Post: #1

I have placed myself in quite.a terrible predicament. I'm currently in my 4th year at university, my grades are terrible, my gpa is quite bad. I'm in danger of having to drop out. At the moment I am on the general science program and the only hope I have of a remotely good career that pays well is to transfer into the engineering program which I am trying to do. I have set myself up for failure, infact I already repeated three courses and students are not usually accepted into a program after 4 repeated courses. I also at the moment live at home. My life right seems like it has gone to sh*t. Is there anyway to salvage this? I didn't ask for help because honestly this is quite embarrassing. My confidence is at an all time low. Any suggestions would be helpful

Post: #2

You need to prioritize. Put first things first. The main thing you need to do is get your shit together academically so you don't have to drop out. You've already invested 4 years so you need to finish and get your degree even if your GPA is shit. Don't worry about engineering school or living at home at this point. You're putting the cart before the horse. Make sure you finish your degree. Worry about the other shit later.

Post: #3

(08-20-2013 08:10 PM)ballsyamog Wrote:  I have placed myself in quite.a terrible predicament. I'm currently in my 4th year at university, my grades are terrible, my gpa is quite bad. I'm in danger of having to drop out. At the moment I am on the general science program and the only hope I have of a remotely good career that pays well is to transfer into the engineering program which I am trying to do. I have set myself up for failure, infact I already repeated three courses and students are not usually accepted into a program after 4 repeated courses. I also at the moment live at home. My life right seems like it has gone to sh*t. Is there anyway to salvage this? I didn't ask for help because honestly this is quite embarrassing. My confidence is at an all time low. Any suggestions would be helpful

Damn.

That's kind of like asking "Hey, I've fallen out of an Airplane at 40,000 feet with no parachute! What should I do?"

Hang on, it'll be over soon.

Basically, you're going to need to spend every waking moment getting yourself back together. You can do it, but its not going to all of a sudden turn around overnight. I've been in some hairy situations too. Basically, you just gotta get your priorities straight. Do what you need to do to get your life on track!

Also doesn't the school year end in May? so you should have some time right?

Post: #4

You may be able to take a formal leave of absence from your university without affecting your academic standing. Talk to your advisor about your options. The catch is that, if you do so, you must use that time to get your shit together, review the material you are deficient in, develop better habits, get caught up, etc.

If you just need a breather, this could be a good option for you. If your problem is lack of discipline, it might not help you. I speak from experience when I say that taking a leave of absence will leave you worse off than before if you do not use that time wisely.

Post: #5

I always dug enormous holes for myself to climb out of by the fourth or fifth week ofthe ssemester and would have to work extra hard to finish with A's and B's. Most of the time I would scrape out B's but I would occasionally cut my losses if a course was demanding too much time.

I kind of liked the challenge. I eventually dropped out with 2 semesters left. I can always go back and finish I guess.

Basically, just do what I did when I was looking at F's and D's a few weeks in and live in the library during the week, work and go out and play on the weekends

Post: #6

Study or cram, use the old formula J3cked from GNC (follow prescription to a T). Migraine will follow but no weinie damage. DO NOT use club drugs.

Do not leak J3cked to everyone or the price will soar and it will get scarce.

Post: #7

Well what's the problem? Honestly, are you failing due to lack of effort or lack of intelligence? Or is there some other problem keeping you from succeeding?

Post: #8

(08-20-2013 08:10 PM)ballsyamog Wrote:  I have placed myself in quite.a terrible predicament. I'm currently in my 4th year at university, my grades are terrible, my gpa is quite bad. I'm in danger of having to drop out. At the moment I am on the general science program and the only hope I have of a remotely good career that pays well is to transfer into the engineering program which I am trying to do. I have set myself up for failure, infact I already repeated three courses and students are not usually accepted into a program after 4 repeated courses. I also at the moment live at home. My life right seems like it has gone to sh*t. Is there anyway to salvage this? I didn't ask for help because honestly this is quite embarrassing. My confidence is at an all time low. Any suggestions would be helpful

Before my rant - first of all, if you are in your fourth year if college you NEED to finish. Just graduate and get the diploma.

It doesn't sound like transferring into the engineering program is going to save your career. If you did poorly in general sciences, why will you excel in engineering? Unless I am missing something. Also, how many more years will you have to sacrifice to finish an engineering degree? You will never get this time back.

I think it is unnecessary, will be a waste of time and money, and you should focus on graduating as soon as you possibly can.

What kind of entry level jobs are you interested in getting into after graduation?

Is teaching English abroad an option you are considering?

How much student loan debt do you have?

Are you considering entrepreneurship as an option?

I did very well in school and got top marks in my masters program.

