please advise... college problem (academic and social) long post

[skim milk]

alright.... this is probably going to be a long post so bare with me
so many things I want to get off my chest... my life sucks right now, i just want to get away from all of this somehow but i cant

anyways, first of all, I am a freshman at a university. About two weeks left until spring semester is over and summer is here. Last fall, I ended up getting a pretty low GPA. (2.16) only because I took 12 credits which I shouldn't have.. i should've taken more credits with easy classes like Bowling, Golf or something which would've helped boost my overall GPA. Another reason my GPA was so low is because I didn't drop a calculus course like I should have... i ended up with a D in that class and it was 4 credits out of 12 ... which was a large portion. I got put on academic probation from the engineering department and was told that I would get another chance to take the calculus course since it was a letter grade "C" or lower. Spring semester started, i registered for the calc course again... BUT i am doing even WORSE than the first semester... so i might end up dropping that class so my gpa wouldnt be hurt.However, i only get two attempts to pass the calc class with a C or better for my major since it's a "tracking course" or whatever. which means... if I drop this course, the engineering department will kick me out. However, I talked to the advisor about that and he said to just take all the pre-requisite engineering courses at a different department (liberal arts & sciences) and come back to the engineering dept. when I'm finished with those. Another problem bothering me is the scholarship i got when I came here. I have to maintain a GPA of 2.75 or higher .... but since I got 2.16 my first semester, i have to get a 3.4 this semester which I don't think will happen. If I lose this scholarship, i dunno what I am gonna do. I can take classes over the summer at a CC so im thinking of taking the calc class and some other class over the summer to make up my poor academic performance here ... good idea? so basically i am going to end up droppping two courses this semester so my GPA is not hurt as much ... and give me a better chance of keeping my scholarship.
anyways... my social life came to hell after the fall semester and saw my grades... there were some nights where I had fun during the fall semester but spring semester has got me down a lot lately. I wish I can start over ...but i cant. I know I can do well ..i dont know what is wrong with me. It feels like my future is going to suck...
another thing that is frustrating is that I am not even having much fun here and I am getting terrible grades..... if I was out every night clubbing and meeting all sorts of chicks,,, it would be a different story but I'm not. Instead I'm stuck here most of the time and getting bad grades which is worse. but i dont really care about my social life, i just want to do good and get good grades...seriously. this sucks so much

what should I do?
your help will mean a lot to me,,, please advise. I'm depressed about this whole school thing..... I wish I was doing well in college right now,, i would be so much happier.


p.s. oh btw, it's not like i DONT study, i try to study but it really doesnt help me. everything sucks, life sucks. I want to go home

sorry if some of this doesnt make sense... its 3 in the morning and im not asleep because i cant sleep well from having all these things to worry about in my mind.

 

[yobarman]

maybe you got a learning disability that keeps you from learning? seriously man 12 credits is nothing. Maybe you're not cut out for engineering? See one of those guidance counselors that schools always have. Don't ask these guys, they're all drop outs.

 

[notfred]

What you need to do is study, find a tutor, join the math club, or whatever it takes to get a C or better in your calc class.

 

[pillage2001]

Cut down on social life. You're in engineering school and you know damn well that drinking and engineering do not come together. Another thing, why on earth are you taking bowling, golf and other easy classes when you want to get into engineering school? If you can't handle calculus, you better look for some other major as things only get worse from there.

Get your act together, improve yourself and set a target.

 

[notfred]

Originally posted by: yobarman
maybe you got a learning disability that keeps you from learning?

Why does everyone psot crap like that at the first hint of someone having trouble in school?
Calculus is not easy. It's not unusual to have to take a calculus class twice.

 

[pyonir]

Originally posted by: yobarman
maybe you got a learning disability that keeps you from learning? seriously man 12 credits is nothing. Maybe you're not cut out for engineering? See one of those guidance counselors that schools always have. Don't ask these guys, they're all drop outs.

Hey! I went back!! i'm taking the last three classes i need right now!

