| Is there any hope for me? I have a very low GPA. I WANT to do better.?College isn't going nearly as well as I thought it would...in fact I've been hating myself for my progress so far. My grades are mediocre -- heck, they're pathetic (I have a .94 GPA). I used to be good at school, though I never made the highest grades, but this was years ago (2008), nowadays, whenever I try to make an effort to get homework done or study, I get extremely lazy and lose my motivation to do work other than for the fact that it has to be done. I always procrastinate and I can't seem to manage my time efficiently. I haven't made many friends since being at college either, and I don't know why because I am a nice person. As weird as this sounds, I love going to school, not to only see people, but to learn. I can grasp the notes easily in lecture -- but I have the hardest time getting started on my work. Ever since I started attending the community college back home following high school, my performance has dropped dramatically, and despite the fact that I transferred to KU last semester, my academic marks continue to drop, and now I'm completely rim-rocked with a .94 GPA.
I'm on Academic Probation -- so yes, I need to raise my GPA above 2.0 after this semester, but the way I see it, having it go from a .94 to a 2.0 seems rather impossible and the term doesn't start for another 8 days. I'm already losing hope. I never had the courage to reach out to tutoring centers or other professors for help until half-way through last semester, which helped salvage some of my grades somewhat.
I've been told I'm an intelligent person but completely lacks the motivation to do the homework/studying. I have thought of graduate school, but those plans might as well be scrapped because of my grades. I'm a junior at KU majoring in Anthropology, but I may end up staying an extra year because of my poor progress thus far. My career GPA is actually good (3.4) -- it's my overall GPA (.94) that's gotten my future in a dark abyss.
The last thing I want to do is to drop out of school. I need help, *not* criticism, nor do I want advice telling me to "just drop out, you have no hope..." etc. What can I do to raise my GPA from a .94 to a 2.0.
I am taking 16 hours this semester:
Calculus I: 3 hrs
Biological Anthropology: 4 hrs.
French III: 5 hrs.
Academic Solutions (a required class for students on AP): 1 hr.
Social Welfare: 3 hrs.
Please. I do regret how my grades have been these past few years. I've suffered the repercussions, and there are more to come. Help, please.
I can't see myself not going to school. I would absolutely hate working a blue-collar job while everyone else paves their way to success. I do not want to take time off, school is all I can see myself doing. Thanks for the suggestion though.
I love Anthropology. It may not be very marketable, but it seems like the only thing I want to do in my life.
Asked By: Luciano - 1/10/2011 |
If you really want to be able to stay in school, you have to, have to, have to start doing the work. Period. You either want this, or you don't. If you don't do the work, you've made your choice.
You have one more term to clean up your act, or you're out. Take that academic solutions class, and apply what you learn there to your other classes. That's probably going to be your most valuable class next term, if you really work at it and learn from it; so focus hard on that class, and on applying those lessons to your other classes.
In addition to what you learn in that class, another thing you can do, which not only can help you get your work started, but also help you make more friends, is to form study groups in each of your academic classes (not for AS, but for all the rest). Ask several students in each class - maybe 5-6 - to join a study group with you. Then meet with them weekly, and discuss the course materials and the assignments.
I would also like you to consider seeing a counsellor in student health services. Not because I feel you "need one", but because an impartial person who's had experience with these sorts of student issues - the procrastination and the, IMO, self-sabotage via procrastination - can help you think through this stuff, and come up with methods that can help you fix the issues. On your own, you can *try*, but it's awfully hard to see through all this, and you could get lost - but a counsellor can help you find that clear path.
Know that you may not be able to raise your GPA all the way up to a 2.0 after this one term. And that's okay. If you don't, then so long as you bring your GPA up as high as you can, you can appeal your dismissal, and they may well let you stay, based on your improvement. If you do see a counsellor, you can also point to that, and it can help your case. So take heart. Work hard this upcoming term. Use what you learn in AS. See where it all takes you.
If you do end up being forced to take an "academic vacation", then don't give up. Get a full time job, and take classes on your own dime, part-time, until you can bring your GPA back up to a reasonable level. I know that's not ideal, but if an academic vacation happens, don't let it stop you.
Answered By: RoaringMice - 1/10/2011 |