I’m a freshman attending a community college and the academic year is divided into terms instead of semesters (if that helps at all) and I’m taking three classes during this [winter] term and I’m failing one of my 4 credit classes. It’s an anthropology linguistics class that I only took as a filler. Here is where I’m most concerned: I’m moving back home during spring break and won’t be finishing up this year nor will I be coming back to this community college in the future. I still want to go to school, but just somewhere else. Let’s say I wanted to apply to a 4 year university soon, would I be able to retake the SAT or ACT send in my scores and hypothetically I get in, could I start completely over? or should I attend another cc and start over there THEN see if I can transfer to the 4 year university I have in mind? I guess I’m just wondering if I’ll be okay and if this filler class I’m failing won’t haunt me later because I’m honestly a little stressed out over it.
no you don’t get a free restart. Some colleges will still consider you a freshman applicant. For others you are a transfer. See if you can drop the class now with no repercussions.
Definitely see if you can drop that class, or if you can take an Incomplete and do something to pull the grade up later. If you can demonstrate that you are suffering a depression or other health issue, you might be able to get a medical withdrawal for one or more of your classes.
When you apply to college again, you need to ask each place that you apply to whether they consider you a transfer or a freshman applicant. You will need to have an official copy of this CC’s transcript sent. It is part of your permanent academic record. So yes, any bad grades are there forever. However, the further along you get in your studies and in your life, the less these old, bad grades will matter.
My question is, why are you failing the class? How have you done in your other cc classes?
Wherever you go next, you’ll want to succeed there. A part of that will be evaluating why you are not succeeding in this class. Are you attending every class? Are you doing the assigned work? Are you talking to the professor? If not, what is getting in your way? Motivation? Distraction? Learning issues? Different answers will suggest different solutions. Have you learned from your cc experience, and will you be able to succeed in the next place? Do you need help succeeding? If so, how can you get this help?
It is important to put your cc on any application to another school. They have access to a database that will allow them to see this, and schools do not like it when students omit previous schools.
I wouldn’t think most schools would expect/require you to retake the ACT/SAT, but you can check with individual schools. The general rule of thumb is the closer you are to high school, the more attention they pay to your high school record.
My best tip for you going forward, from a strictly academic standpoint: go to class, do your homework, make an effort to meet your professors and go to their office hours and help sessions before tests. It’s my experience that students don’t have much experience talking to professors and are often afraid that if they talk to them the prof might figure out they haven’t done reading, etc. Trust me, most profs really want to help. They want to know students and want to figure out how to help them. After all, they have chosen to go into teaching, and that’s often the main part of their job (well, sometimes it’s research, but often teaching). They want students to do well, especially ones who are working hard and seeking help. Look at it in reverse, if you were the prof, and had prepared a syllabus of material that you thought was important to the topic that your students had signed up to study, wouldn’t you want the students who were paying your salary to reach an understanding of what you’re teaching?
Sometimes I think community college can be great for students. Sometimes I think it best for students to get to a four-year school so that they can get to the specific things they want to study. What do you think for yourself?
Good luck!
I was failing the class because there’s this creepy old man who’d sit right next to me and I’d feel pretty disturbed because of some comments he’s made toward me, but I was too uncomfortable to go to my professor about it so I hardly showed up to class to avoid him and quickly after that the work load started piling up and I became stressed and my depression was at a high resulting in my grade in this class to drop. I have A’s in my other classes so I didn’t feel as if I were at rock bottom or anything, but this particular grade kept eating at me. I called the office this morning and was able to withdraw from the class without any repercussions. It’ll only show a “W” on my transcript so I’m very relieved about this. I will call the specific university I would like to apply to and ask if they’ll consider me as a freshman or a transfer student. I think I’d like to go to a four-year, but I’m just a little anxious about larger sized classes compared to what I’m used to. I know I love school/learning and I’m secure on what it is I want to study so I don’t think it’ll be anything I can’t handle.
Thank you to you and to those who responded with helpful feedback/advice!
Excellent result!!
Please, if a classmate ever creeps you out again, say something to the instructor, to your advisor, to a counselor on campus. There are systems in place to help students deal with this sort of thing. Please don’t ever think that you are alone.
I’m glad you’re other classes are going well and that you were able to withdraw from the class.
It can be difficult but always trust that working toward a solution is usually the best approach. In this case, I obviously don’t know what was said or the circumstances, but I would suggest if the same situation were repeated, you move seats. If the person persisted, tell them directly that the comments made you uncomfortable and you do not want to continue any conservation with them. In some situations, there might be an honest miscommunication. If the person is creepy, they’ve been put on notice. If it continued beyond that, it is appropriate to address the situation with the professor or an appropriate official at the school. Professor generally don’t want something like that to interfere with a student’s education. I know that this can be easier said than done, but it’s important that we all learn to advocate for ourselves as forcibly as possible. Again, this is not always easy, and their is learning that goes into it. And, as noted above, schools now have lots of support systems in place.
In terms of withdrawing, it’s always best to do that as soon as possible since schools always have deadlines and often they are very firm in terms of how it is recorded, or not recorded, on a student’s transcripts. It is almost never better to wait.
Big classes can be intimidating. A couple of things: try to make a big class small. Sit upfront, get to know the professor by introducing yourself at their office hours early in the semester, do the homework. In some ways, larger classes are actually easier for students. There can provide a little more anonymity, you’re not likely to be called on if you don’t want to be, if you want to discuss something take advantage of breakout classes, study groups, and/or office hours. After a year or so of larger classes, you will be in smaller upper-level classes studying what you want to study. And remember your classmates are all in the same place as you. They won’t have any more experience or magical insights. Most will share your perfectly normal anxieties and concerns and have some of their own. So you can all figure it out together. Good luck!