 

[skim milk]

Originally posted by: pillage2001
Cut down on social life. You're in engineering school and you know damn well that drinking and engineering do not come together. Another thing, why on earth are you taking bowling, golf and other easy classes when you want to get into engineering school? If you can't handle calculus, you better look for some other major as things only get worse from there.

Get your act together, improve yourself and set a target.

?

i didnt take a gold or bowling class.... i was saying maybe I SHOULD have taken easy courses like that for a easy A which wouldve helped out my GPA

 

[KahunaHube]

maybe you should change majors, i mean if your not interested in what your doing because the upper division classes will be tons harder then any freshman level class

maybe try studying in a different atmosphere, but it doesnt hurt to talk to your counselor like youve been doing because universities want you to graduate. They'll help you if you simply talk to them so dont hold anything back

 

[yobarman]

Originally posted by: notfred

Originally posted by: yobarman
maybe you got a learning disability that keeps you from learning?

Why does everyone psot crap like that at the first hint of someone having trouble in school?
Calculus is not easy. It's not unusual to have to take a calculus class twice.

I'm saying it's a possibility. I didn't THAT much trouble with calc, and if i had all the free time he has I'd pass with straight A's

 

[skim milk]

Originally posted by: KahunaHube
maybe you should change majors, i mean if your not interested in what your doing because the upper division classes will be tons harder then any freshman level class

maybe try studying in a different atmosphere, but it doesnt hurt to talk to your counselor like youve been doing because universities want you to graduate. They'll help you if you simply talk to them so dont hold anything back

living in dorms made things worse

I'm seriously hoping this upcoming semester, i can pull good grades. I am going to be living off campus and will be living with someone that will push me to study.

and maybe engineering ISNt a good choice for me like you said... but there is nothing I fit into
engineering was the only thing i can see myself as... maybe i was wrong. what other majors do you guys recommend?

 

[pillage2001]

Originally posted by: fritolays

Originally posted by: pillage2001
Cut down on social life. You're in engineering school and you know damn well that drinking and engineering do not come together. Another thing, why on earth are you taking bowling, golf and other easy classes when you want to get into engineering school? If you can't handle calculus, you better look for some other major as things only get worse from there.

Get your act together, improve yourself and set a target.

?

i didnt take a gold or bowling class.... i was saying maybe I SHOULD have taken easy courses like that for a easy A which wouldve helped out my GPA

WOuld the engineering department approve of the various credits that you take that are unrelated to your intended major??

 

[skim milk]

Originally posted by: pillage2001

Originally posted by: fritolays

Originally posted by: pillage2001
Cut down on social life. You're in engineering school and you know damn well that drinking and engineering do not come together. Another thing, why on earth are you taking bowling, golf and other easy classes when you want to get into engineering school? If you can't handle calculus, you better look for some other major as things only get worse from there.

Get your act together, improve yourself and set a target.

?

i didnt take a gold or bowling class.... i was saying maybe I SHOULD have taken easy courses like that for a easy A which wouldve helped out my GPA

WOuld the engineering department approve of the various credits that you take that are unrelated to your intended major??

I will still be taking the core classes but taking additional classes doesnt matter.. it will help my overall GPA but not the tracking GPA and at the same time, i get to classes on what I want to learn. I shouldve really done this last fall... or even this spring.. shoot

 

[pillage2001]

What else do you see yourself doing in the future besides being an engineer?? Considered Computer Science as another major?

 

[skim milk]

Originally posted by: pillage2001
What else do you see yourself doing in the future besides being an engineer?? Considered Computer Science as another major?

definitely business is NOT for me
art/psychology and all those majors doesnt have a great future job outlook .... it probably wouldnt even land me a job after getting the degree
comp sci. , mostly programming which i dont want to do
and the others i looked at... it just wasnt for me

engineering seemed like the only thing left... dang

 

[Soybomb]

Well you know where you screwed up and you want to change it. This summer go to the community college take the calc class and maybe a physics or chemistry class or something else that might apply to your major. If you're not doing too well your second time through calc you might consider another major or realize just how much work an engineering degree will be to get. Good luck

 

[newbiepcuser]

Originally posted by: pillage2001
What else do you see yourself doing in the future besides being an engineer?? Considered Computer Science as another major?