I left that career track and, to this day, I use zero of my acquired skills from academia for my business.

As such, it is irrelevant that I did well in school. I could have nearly flunked out and still succeeded as an entrepreneur.

I have been suggesting this option very frequently lately:

/thread-24989.html

If you combine that with learning skills independently then you don't need to rely on the institution of university to qualify for jobs.

Here are some sites you can use for independent digital skill acquisition:

http://www.udemy.com

http://www.lynda.com

http://www.teamtreehouse.com

http://www.theelevatorlife.com (not digital skill acquisition but learn about import/export in China)

Can you do the following?

1. Finish college ASAP

2. Go to Asia for 2-3 years and becoming a TEFL/CELTA teacher

3. Eliminate 20-30K USD of student loan debt

4. Use your free time to learn SEO and Wordpress and Coding

5. Become a freelancer for year 1, building websites in your free time in exchange for cash

6. Build internet businesses and ecommerce sites in year 2 and 3, perhaps exporting products out of China/Taiwan to the US or vice-versa

This plan will teach you hard digital skill sets that will make you practical in the 21st century economy, destroy your debt burden, have you see the most dynamic region of the world, date hot chicks, and get experience failing at some businesses and probably succeeding with one of them.

Does that sound better than transferring to engineering after failing at general sciences for four years so that you can graduate to compete with engineers who have excelled but also can't find work?

You will not be the only engineer in the entry level workforce. Why would they take you over those hundreds of thousands who have done well and graduated in four years?

Choose Yourself.

http://www.amazon.com/Choose-Yourself-eb...B00CO8D3G4

As a science person with a terrible GPA your situation is probably pretty similar to someone who did fairly well in a "useless" subject in the humanities like Polisci or Anthropology.

The good news is that your education begins at graduation, it does not end at graduation. You have the ability to hack your situation so that you can independently build digital skill sets and entrepreneurial/life skill sets that MIGHT make you more formidable than you would have been if you had gone through engineering and then joined a large company in a niche engineering capacity.

Notice I said "MIGHT" make you more formidable because your success will depend entirely upon your diligent execution.

-

Post: #9

Great post by youngmobileglobal - tells you how it is basically - that if you just hang in and complete the degree - then you are free and can go on to far greener pastures! You might want to ask yourself if you have a special way of monetizing yourself in this digital age, the new connection economy. Might be easier for you.

Patience, persistence and perspiration make an unbeatable combination for success.

Napoleon Hill

Post: #10

Ballsyamog,
Make sure you COMPLETE that degree! Do whatever it takes to graduate as that will open a lot of options for you specially in Asia and other emerging markets. Which to be honest, is where the real juicy action is. Once you've graduated, follow the advice of YMG - Go to Asia for 2-3 years, teach English if need be while learning digital skills through Udemy. And use your time there wisely by building skills and a business that will be portable and online giving you the desired life that most would kill for.

Or if you're a more handy type of person, head off to the oil sands. If you're in the US, that's in North Dakota. If you're Canadian, Alberta.

All the best and keep us posted on how it goes.

Cheers.

Post: #11

I am a civil engineer and my advice is to steer clear if you are struggling in general science. The generals are designed to thin the herd, and the math is brutal. I was a great student in HS but struggled in engineering. It was tough. Once in the industry, it was a lot of work, but I do like what I am doing. I am not happy that all the young engineers sit in school to get a Masters and reinforce the ivy tower view (academia) that all engineers need a masters, but I digress.

There are other ways to design your life. The advice given is excellent. Get that degree (C to a degree), and get some experience in the workforce. I find that the best students make shitty employees, and the people with some experience and balance do well.

Gas and oil are solid plays right now. If you don't go overseas, look to those fields. Texas, ND, Ohio all have frack fields. Lots of opportunities for men there!

Seriously consider YMG's advice. That is really top notch stuff. Even for us guys who are here in the states since retirement is a pipe dream.

Post: #12

Thank you all for the input, right now I have no student debt. I will see my advisor at the beginning of the semester and see what I can do about finishing my degree as quickly as possible.

@Kuhn, it has nothing to do with my intelligence, more about my lack of motivation.

Post: #13

Lack of motivation?
Nothing you're going to read on this thread is going to change that.
Take a good long look in the mirror. Set priorities. Finish college. Don't be a bitch. Do work. Get shit done. Be a man.

Take the time you spend writing this post and do something productive. Start digging your way out.
It's hard.

Best of luck to you.

