Hello friends,
I’m a sophomore at UIUC majoring in math and I’ve been having a few past rough semesters here. My freshman first semester and this last semester sophomore year I did very poorly and now my cumulative GPA is a 2.41 which is pretty bad. I got put on probation since I failed one of my core classes and I have to retake it. I’ve been struggling academically for years now and even getting into the math program here was probably a 50/50 shot so I don’t want to completely give up on school right now but my parents have lost hope in me and want to take find something else to do with my life. I want to take a gap year and maybe do some kind of work or volunteering this spring semester in hopes it might get me back on track with my life. I’m pretty miserable studying math but I also want to have some kind of financially stable job in the future so I don’t want to give up unless I find something I’m passionate for during the off time. Anyways, any thoughts for this? It’s been rough for me and I don’t know why it’s so difficult for me to focus on school but when it comes to other things I’m fine with it. Maybe I’m not cut out for it or I’m not disciplined enough to keep consistent with school, but either way I’d like to fix my problem as soon as possible. Has anyone taken a gap year off before? What did you guys do and how was the experience? How does this work financially in regards to student loans and tutition? I’m very iffy on returning since with my current mind I risk the possibility of failing and being dropped permanently. I hope doing some kind of work, learning to take responsibility and being independent will give me a reality check to go back to school, but I also hear people don’t return since it’s hard to get back into school mode.
Any advice for a lost college student?