Whooooaa there Pillage, he still has to study and put his time in it. Unless he is going to Tijuana tech, CS isn't a push over either. Just cause you got an "A" in cut and paste doesn't mean CS is easy.

 

[KahunaHube]

i liked econ try some of those classes

 

[screw3d]

I believe Computer Science is under the Engineering school in most colleges.

CS is not an easy major either, and the workload is similiar to any engineering majors out there.

Go and talk to your counselor!

 

[TommyVercetti]

Whoa!!!! This is exactly the kind of post I would have made 4 years ago.

I was (and still am) a Comp Sci major. I needed a 2.75 overall and 3.0 Core Curriculum GPA to get into upper division. First semester I got all C's, 2.0. Next semester 2.0. I was now worried sick. I wasn't on a scholarship or anything, so that part was cool. But they would not let me advance to upper division and I would have to change my majors. My mom would kill me for that. So I decided to put aside the harder classes and started taking the easier ones. Next semester I got a 2.75, following that, a 3.0. After that I got a 3.5 and a little bit of help from the advisor (home baked cookies and mowed his lawn for a whole year), he put me up in upper division.

My ass was just saved!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Moral of the story, don't give up hope. Don't know what to tell you in your specific situation, but if you give up, then all is lost. Remember, you miss 100% of the shots you never take.

 

[sparkyclarky]

Originally posted by: pillage2001
Cut down on social life. You're in engineering school and you know damn well that drinking and engineering do not come together. Another thing, why on earth are you taking bowling, golf and other easy classes when you want to get into engineering school? If you can't handle calculus, you better look for some other major as things only get worse from there.

Get your act together, improve yourself and set a target.

Never drink and derive!

 

[calpha]

Well, mine's a long post, but I'll just tell you my story to offer a perspective. I've been in similar shoes......

Life isn't over when you screw up, and it's no big deal in the grand scheme of things to say I'm not suppossed to be here, and go home, and work things out. The biggest thing that will help you in school is wanting to be there, and wanting to succeed. If you don't havea big social life, and you are trying to study, and not getting good grades, then there's a deeper issue there. Calculus isn't easy, especially when you're starting. I actually got better grades in Calc II and Calc III then in Calc I. But, I don't think, from the sound of your post, that it's just a ability thing.....it sounds like it's a desire thing.

For me, college took a long winding road. I started out at a Military Academy. I did OK academically. Some people say that military Academy GPAs should add another point to them because of all the other stuff you have to do.....but anyway....my classes weren't a priority as I was literally sucking at all the other stuff. I had a tough time adjusting, and to be honest I was just too dang young. I graduated high school at 17, and just wasn't ready for the Military Academy right afterwards. I wasn't mature enough to be there, and not mature enough to realize the scope of the oppurtunity before me.

Anyway, after 3.5 semesters, I left. I found myself dreading going to class, and dreading everything else, so I decided to leave. I still regret that decision in some lights, but in the case I was in, it was my best choice. I was spinning my wheels. Had I been older, I would have been able to look past my lack of desire and appreciate the true depth of the oppurtunity to be there.

So, afterwards, I tried to take classes at a public University. Which was a nother wrong choice. I was not doing my work, and I didn't care to go to class, but yet, I still tried because, God Forbid, I couldn't just drop out of school. What would my family think? So, I worked near full time doing different jobs, some at restaurants, some others, and supported myself, and kept trying to go to school, and kept doing bad, and withdrawing.

