In a tough spot, school policy is unclear

College Confidential Community
1

Here’s my situation:

Not going to sugar coat it, I was academically dismissed because of my college’s “3 strikes you’re out” policy. Three terms on probation, doesn’t matter the number of credits. For two of the three terms, I was on my school’s co-op program taking night class as a sophomore while working 8 hours a day plus a different part time job. Didn’t go so well and I got the boot despite my efforts.

Fast forward to now: I was able to be reinstated with a different major under the condition I bring up my GPA. My GPA ended last year at 1.96, condition for me to stay was I needed a 3.0 term GPA to bring my cumulative GPA to 2.1. I’ve still got the part time job and extra-curricular commitments as well.

3.0 GPA for the term, definitely possible. Unfortunately, right before midterms rolled around I must’ve eaten something real bad (combined with general poor diet because I just eat whatever I can) and was out of commission for 2 days from food poisoning combined with having to attend a swim meet for the entire weekend right before as well as having to take care of a VERY important paper afterwards.

I didn’t get any studying done at all and needless to say, midterm week didn’t go so well, C’s and D’s across the board. According to my calculations, I’d need to basically completely ace every assignment and test for each class from now on in order to have a shot at getting a 3.0 term GPA

On one hand, I’d like to take the term off and retry again, very unfortunate circumstances. Problem with that is I’m only in class on very special conditions like the GPA requirement and while I’m definitely talking to my adviser, I really don’t want to sound like an idiot asking silly questions

I can’t get dismissed again either because then I might be doomed. I’d probably only be let into other colleges to finish my degree on even more special cases but I’m out of my home state currently and my scholarship only applies to colleges in this area.

Excuse the confused rambling in some points, but I honestly have no clue what my next step is. I graduated high school with a 3.8 and now I’m in college in such an awful awful position…

2

Your main case for not getting dismissed is that you might be doomed.

What evidence can you present that the same issues that dragged you down before won’t continue to be a problem? To me that seems like the crux if it: how will you fix the problems? (Hint: I would absolutely start by eliminating those extra-curricular commitments. )

If you honestly don’t have an answer, then it’s possible that you need to rethink your plan-- maybe go back home, work part time and go to school locally?

3

You need to assess just how much you want to be in college and your goals. Your head sort of says yes, but your heart doesn’t seem to support that. People that really want something that requires big responsibility like being a student and earning a degree push through obstacles, they study, write papers and take tests even when they have a fever, family obligation or just plain don’t feel like it. You are wasting money if you can’t find some level of heart for what you are trying to do. I agree with @bjkmom perhaps taking a break, moving home and getting a job for a while is the answer for now.