Thoughts about taking a quarter off?

Student Lounge College Life
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<p>Hi, I’m debating taking the year off next year and was looking for some opinions. </p>

<p>Some back ground information- I’m about to finish my first year of college at a small local LAC. This school definitely was not what I was looking for and I haven’t really enjoyed it here. I started applying as a transfer student for fall of 2012 and got accepted to 2 of the schools that I applied too. Unfortunately both of the schools are very expensive and I don’t have high hopes for getting any aid besides loans. (I haven’t received my FA packages yet.) My first year was a struggle. I got diagnosed with a big anxiety problem as well as depression. This had been going on all year, but I didn’t get medicine until halfway through winter quarter. This had a huge effect on my grades, and my cumulative GPA for my freshman year is going to be a little below a 2.5. Coming from high school I never had a problem with grades, I graduated with a 3.5 with AP classes and struggling in classes like this has been a huge shock to me. I’ve considered going to a community college for a year and getting my AA before deciding what I want to do. Right now I’m leaning towards business, but that hasn’t been decided for sure. Right now I’m leaning towards just taking a year off. I could work a save money as well as work on getting my depression under control and maturing a little before going back to school. Does anyone have any experience taking a year off? I know a lot of people never go back to school once they take a year off, but I’m confident that I’ll go back and have a lot more motivation once I get everything under control.</p>

<p>I guess I’m just looking for some advice? Because right now I am so stuck I have no clue what to do</p>

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<p>I took a year and a half off school because I was deployed to Iraq. I signed up right after I graduated high school and they sent me out the same year. If I had a year to waste again I would try to get a job at a factory making about 15/hour plus doing overtime you will make mad money. </p>

<p>Also take clep and dantes classes too on your off days so your not too far behind. Thats what I’m doing now.</p>

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<p>I took a semester off, and it was really hard at first because I really wanted to be in school and it was my parents who actually made me take the time off, but I got used to it in time. By the end of it I was more ready than ever to go back to school because I was so incredibly sick of being home. I didn’t do as well this semester (my first semester back) as I had hoped, but I think that’s mainly because I had a terrible professor for a hard subject so I’m most likely going to end up failing the course.</p>