Hold on here, I know it’s long, but I feel I need to give some background info so you can understand my current situation better.
My circumstances in college and high school were uncontrollable for me and now that I am getting better I would like to take control of my life, but is it too late?
I am currently taking a year off from university because I am sick with something doctors aren’t sure what it is, some sort of chronic stomach condition that can’t be fixed with meds (tried that, made me sicker). So this started in high school, my senior year to be exact. It has effected me these 5 years later, hence why I’m currently not attending school.
My track record and GPA is not where I’d want it to be (3.47), but I am an average student I’d say with mostly A’s and B’s. When I came into college I had to do online community college for my first year due to some living circumstances, then went on campus for a year. But I ended up staying a total of 3 years at the community college level, so when I went to university, NAU, I still had a lot of degree requirements in English to make up including a language.
Well I could only go to NAU for one year because something happened with financial aid and I wasn’t able to receive enough to cover my living costs of getting an apartment or staying on campus (cost of living in Flagstaff is considerably high). So I transferred to ASU Tempe because it was really my only hope. But then I got sicker toward the second semester and ended up having to drop one of my courses about 3 weeks from the end of class because my absences were affecting it so much.
Now this year (starting in Fall) I have not been in school, but I have given a lot of thought and as I am getting better and able to find out how to control my symptoms, I am looking into changing my course of direction. I had originally planned on studying English and am 5 years into it with about 2-3 semesters still left to pick up final credits and I’m not sure I want to go back. English is not something I want to study anymore and I really only picked it because it was “easy” for me and because it made the most sense at the time. There have been a lot of online course options in this area which has made going to college a little easier on me.
But what I really want to do is study Astronomy/Physics. However, if I continued with my current English, I’m looking at:
- Doing a minor in astronomy, which would take several semesters to complete, and I might as well do the major as I won’t have enough classes each semester
- Do a double major with English and Physics/Astronomy, but spend an additional 4 years in school
- Get my BA in English and go back in a few years to pursue a second bachelor’s degree, which limits my options significantly as there are not many schools that offer Astronomy/Physics undergraduate degrees and even less that accept second degree students
or 4) Drop out of my English program and go back to school a few years down the road when I can afford to go without the help of financial aid.
I’m really not sure what would be the best option right now. There are so few colleges/universities that offer an Astronomy degree and even fewer who accept second degree students and I would have to pay for it completely out of pocket. Many of these schools are top rate too such as Ivies and private colleges like Wellesley and Amherst hat I would never ever get into. But if I did the double major or even the minor I would be able to get a few more semesters of financial aid, but then have to pay for the rest out of pocket.
So I’m really stuck. I literally feel like I wasted my entire life going to college because my parents wanted me to go no matter what even though I only did it because it was easy. And now when I’ve finally figured out what I really really want to do there are all these road blocks.
I’m really considering just dropping out of English. It’s a worthless degree anyways. I saw many universities accept non-traditional students who can earn a college degree if they’re older than 24 (I’ll be 24 in May so I’m perfectly qualified). I think this might be the best option. Perhaps enabling me to go to a community college in a few years again and then start over? Is that possible?
Please help me. I’m really confused.