and will add, the air force will also help you with organization and discipline.

The counter point to that is that even though a sub-3.0 degree will limit your job market some, it’s still a very valuable degree.

The key, as Puck also alluded to, is why did/do your grades suffer. If your foundation from your previous habits is too weak to support the classes on top of it, you’ll find it challenging no matter how well you study from here on out unless you backfill on your own time. You could do that between terms or while in the service preparing to jump back in after you’re discharged.

On an unrelated note, it’s crazy how adaptive the web is and how much is “known” about what we do online. I have no military background and have no significant web history to lead a bot to think I’d be a good candidate for the ad that just popped up other than what I just typed. It’s for AMU…American Military University.

4

Can you afford to stay in school or are you racking up debt? If you can afford to stay in school, can’t you do both, continue in school and restart the pursuit of enlisting in the military? From what you said in your original post, the enlistment process is a long one.

A few more credits toward your degree in the meantime is just that, a few more credits. Yes, your GPA is not amazing, but are you passing well enough that these credits count toward your degree? Do you enjoy the field that you are studying and are you learning a lot even though you aren’t scoring as high as you would like on exams and other classwork?

While your lower GPA might make it harder to get a job initially, once you have that initial job and get some experience your GPA will matter less over time. A completed degree will always matter.

5

You can talk to the career office, but my guess is that your GPA is good enough to get a job in engineering. At which point if you work hard, make yourself useful, get things done, get along well with others, and maybe change jobs a few times, you will have a fine career (if academics is not your thing, maybe stick to more hands-on or project management like work and let the more academically inclined do work like technical design).

The military does hire a good number of engineers for all kind of support roles and also for officer training. You can check GPA requirements on line somewhere and talk to your ROTC office on campus too.

Also, if you can work through the material but just can’t handle the workload, you consider dropping down to 12 credits or even part-time and working … and keep on chipping away at those degree requirements. One difficult course or two during a semester may be more doable and less stressful.

Relax, not every engineer has a 3.5, actually very few really do.

Ignore being 24, just keep your living expenses low and keep on working towards your goals. If you graduate by 27, you can still enjoy 40 years as an engineer before you hit the social security retirement age.

Do you like petro engineering or is this part of the issue ? The air force and petro seem odd to me, but what do I know … Maybe an ME degree or ChE would be more flexible, allowing you to work say on planes as an ME, which maybe would add a spark and some real interest to your studies …

4 year engineering graduates are not typical … so don’t sweat it. But have a plan and work towards it.

12 credits a semester for 2 more years or less if you go during summer would get you your degree.

Any engineering degree is pretty transferable to most engineering jobs and should get you a salary above $50K to start. Again … just work hard and you will get far in life.

6

@HPuck35 @eyemgh I don’t think I study effectively. That’s my issue. I also am antisocial and I don’t know how big of a deal it is to study with other people because I study alone. 95% of the time. I think it would be helpful though. I keep telling myself I’m going to talk to someone next to me but I don’t. Just the way I am.

@NorthernMom61 Yes, I can afford to stay in school. and yes I am learning…but not a lot.
@PickOne1 I like the degree because it involves traveling and I can utilize my language skills: farsi and french

7

You are more than half way through it. It sounds like there is a lot about the field that you like, and it would be really cool to be able to use your language skills as well. I would recommend trying to find resources to help you with studying more effectively and to keep pushing yourself if you can afford it. Yes, it is way hard right now and you are not happy with the grades, but in the scheme of a life time it is a short amount of time left and the grades you have will still get you the degree. You went back for a reason–you didn’t want to give up.

Your age is really irrelevant. If you quit again and don’t go to school for the next year and a half to two years you are still going to be a year and a half to two years older. You’ll find out that age matters less and less the older you get.

8

It is not helpful to study alone. I always recommend that one joins or forms a study group for each class they are taking. You get help and give help that way. You learn so much better in a group.

But another big reason for working in a group is that working as a professional engineer is a team game. Every company I’ve worked for or along side has been a collaborative environment. The lone engineer won’t get much done.

Force yourself to work within a group. Your grades will get better and you’ll become a more effective (and employable) engineer.

9

Engineering is hard. You are not the only engineer to struggle w grades. Just keep working to find strategies for you to be successful. The military is not out of the question but dont do it unless it is what you want to do.