2 years passed like this. Luckily, at the military academy, you take a butload of classes, so when I left, after 3 semesters I already had a total of 56 credit hours. But.....at the time I would have graduated from the Academy, I decided to quit working sh!t jobs, and start looking for real jobs. Big Wake up call to me. I applied for position after position, and was already programming on my own....but I never even got a call back. Zilch. I soon realized without a degree that I'd hae a hard as hell time getting into a good company. And that really began to weigh on me. Each day I went to my sh!t job, I knew that unless I changed something, I'd be doing that forever, and I was just not challenged at all by those jobs. I felt like I could be doing so much more with the talents thath I had. So another year passed, and I talked to my family. I was now 21, and I knew that unless I got a cert (no thank you) or a degree, I'd be pushing tables and bar customers around for tips indefinitely. The lack of challenge mentally was killing me, and I began to feel worse then I did 3 years ago. So, at 22, I sucked it up, and asked my family if I could move home, and go to a college close by. That way I'd just use student loans and get a job at the school for spending money. No more living on my own. That was the hardest decision at that point in my life....but it was one I had to do. I knew I needed to get away from all my friends I'd made, and make a change, or I'd never be able to quit partying and make it to school. Plus, my roommate was a big time partier, and although we were good friends, I knew I'd have to find another roommate to do good in school.......But, all this took three years to realize.

So, at the first summer session (the year after my initial graduation date), I moved back home, and enrolled in school. Although the classes weren't near the level challenging wise as the Military Academy, my first 3 classes (tech, and core stuff), I had an average of a 98, without a curve. 100,99,94. By the end of that year (2 summer sessions, two off campus classes and 21 hours of course work), I'd completed 43 hours of course work, with a GPA of over a 3.8. I'd moved from a sophomore to a senior in less then 7 months. I had another semester + summer school to go, and while I didn't maintain as high a grade, (around a 3.5), I did fine. So, less then 13 months after I moved back home, I was off living on my own again, working with a degree. When I graduated I had four job offers, and I went from making the $14,000 a year I was lucky to make @ sh!t jobs, to a salary of $40,000. And I was being challenged...finally.

I dont' say any of this to brag. On the contrary, for me, my performance was based solely on my desire. When I was at the military academy, and the three years after that, I had no desire to be in school. I had no desire to think about the rest of my lfie. It took realizing that I'd be diggin ditches or waiting tables the rest of my life unless I changed. But, in the end, the only change that took place was my maturity, and my desire. I hate that I had to take the long winding road to graduate, but I learned a lto about myself in the process. Some of the same people I worked with now 6 years ago at that restaurant are still there, still taking classes part time, and not doing anything more then partying, drinking, and going month to month.

Lastly....my brother just started school.....and I could tell from his first semester, he had no desire. I related my experience to him, and he was too scared about what others would think in the family (big family). So, he went for another semester. He'll be lucky if he ends up with more then a 1.2. He did poorly not because he's dumb, but because he didn't care, and felt "bad" about a lot of stuff. I just talked to him recently, and he said he wishes he would have listend to me before he ever took his first class, because even then he knew he didnt' want to be in school. he's going to work for a while now, and just live on his own, and see what happens.

Anyway....struggling in school is not the end of the world. Ask yourself what it is you really want, and be honest. Don't be scared if that answer is to leave. On the same hand, if you think you can struggle through this hard time, and press on, do that. I myself couldn't bring myself to study.....which was my key sign to leave.

Remember it's not only the destination, it's the journey. It doesn't always have to follow a straight path is what I learned.
calpha

 

[skim milk]

well now i think about it, maybe i don't think i want to do engineering.

my dream in 10 years from now is to be involved in the medical field researching and things like that....getting paid the big bucks
but isn't that even harder? pre-med?

i would have to get into med school ...which means a really good GPA but i'm off to a bad start

 

[TommyVercetti]

Originally posted by: fritolays
well now i think about it, maybe i don't think i want to do engineering. my dream in 10 years from now is to be involved in the medical field researching and things like that....getting paid the big bucks but isn't that even harder? pre-med? i would have to get into med school ...which means a really good GPA but i'm off to a bad start

Umm.. with that kind of an academic track record, I would suggest looking into something else.

How about MIS?

 

[Soybomb]

Originally posted by: marvie
I believe Computer Science is under the Engineering school in most colleges.

CS is not an easy major either, and the workload is similiar to any engineering majors out there.

Go and talk to your counselor!

Actually I think its usually in the college of science Or at least the ones around here

 

[cressida]

where are u currently studying?

It would really be hard to know what is going on since we are not in your shoes and not living your life. But take a semester of some general classes and concentrate on those classes and think about what you need to do about your situation.