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Questions from a struggling college student.
Dragkonias
That Guy Who Does StuffYou Know, There. Registered User regular
That Guy Who Does StuffYou Know, There. Registered User regular
Hello everyone, umm...this is my first time ever using this so excuse me if I make some mistakes and don't come off right. Also...I'm not usually one to ask for advice or anything but I feel that PA is generally full of good people and I think that most of you all have had to go through college or at least are in college at some point in your life. Either way...back to what I wanted to talk about.
Well, I guess I should give some background. I think I started to whole college deal back when I was around 21 or something. I started late because I really wasn't sure what I wanted to do with my life and honestly it didn't occur to me that I should start doing something until I noticed that a lot of my friends were already going to and completing college, making me feel left behind.
I pretty much started out small, going to a community college just to get a feel for what I wanted to do. I still didn't have much of an idea that being said I took a lot of "gifted" courses in my youth, did pretty good in math and sciences, and had a pretty high ACT score(Midwest equivalent of the SAT). I had a thing for technology and sciences so I thought that I would try for tech school.
However, I never really came from the wealthiest family and I'm also the oldest of 6 children and I didn't want to burden my mother worrying about me so I decided to work while I went to school. I managed to get a job at UPS(it was also the first job I'd ever had so I was pretty happy).
I would say that my first year at the University for pretty good. Most of the stuff was stuff I still knew from high school so I didn't really have to try. Mostly A and Bs. My semester after that was pretty good too. That being said I would completely bomb the next year. So badly that I would go from being on a student with a 3.8 GPA to having a 2.1 and being on academic probation.
The school helped me and I was able to get myself together but I wasn't so sure if I'd managed to get myself together because I really wanted to or because I was so scared of failing.
That brings me to this year where I find myself in pretty much the same spot I was beforehand. Not doing to well on my midterms, almost completely unmotivated to do anything, frustrated because I'm letting myself fall behind so much, and tired all of the time because of my school, work, sleep, school, work, sleep routine. Not only that but UPS is a pretty physically demanding job so I would find myself too exhausted to do anything on a lot of days.
Also, I'm somewhat of a minority at my school and not very social to begin with so a lot of the time I feel like I'm completely alone with my problems and I don't have anywhere to turn to. I know I'm not lazy...at least I believe I'm not...and I believe I'm willing to work hard, which makes it even more difficult for me when I fall into this same rut over and over again.
I'm not sure if anyone has been in this kind of predicament before, but I guess what I'm asking is like for people who may have had problems like these during college how do you overcome them? Because I don't want to fail...and I don't want to fail people I know want me to succeed...but I guess I just feel so lost at times.
Thank you.
Well, I guess I should give some background. I think I started to whole college deal back when I was around 21 or something. I started late because I really wasn't sure what I wanted to do with my life and honestly it didn't occur to me that I should start doing something until I noticed that a lot of my friends were already going to and completing college, making me feel left behind.
I pretty much started out small, going to a community college just to get a feel for what I wanted to do. I still didn't have much of an idea that being said I took a lot of "gifted" courses in my youth, did pretty good in math and sciences, and had a pretty high ACT score(Midwest equivalent of the SAT). I had a thing for technology and sciences so I thought that I would try for tech school.
However, I never really came from the wealthiest family and I'm also the oldest of 6 children and I didn't want to burden my mother worrying about me so I decided to work while I went to school. I managed to get a job at UPS(it was also the first job I'd ever had so I was pretty happy).
I would say that my first year at the University for pretty good. Most of the stuff was stuff I still knew from high school so I didn't really have to try. Mostly A and Bs. My semester after that was pretty good too. That being said I would completely bomb the next year. So badly that I would go from being on a student with a 3.8 GPA to having a 2.1 and being on academic probation.
The school helped me and I was able to get myself together but I wasn't so sure if I'd managed to get myself together because I really wanted to or because I was so scared of failing.