Post: #14

1 Take a deep breath and chill out, your gpa isn't that important
2 Consider taking a semester off if the school will let you, or take the minimum course load
3 Pick the path of least resistance to a degree, don't change majors to engineering

There are a lot of options after college. Youngmobileglobal mentioned a few of those options but I'm going to be the black sheep and disagree with his approach. You are overwhelmed right now and what you don't need is to be overwhelmed even more with too many options and someone trying to plan out the next four years of your life. All you need to do now is regroup and finish any degree.

Post: #15

(08-20-2013 08:10 PM)ballsyamog Wrote:  I have placed myself in quite.a terrible predicament. I'm currently in my 4th year at university, my grades are terrible, my gpa is quite bad. I'm in danger of having to drop out. At the moment I am on the general science program and the only hope I have of a remotely good career that pays well is to transfer into the engineering program which I am trying to do. I have set myself up for failure, infact I already repeated three courses and students are not usually accepted into a program after 4 repeated courses. I also at the moment live at home. My life right seems like it has gone to sh*t. Is there anyway to salvage this? I didn't ask for help because honestly this is quite embarrassing. My confidence is at an all time low. Any suggestions would be helpful

There's always a way to salvage almost any situation. You're on a path that you seem to have no passion in. If you fail out, its not the end of the world you'll just have to find something new. If you're having problems in general science, you'll have problems in engineering so that's just going to exacerbate the problem. Just try to finish your current course and figure it out from there.

Post: #16

(08-21-2013 12:08 PM)phil81 Wrote:  1 Take a deep breath and chill out, your gpa isn't that important
2 Consider taking a semester off if the school will let you, or take the minimum course load
3 Pick the path of least resistance to a degree, don't change majors to engineering

There are a lot of options after college. Youngmobileglobal mentioned a few of those options but I'm going to be the black sheep and disagree with his approach. You are overwhelmed right now and what you don't need is to be overwhelmed even more with too many options and someone trying to plan out the next four years of your life. All you need to do now is regroup and finish any degree.

Disagreeing with me certainly doesn't make you a black sheep.

I am not always right and I don't claim to have all the answers.

-

Post: #17

You're in quite a hole my friend. When I was still in college I dicked around a lot. My grades suffered greatly due to all the drinking and partying. Had a very heavy course load my last semester due to the constant fucking around.

What I did was make a list of priorities/goals. Dig yourself out a little bit at a time. Focus on priorities 1 and 2. Once finished with 1, use that time that you focused on 1 and work even more on 2. While focus is primarily on 2, add some time to work on 3. Repeat until all priorities have been met.

Post: #18

(08-21-2013 12:54 PM)youngmobileglobal Wrote:  

(08-21-2013 12:08 PM)phil81 Wrote:  1 Take a deep breath and chill out, your gpa isn't that important
2 Consider taking a semester off if the school will let you, or take the minimum course load
3 Pick the path of least resistance to a degree, don't change majors to engineering

There are a lot of options after college. Youngmobileglobal mentioned a few of those options but I'm going to be the black sheep and disagree with his approach. You are overwhelmed right now and what you don't need is to be overwhelmed even more with too many options and someone trying to plan out the next four years of your life. All you need to do now is regroup and finish any degree.

Disagreeing with me certainly doesn't make you a black sheep.

I am not always right and I don't claim to have all the answers.

-

I actually agree with a lot of what you have to say if it is directed at the right person at the right time..... but sometimes the worst advice is the right advice given the wrong way.

(08-21-2013 12:55 PM)Remington Wrote:  You're in quite a hole my friend. When I was still in college I dicked around a lot. My grades suffered greatly due to all the drinking and partying. Had a very heavy course load my last semester due to the constant fucking around.

What I did was make a list of priorities/goals. Dig yourself out a little bit at a time. Focus on priorities 1 and 2. Once finished with 1, use that time that you focused on 1 and work even more on 2. While focus is primarily on 2, add some time to work on 3. Repeat until all priorities have been met.

I think a lot of people go through this. Step 1 might be to slow down on the partying. It is hard to think clearly when you are getting wasted every weekend.

Post: #19

I flunked out of college because I partied too much and was a basic slug. After spending a year working 2 minimum wage jobs and barely making ends meat with credit card bills and student loans I decided that I didn't want to live that way and I must go back to college.

I re-applied, started a new major and had to get a B or better in every class to bring my cumavg abouve a 2.0 I did it, but did it slowly, taking just 2 or 3 classes a semester plus summer classes plus I worked. I graduated when I was 27 with a Bachelors degree and about $40k of student debt.

I have no debt anymore, investment property almost paid off along with some nice savings, plus a well-paying skill. I'll be able to retire before 50 if I want to.

If I can persevere, you can too. Many successful people in history stumbled much on their way to greatness.

Post: #20

Thanks alot guys. This really means a lot... Ill keep you updated