Should I just drop out? Is College even for me?

I am currently a junior in College (credits wise, I am not. I am a 2nd semester sophomore), but I have been here for three years.

Want to hear something embarrassing? I have only taken 12 credits every semester because anything more than that is overwhelming for me. I don’t even work. I have gotten A’s in all of them, and on B+, but the demands of getting all of those A’s required around 30+ hours of studying per week, sometimes 50-60 hours/week. I dropped out last semester because I hated my major and switched to a new one. I wanted to challenge myself this semester and take 16 credits, which is ‘the normal’ for all students, and that only lasted one week before I dropped it and got my $ back. The pace was too fast for me. 60 pages covered in one class and I can’t keep up. And many people say the precalculus class I took is “a breeze” and is “very easy.” Well, I haven’t taken this kind of math in years, and I found it to be moderately difficult.

I am depressed to be honest. I have decided to go off social media because I am tired of not being able to keep up with my friends and be normal. All of them have been able to handle 16 credit hours every semester, some even taking 17 (which is probably normal for MANY people on this site) and they have a social life and everything and still do very well. Meanwhile, once I tell them I can only handle 12 credits they treat me as if I am a joke. Everyone does.

I am a slow learner. I get it. Maybe College isn’t the best route for me, because the past few years seems to have been a complete waste of time for me since I ended up switching majors anyway.

I also have medical problems in addition to all of this. I was in the E.R. a few days ago and that didn’t help out at all.

Sorry. I needed to vent. I switched to a major that maybe wasn’t the right choice. Although I have more interest in this new major than my previous one, maybe I can’t handle it. I don’t know. I just feel very lost.

If taking 12 credits enables you to get almost entirely A’s, it seems that it’s working for you. Taking too many credits can be bad for your grades and your physical and mental health – I wouldn’t wish that kind of stress on anyone.

Assuming there aren’t any financial issues with taking a couple extra semesters to graduate, I don’t see a problem with it. You’re doing well and you’ve figured out what works for you. You’ll get a degree and have options if that’s what you want to do. You’ll be in a good position.

One last note: it totally makes sense that someone who hasn’t taken math recently would have more to catch up on! The people who are saying it’s easy probably haven’t had to deal with that challenge.

Good luck!! I think you’re doing much better than you give yourself credit for.

@Spikey201 getting off social media and trying to stop comparing yourself to others is a good idea. Life is a marathon, not a sprint, and you are running your own marathon. You are doing well in college, despite the fact that you need a smaller load to do well. You are taking care of your needs by doing that. As long as you can afford to take an extra few semesters to finish and you are meeting your college’s requirements for satisfactory progress, you are fine.

You might take advantage of some resources at your school such as academic support to work on efficient study strategies, and the career center to do career exploration to make sure you are in the right major for you.

Doing well in college is a lot of hard work. Try to be proud of what you’ve accomplished already.

Life is not a race. Take only the number of credits you are comfortable with and try to figure out where your passions lie. If you have to take summer and/or online classes and take fewer classes during the regular school year, so be it. Stop comparing yourself to others. If your “friends” are critical of your needs and abilities, they are not your friends.

Have you ever been assessed for any type of learning disability such as dyslexia or language processing issues or an attention deficit? Perhaps that is why it takes you longer to do the work. 30 hours/week is not an unreasonable amount to spend on work outside of your classes; 60 hours sounds like a lot. Are you getting distracted?

For the record, a general rule of thumb is that to do well in your classes, you should count on having to spend at least two hours of homework/reading for every hour of class time. If you’re taking 12 units, 30 hours of outside work is not outrageous, depending on the nature of the classes. How long does it take you to read 60 pages? What type of reading is it?

Where are your parents in all of this? Have you spoken with them about your concerns?

@LoveTheBard How do I get assessed for all of those things you have described?

You might start by talking to your parents about your concerns and/or contacting your school’s disability resource center to see if you can arrange for some sort of psycho-educational assessment and evaluation. Your school’s Disabled Students Services office might have a list of local professionals that they recommend. These assessments are generally done by psychologists, and are often not covered by insurance.

If indeed you have some learning issues, there are a number of accommodations that may be available to you at your school (extended time for exams, permission and/or devices for recording lectures, note-takers, text-to-speech and speech-to-text computer programs). You may also learn new strategies for doing your work more efficiently.

If there is some sort of attention deficit that it making it more difficult for you to concentrate and focus, there are medications for that as well as strategies that you can learn.