That brings me to this year where I find myself in pretty much the same spot I was beforehand. Not doing to well on my midterms, almost completely unmotivated to do anything, frustrated because I'm letting myself fall behind so much, and tired all of the time because of my school, work, sleep, school, work, sleep routine. Not only that but UPS is a pretty physically demanding job so I would find myself too exhausted to do anything on a lot of days.
Also, I'm somewhat of a minority at my school and not very social to begin with so a lot of the time I feel like I'm completely alone with my problems and I don't have anywhere to turn to. I know I'm not lazy...at least I believe I'm not...and I believe I'm willing to work hard, which makes it even more difficult for me when I fall into this same rut over and over again.
I'm not sure if anyone has been in this kind of predicament before, but I guess what I'm asking is like for people who may have had problems like these during college how do you overcome them? Because I don't want to fail...and I don't want to fail people I know want me to succeed...but I guess I just feel so lost at times.
Thank you.
Dragkonias on
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Yeah. I qualify, but my school is somewhat expensive so I still have to take out loans. I would say I'm about 15,000-17,000 in debt with the 2 years I've been there so far.
My main concern is that I don't want to have to incur more debt than I have to, that's why I have the job since it let's me pay for a lot of my extra stuff.
I will say that I tend to be somewhat of a hard worker, so sometimes my job takes advantage. They usually have me work ~23 hours a week give or take and I would say it is a 1 hour drive to and from work.
I think maybe if I could find a part-time job where I only have to work 16 or so hours on average and I could work weekends, that might be a better fit for me.
I've actually been thinking for a while about that. But I've been working there for almost 5 years now, but I dunno...maybe that is the thing that's holding me back.
IMHO this really depends on the degree... It's going to be nearly impossible to pay off a complete tuition/living expenses loan from an expensive school with a job that a sociology, arts, or literature degree is going to net you.
That said, I would second the advice to get a less demanding job... Or go to a cheaper school.
I definitely understand where you (dragkonias) are coming from thats why I recommend focusing on finishing your education asap. But also try to maintain a good gpa because it helps you land a job.
There are plenty of scholarships, grants, and loan available through fafsa mainly. Also, talk to your school's financial aid office they may be able to guide you through.
UPS offered (or used to offer, to individuals in certain positions) tuition reimbursement up to the maximum allowed by law, which allowed me to graduate from school debt-free.
It's totally a shit job though, and will kill your social life. I wouldn't recommend it if there are any reasonable alternatives.
Are you enrolled full time or part time in college? How many courses?
Are you working full time or part time? How many hours in a week? Day or Evening? Weekend?
What is your major? Is it the classes in your major/minor giving you problems?
What specifically is causing problems? Is it course difficulty, lack of motivation, or not finding time to study or do homework?
You sound like you are burning yourself out. I can be more specific if I know what your schedule looks like, but you may just need to lighten your course load and plan out when you take what a little more. A lot of people get stuck on this, "must be full time," "must finish in 4 years," or "I will just tough out these harder courses" mentality that is really counter productive to completing the degree (let alone keeping your GPA up).
Everyone has limits. Recognizing and working within those limits is a sign of wisdom, not weakness, and it sounds like you are just overstepping yours.
Oh yeah sure.
I'm enrolled full time. I take 4 courses usually from around 8:30a-3(usually with a 2 and 1/2 lunch break in between).
I work part time for like 4-5 hours M-F with a usual commute time of 1 hours. So about 3:30-10:30 M-F.
I'm majoring in ECE(electrical engineering). I don't think it's so much the major that gives me problems since I have a decent grasp of the subject just that I get behind on my work and I get frustrated.
As for your last question I don't know. I'm interested in what I'm doing but I can't say I'm super motivated. I usually try to set aside the weekends to do homework but I usually end up just lazing around not doing anything.
Because I only have one class on Friday so that day is more like 1:30p-10:30p
So, something has to give. The question is what? Several people suggested working less, but I am not seeing that work is your problem (correct me if I am wrong). It looks like its the class work and the fact that it is eating up all your time. Especially since you are setting aside your weekends as homework time when they really need to be recovery time.
