I really hate college. Even though I try really hard and I care about school, my GPA is only a 3.0 after two semesters. It was a 3.0 after the first semester, so it hasn’t gone up. I got A-'s in 5 of the classes that I took this year, but I got C’s in 3 of them (the classes I didn’t really care that much about). I feel really depressed. I don’t even know why I’m going to college because I have no idea what job I want to do, and I guess I’m not going to be getting into any graduate programs since my GPA is going to be low even If I were to get straight A’s for the rest of the time I’m in college. I wanted to go to an Ivy league graduate school, but I guess that’s not going to happen. I don’t know what to do. The classes I actually like I got A’s in, and I signed up for all classes I know I’ll like next semester, but I still won’t be able to raise my GPA enough. What am I supposed to do?
Take a leave of absence and get a full time job, or join the military.
My GPA went up as I went further in university, even though I was taking harder classes. The reason is that I was taking more classes that I wanted to take, and fewer classes that I didn’t want to take. The same might very well happen to you.
However, you have to WANT to do it. If you don’t want to go to university, and if you don’t understand why you are at university, then your grades are indeed likely to suffer.
Taking a leave of absence may have different effects on different people. One common outcome is that a student taking a leave of absence gets a better sense regarding what they want to do with their life, which in turn gives better motivation for doing well in university.
You’re doing fine. A 3.0 as a freshman is not bad and there are a lot of kids out there that would love to have that! If you need to take a leave, take a leave. It isn’t a race. You CAN raise your GPA if you put your mind to it. Think positive!
Get with the program. Your effort is required even in the classes you don’t care about, since trying or not trying is a reflection of you. Yes, your GPA will improve as you add more As, but it all depends on you. Definitely don’t waste time signing up for classes and not trying.
You could consider what TomSrofBoston suggested - leave school - or follow redpoodles advice to take it easy on yourself.
You may not know what “job” you want to do – but you HAVE discovered classes you like, those 5 in which you got As. Now it’s time to explore a major around those classes, which may get you closer to discovering a career path. Talk to your adviser, to other students who enjoy the same classes you do, and what their academic plans are.
You’re, what, 19 years old? It’s OK not to know what the rest of your life will be like!
Agree with @katliamom.
Don’t forget - “Cs get degrees”.
Consider some counseling, too, to get at the root of what’s really bugging you. It doesn’t mean there is anything ‘wrong’ with you either. It just helps to hone in on the key issues (which most of us have btw; it’s what makes us human).
I agree with @redpoodles . You are doing fine. Don’t worry about not knowing what you want to do with the rest of your life yet, but since you don’t know, why worry about grad school? You have to get through undergrad first. Like @DadTwoGirls , I did better as I moved through every level of my education from HS to undergrad and then grad school. There was always an adjustment period to a new school, and then I’d pick up steam. One step at a time.
Everyone hits speed bumps in life. It’s not the speed bumps that matter as much as how you deal with them.
Everyday, at work, I have to do a bunch of assignments. Some assignments I look forward to with anticipation, and other assignments I completely dread. Some assignments seem to come easily for me, and other assignments I have to study up on, and hunker down to complete them. That’s life, even in my 50s.
You can learn skills to help you manage your emotions & stay on track for what’s most important to you, and reach some balance in your life.
A good therapist is worth their weight in gold. Seek out help, learn to navigate hurdles, and keep putting one foot in front of the other.
Best of luck to you!
If you are truly miserable you can consider taking a gap year, work and reconsider your options. But I agree that a 3.0 freshman year is not bad (some people get blown out of the water freshman year) so would suggest returning and seeking out counseling when you get back to school to help you work through some of your issues.
And just as for undergraduate, it is silly to obsess about an Ivy League grad school. It might or might not be in the cards (depeing on a great many things such as the rest of your grades, standardized tests, essays, what type of grad school you want etc.) but that shouldn’t preclude you from getting where you want to go in life. There are tons of amazing schools out there.
I can’t tell if you actually hate college, or you’re just upset about those Cs. Are you enjoying other aspects of it?
My nephew failed two classes freshman year. He just graduated on time and is going to a Top 20 law school in the fall. A 3.0 is not that bad.
“it is silly to obsess about an Ivy League grad school”
Very True. Reading CC has convinced me of something that I had already suspected: The number of students who are significantly harmed by obsessing about Ivy League universities vastly exceeds the number of students who ever actually go to an Ivy League university. If we all just stopped caring about them then the large majority of people would be better off.
“There are tons of amazing schools out there.”
Absolutely. The Ivy League schools are 8 amazing schools, and there are a few hundred other amazing schools out there, and probably more than a thousand schools which are each amazing for some specific students. Each student needs to find a school which is a good match for that student.
You don’t have to like it, you just have to get through it.
I absolutely HATED college. While I enjoyed some classes and liked some professors, I hated my college and resented that I had to live at home and commute. However, since my goal was to go to law school and there wasn’t really any way to get there but to complete college first, I did what I needed to do and powered through. I LOVED law school and even met my H there.
You need to figure out if it’s your college you don’t like, your program or major or something else. If you don’t like the school or the program, change them. If it’s being in college at all, then take a leave and work or pursue something else.
Your GPA is quite good, IMO. It’s also OK that you don’t know what you want to do after college. If you are only a freshman, you have time to figure this out. I’m a freshman too & still not sure what I wanna to do after school. I wonder if those classes you liked were connected with your major.
On the other hand a lot of people will end up working in occupations not related to their majors, so no worries, you may find a job/career you love even if you are clueless about your future now.
In addition to what other commenters have said, one thing to keep in mind is that grad school is very field dependent in determining which is the best.
For instance, if one wanted to study Philosophy, the top 3 schools aren’t Ivies (Rutgers, NYU, UPitt).
In one of my academic fields of interest, two of the top 4 schools…including the #1 school(Berkeley) aren’t Ivies.
Most friends and a cousin who ended up doing PhDs in engineering/CS at topflight programs didn’t feel it was worth prioritizing the Ivies for engineering/CS grad school. Some would have ROTFLOLed at the mere thought considering most Ivies ranked well below the programs they attended.
First, don’t worry about graduate school when you haven’t even decided what you want to study. And not knowing what you want to study is VERY common. As several other people have stated, you shouldn’t worry about your grades. Lots of kids do much worse. Yep, you probably could have done better, but live and learn and apply yourself from now on. Is taking a semester off to regroup and think about it (and also get some work experience) a possibility? If your school allows that, then that could be an option, but honestly, lots of colleges don’t even require students to declare a major until after your sophomore year. The real question is: Why do you hate college? Do you hate the work? Is your social life not what you expected? Is there something about the school you don’t like? Is it just that you feel like you have no direction? You probably need to think about what is causing you to feel this way before you can decide where to go from here.