Could Possibly Lose Financial Aid

Hello guys.

I'm going to attempt to make this quick.

Since my freshman year, my schooling has been pretty bad. Mainly because my parents (mainly my father) refused to fill out the FAFSA so my freshman year and a portion of my sophomore year he paid for it out of pocket. When he couldn't anymore, he claimed I'd get a better education at a technical school anyway.

My sisters who both went to four year universities called BS on that and worked together to pay for the remainder of my sophomore year and a semester of my junior year.

Due to mental issues and lack of financial help, I wasn't able to continue school and I stayed out for roughly 2 years until last year. I tried again, but this time I was able to get an unsubsidized loan and go through one semester, but again personal issues happens and the major I was in was not for me and my grades plummeted. I took a semester off and this year since I'm 24, I was finally able to apply for full financial aid. It's been a blessing to be in school and not have to constantly worry.

But of course that didn't last. Due to my last two terrible semesters, my GPA is at 2.0. That's the BARE minimum you can have and still keep your financial aid. I underestimated how time consuming my new major would be and while working as well, I can't even make any excuses. I messed up and I fell behind.

I don't like to put "mental illness" on everything, but I do feel like that's also taken a toll here as well as just not trying hard enough.

Anyway, I'm at a 2.0. I have next semester to bring it up. I KNOW I can. It won't go up a lot. Even if I make all A's, it still probably won't reach a 3.0, but I'm trying not to stress and take things as they come.

I don't even know if I'm asking for advice. I'm just trying to get my butt in gear because my education is on the brink right now. I know im going to end up worrying myself sick again so I'm glad to be going home for Thanksgiving. I'm also glad I have a fresh new semester to make things better, but I honestly hope that I can.

Why don't you look into study groups, after hours help, tutoring, etc? Bad grades are more often due to poor study habits than lack of intelligence or health issues.

In my opinion, you're kinda making excuses for yourself. You shouldn't depend on your father for your FAFSA, your siblings to pay for you, or blame personal issues everytime things go bad. Unfortunately, life doesn't care if you're depressed. Are you sure you're in a place to continue school? Racking up student debt when you aren't making meaningful progress towards a degree is a waste of money.

For reference, federal loans are like 6.3% interest. That basically means for every 10k you take out, your interest accrues at like $1.50-$2 per day.

Two terrible semesters is a long time. That's a year. Major life event aside (catastrophic illness, death of an immediate family member), I don't see how you can blame mental illness entirely.

What I'm saying is you are at a crossroads. Are you going to actively take the steps to improve this? Get treatment, join study groups, work with your professors and TAs to succeed, and not make excuses for yourself? You have to be accountable for yourself.

The problem is that

That out of the way, coming out of your underclassmen years with a 2.0 is not good. You're talking your intro bacc cores, what you're supposed to "pad your stats" with, so to speak. Not calling you stupid by any means as I'm sure it likely boils down to a combination of many things (time management, lack of motivation, whatever mental health things you got going on), but that debt gets real and it gets real quick. Really do yourself a favor and get your head completely in the game or do yourself the favor of not sinking yourself deeper in loans for naught.

What program are you in? Did you want to go to the technical school before your sisters talked you out of it?

The problem is that

 

That out of the way, coming out of your underclassmen years with a 2.0 is not good. You're talking your intro bacc cores, what you're supposed to "pad your stats" with, so to speak. Not calling you stupid by any means as I'm sure it likely boils down to a combination of many things (time management, lack of motivation, whatever mental health things you got going on), but that debt gets real and it gets real quick. Really do yourself a favor and get your head completely in the game or do yourself the favor of not sinking yourself deeper in loans for naught.

 

What program are you in? Did you want to go to the technical school before your sisters talked you out of it?

I wouldn't consider myself stupid either, ha. To be honest, I don't think it has anything at all to do with my core subjects.

I was originally a theater major which wasn't hard at all. I'm not the best at math nor science, but I passed my core classes. I might not have made As and Bs, but I did pass. Then I switched to a film major at a new university. Again, not a hard major at all, but this was also the lowest point in my mental health. To tell you the truth, there's a lot about that semester that I don't remember. I went to classes, but I was a zombie. Again, I didn't fail any classes, but they weren't As and Bs.

When I finally decided to return to school I tried to be more practical for my father's sake and take on a business major. This is where I failed. I withdrew from two classes and failed a third because I couldn't keep up. And k didn't come back the next semester, so I didn't even have a chance to take more classes to bring up my overall GPA. So, I'm sitting at a 2.0 and I think it's a combination of mental health, bad choices, and laziness. It's all 100% my fault.

With this semester, I switched to be an English major. I figured it would be simple. I was confident I would do well. But I made several mistakes. One) I chose to take a deductive logic class in order to get out of taking a math. As hard as this class is, math would have been a breeze. My other classes are all HEAVY reading classes. As in 3-4 chapter books per week. Plus, I'm working every day. I underestimated how hard it would be and I did not manage my time well.

I have no one to blame but myself and I know that.

And to answer your last question, no I never wanted to go to a technical school.

Are you aware that no degree in college should be easy? I think you should treat college like a full time job. Be on campus 9-5 (or those types of hours if you have earlier or later classes) and dedicate that time to working. Pick up an easier, higher than minimum wage job for the first semester. Perhaps try and chase a work study - I think you could qualify if you file your FAFSA independent of your parents.

But please know nothing should be easy. You should be spending 15 hours a week in class if you're taking 15 credit hours and then, at a minimum, another 15 hours studying and preparing for class.

Agree with MustLove ... college isn't supposed to be "easy." It wasn't easy for me but it was incredibly rewarding and eye-opening.

I'm not sure what to say here dear. It's good that you acknowledge that there was laziness and bad choices on your part in addition to the mental health issues.

You just need to be honest with yourself and determine if finishing college is the right thing for you. You may WANT to do it, but it just seems like a huge waste of money.

Yeah, I remember the struggles of trying to get my dad to fill out the FAFSA. It's frustrating, for sure. You didn't say what you did when you took time off of school. Did you live on your own, work and support yourself, or were your parents supporting you? I don't know what it takes now, but I ended up emancipating myself from my parents while I was in college which made the financial aid process easier, or at least less stressful. Things may be different now for FA, since that was a generation ago.

However, looking back, I would have benefitted from getting a technical education in order to get a skill that would support me while I figured out what I really wanted to do, career-wise. I feel that way even though my grades were good at university. I think gaining a good marketable skill through technical training it is a good option, and it might be a path that works better for you.

I worked as a nurse's aide to pay for my own classes, and by the time I finished my 'general education requirements (GER's)' I'd hurt my back and made the choice to halt my nursing studies until I was sure.

I returned to school years later, again on my own dime. By the time my degree was only half completed, I'd worked my way into IT projects that made me highly billable without finishing. I only contemplated a return in my mid 30's, and started chipping away again at night. Then weekend programs became available and I finished on Saturdays, only to continue with my master's through the following year--also on Saturdays and online.

Point is, there are many ways to do this. When I was younger my grades sucked and so did my attitude about school. After years of maturing and earning my own way, my return had me enjoying school and earning straight A's, which I never would have anticipated could have come from me when I was younger.

You're not at the mercy of anyone else's limitations, and so casting yourself that way can only grow you a big chip to carry around--and that will harm your experience. Have you noticed?

It's all on us, babe. Head high, and make good choices on your OWN behalf.