<p>Do you have an encouraging story in which you did poorly in your first year of college, you recovered, and then you got into grad school you love, or you have a stable, high-paying career that you love? Or a similar story about someone you know?</p>
<p>I went to a university as a freshman and finished my first year with a GPA of 1.85. I left that university, moved to a different state (for unrelated reasons), and enrolled at a community college. My CC GPA is 3.92. My cumulative GPA from both colleges is 3.20, and I am about 1/3 of the way through my college education. There is a public university close to my house that has an articulation agreement with my CC; I plan to transfer there and finish my BS in computer science. After that, my dream is to go right into professional software development, be done with formal education for good, and work my way up to an elite (possibly self-employed) position. I might try to get a master’s degree if I want to specialize in a specific field (probably security) or if my college degree is insufficient/not competitive enough for the jobs I want.</p>
<p>Help motivate me and people like me to continue working hard in spite of that pesky cumulative GPA. Remind us that it is worth the effort in the end.</p>
<p>Halogen, my son had a rough start in college. He had grades ranging from A’s to D’s and incompletes, and quit after his 2nd year without even enough transferable credit for junior standing. He found a job that he loved and he worked for 3 years, then entered a 4-year public college as a transfer. His high school AP credits could still be applied for course credit there, so that gave him a leg up. At the second college he had almost straight A’s, and he ended up winning a very competitive fellowship and a merit award his senior year. He found a job right away after graduation, worked a few more years, and then decided to go back to school for a master’s degree. By then he had moved to a different state, and had no problem winning admission to a very well-regarded program at the flagship state university. He was invited to join a honor society, and is graduating this spring. </p>
<p>I think you should just focus on pursuing whatever motivates you right now, and doing your best. You can’t undo the past, but that shouldn’t hold you back. When my son was applying to his master’s degree program, the information on the university web site said that they were only interested in the GPA from the last two years … so I don’t think they even looked at the record from the first college. </p>
<p>My S’s first sem. was awful. .80…2D’s and 4 F’s. He retook three classes in the spring for replacement grades…made a 2.5 and got off academic probation. His raised his gpa a little every semester until finally making the Dean’s List (3.75) in his last semester. He’s graduated in 2012 and is doing well at his job.</p>
<p>My first quarter as a freshman, I had a 1.9 GPA as a computer science major. Changed majors from CS to EE to applied math to business. Don’t know what my final GPA was exactly. Worked in big 8 public accounting firm. Went back to college for post baccaulaurate pre med requirements whereby I got all As And A+s. My cumulative was 3.2 including all of those As because of the way that they calculate GPAs for med school. Got accepted to 3 US medical schools. Now a physician in a very competive field.</p>
<p>I pledged a fraternity in the fall of my Freshman year and that contributed to my nearly flunking out of college and switching my major. The late 60’s were troublesome times to be a clueless college student, and I made numerous mistakes such as not bothering to withdraw from classes and getting F’s. </p>
<p>After a stint in the service, I returned to school and got my GPA up close to 3.0 by the time I graduated. I studied hard in grad school and earned a 3.7 GPA. Later on I began an MBA program paid for by my employer, but never completed it. Earning two degrees are one of my proudest achievements and I am thankful I never gave up when my GPA was a lowly 1.0.</p>
<p>In my freshman year, I got a big fat F in a course I was totally unprepared for. It left me with a C average, and I started sophomore year on probation. I graduated with a B average. The next year I was accepted to grad school with a teaching assistantship and 100% tuition waiver. I am now a tenured college professor.</p>