Will Taking a Semester Hurt Me?

<p>I think I want to take this upcoming semester off, I feel like I'm in highschool at this college and in some drama with my friends. I didn't really get a chance to rest this winter break because I was working the whole time. I just don't feel like going back to college and have to deal with all of this drama that I go through in school. I know it s kind of late to take a semester off but I a seriously mentally drained and I seriously can't take it. I want to transfer to Drexel or Dartmouth next year and I was wondering if taking this semester off would hurt my chances of getting accepted into that college?</p>

<p>I don’t see why you don’t just drop these people rather than participate in drama. That <em>is</em> very high school of you. It seems a bad omen that you are letting stuff like that distract you from what is more important.</p>

<p>How much college credit do you have to show for a transfer transcript? For Drexel you will need at least 24 credits. Edit to add: I took a quick look at your posting history and if you are a freshman you won’t have enough credits to try to transfer to Drexel unless you attend this spring and put in you application by the deadline for fall.</p>

<p>To apply to Dartmouth, you will have to apply in fall 2014 for fall 2015 admission, and transfer slots are few, have you taken a look?
[Admissions</a> Statistics](<a href=“http://www.dartmouth.edu/admissions/facts/admissions.html]Admissions”>http://www.dartmouth.edu/admissions/facts/admissions.html)</p>

<p>On the other hand, it is mature of you to recognize the drama and get yourself out of it. Ask for a dorm change and start to cultivate new friends, perhaps ones who are a little older. That’s sometimes tough to do as a freshman where you have a lot of geneds with other freshmen, but give it a try. </p>

<p>Changing now could be tough. When do you start back? Could you transfer any federal moneys to a cc where you could gain enough credits to transfer to Drexel or Dartmouth? If you surrounded yourself with drama queens in h.s. and college, are you sure you don’t have a role to play in the drama formation? I’m just raising questions for you to deal with, not accusing you, OP.</p>

<p>I’m not in the drama…well I don’t think I am. I just want to get away and start over, it’s all just so draining</p>

<p>Stop knowing anything about it, then. How can people you don’t hang out with and you don’t talk to be draining? Get your priorities straight about what matters and go about your own business. Make new friends.</p>

<p>I just feel that everything will be awkward and I’m so paranoid and sensitive and I just let every little thing get to me. I just regret being their friends and telling them everything that I’ve told them</p>

<p>All I can say is to stop letting other people have control over your life. Drop them. Start fresh now. You are busy, you don’t want to hang out, you are moving on from this circle blah, blah. Block them from FB. Put your transfer applications in if you like. But again–pay attention to what is important, like your college career, and good grades so you have the credits and gpa to have transfer options. These other things are insignificant. Get a backbone or whatever.</p>

<p>I suggest you post in the College Life forum to get some input from students on how to handle the situation. Meanwhile, I hope you continue to progress toward your degree–remember the whole reason you go to college again?</p>

<p>There is no harm in taking a semester off but remember this when you apply to Dartmouth and others they will ask for any semester breaks on the application. So my advice would be to not just take a semester off so that you can catch up on lost sleep (so to speak) but do in an internship which is related to your major or find a job which will look good on your application. Telling Dartmouth you were emotionally drained and thats why you took a semester off isn’t going to earn you browny points. Dartmouth is a great school and its students go through a lot of emotional challenges due to education stress. It won’t accept you if they know that you can’t handle pressure.
So in short, if you must take a semester off, have a very good reason for it.</p>

<p>There is nothing wrong with taking time off. My biggest regret from my college years is that I didn’t take time off when I was feeling burned out.</p>

<p>You have a job (or at least you did over winter break), so keep working. Save your money. Think about where you would like to be if not at your current college/university. Toss off a couple of transfer applications for fall of 2014 (many aren’t due until mid-March or even later). Just be sure to formally take a leave from your current college/university so that if you decide to return there in the future, you do have it as a back-up plan.</p>

<p>Wishing you all the best!</p>

<p>If i do take a semester off and start back in the fall will all my credits from my first semester go to waste?</p>

<p>I’m not sure I understand you, but, no, you’ll still have those credit hours. You may not be able to take, say, General Chemistry II in the Fall, if you go to a small school that only offers it in the spring, but you’ll still be able to take other GenEd courses you’ll need to take. If you take this semester off, you’ll probably end up taking 1.5 years at this school you don’t like, and only 2.5 years at the transfer school. Getting a new set of friends might be a lot easier.</p>