Honestly, and this depends on your situation both financially and personally, I would recommend reducing your course load to part time. If you don't want to be in college an extra semester or two, plan to take 3 classes (9 credit hours) in a semester, and then fill in with summer courses to keep you on a 'standard' schedule. But really, if you are paying your own way and don't hate your job, recognize when you will be in a difficult class, and maybe only take 2 courses that semester. I am a big proponent of summer courses to give a little breathing room during the Fall/Spring Semester, but the trade off is limited course offering require planning ahead and carefully managing your list of required courses. If you end up spending an extra semester or three getting the degree, then it's not a big deal. The key is completing the degree.
School is exhausting in a way that is different from work, mainly because it follows you home and lacks consistency. Going home from work means your free for the day (generally), but going home from school just means more work. For this semester, are you past the point where you can drop a class consequence free? Dropping feels like giving up, but if you see yourself spiraling like the previous semester, it may be the sensible thing to do and can save your GPA in the other classes.
The trick is to plan out the course load and get a sense for which classes/profs are going to be more time consuming. A challenging class is fine, but taking 3 of them together is a recipe for an ulcer. You will want to talk this over with an adviser or at the very least plan it out with the course catalog in front of you. I have been through and worked with a lot of similar experiences, so if you want to talk out any more of the details or challenges of being a non-traditional student, feel free to message me anytime!
Probably too late to talk about your schedule or class choices for this semester, but try not to pile the rough classes on yourself all at once. Don't save all the easy (low level) humanities credit requirements for senior year (assuming your University has them). They were actually a nice break for me.
I'll also echo some previous statements: Try finding a closer job. I got lucky and worked in facilities at a lab across the street from school. 20 hours of work a week feels like so much less when there isn't a commute. Check for on campus jobs too; most of these are "Sit at this desk in case someone lost walks by. You can do your homework if you get bored."
Also, what Straygatsby said. It's harder than it was when I graduated, but the EE field is one of the better things to go into right now, even with debt. It's not a guarantee of a job, but the chances are better.
Some of what you said in the OP makes it sound like it's not just your schedule (though of course much of it probably is), but also your motivation. Do you still like EE? It's probably not too hard to move into CE or CS, even this late. Heck, even the physics department might have you.
Last thing: do your best to get back up to a 3.0. Take it from a guy who came out of undergrad with a 2.94. It's not the end of the world, and not worth giving up over, but it makes things easier right out of college.
Really, I found myself having much better success when I was taking the minimum amount of credit hours.
My school has a thing where for full-time 12 hours is pretty much the same as 18 hours, so for the sake of trying to finish as quickly as possible I decided to take four classes instead of 3 and pretty much all of them were required courses.
I think that along with my schedule is what has been causing me so many problems.
Also, I probably should have avoided having so many of my classes start so early in the morning but that was moreso me trying to fit everything onto my scheduling block.
Some advice based on my college experience:
1. Does your school offer free counseling? It might be worth looking into just to have someone to talk your problems over with since you said you feel completely alone.
2. I had a job for a while during college that kept scheduling me for 40 hours a week, it was good money, etc. but it just becomes too stressful with a full class load. I quit and was happy I did. Work less if you can, look into work-study on campus if you qualify (it's usually more convenient, better hours, etc.)
3. I feel like you are putting a ton of pressure on yourself and focusing on all these things you "should" be doing based on your own or other people's expectations. For some people (including me) that can lead to more feelings of being overwhelmed, unmotivated (worry of not living up to expectations), etc. Not that you should be complacent, but personally I worked on letting go of some of my pre-conceived expectations and felt a lot better.
4. Join clubs related to your major, study groups, other like-interest groups on campus. College is a great opportunity to meet new people and people within your major can relate to what you're going through and can sometimes help you get through long study sessions, big projects, etc. (this was also very helpful in finding a job after college)
Working in a couple thousand dollars in more debt is better than failing multiple classes
I would either quit the job or ask for reduced hours.