School Dilemmas

[Maroney555]

I live in California and there is a world of budget cuts and nonsense revolving around the public universities here.

 

I have had a history of laziness when it comes to schoolwork and I am really trying on improving. I have never been a C student and then college came and low and behold I have a 2.1 average

 

My predicament: with the budget cuts it is HARD to transfer into schools. Also, my career choice is to be either a nurse or a teacher. I NEED to bring my grades up!!! I am planning on another year and a half at community college....can I bring my GPA up to a 3 something? Is it possible? Do I have to get A's on every class from now on. Sadly, I still struggle with laziness. It's only because I have to work 2 jobs to support myself and pay for my own education.

 

Any advice on this jumbled post will be much appreciated.

[annie24]

your post seems a bit contradictory. you don't sound lazy to me - working 2 jobs and going to college is having A LOT on your plate! is it when you have free time, you are so exhausted, you have no energy to study? can you get some loans so you can focus more on your schooling?

[Maroney555]

Ya...that's a more accurate way of phrasing it. I am too tired to go to class even sometimes...like this morning, I sucked it up and went but could hardly focus and keep my eyes open. I get home...I have a couple hours and then I work tonight. It's like, when I am home, I don't want to do MORE work.

 

I have looked into loans, but I feel silly taking loans out while in community college...do people do this? I also know that once I do transfer, I will be 100% loan dependent and again when I am in grad school, so I guess I am also fearing stacking up huge amounts of loanage.

[annie24]

depends on what you do in grad school. a lot of programs offer teaching assistantships and research assistantships, along with grants, so you won't have to fund 100% of your own way.

 

i see nothing wrong at all with taking out some student loans while you are working on your education! even if it's for community college. as you noticed, you're having a hard time keeping up with so much on your plate.

[greywolf]

Last year I was going through some stressful stuff and I failed all of my classes. Luckily, you can do them over again and have the grade replaced with new ones.

[Brittney2008]

I was struggling with the idea of taking out loans for a CC but I just turned in all my info for the loan today. Its gonna help a lot and I think it would help you a lot too I live in Oregon now but I used to live in California and if you are low income they have the Board Of Governors Tuition fee waiver. I would see if you qualify!

 

Taking out a loan can help ease the burden of having to work so many hours, and with less hours you can focus more on your schooling. I work about 15 hours a week now and thats about right for me. I cant imagine working 2 jobs and school

[Maroney555]

Ya, I have BOG going.

 

I need more money though

 

It's gonna be hard to obtain a loan because I always drop courses. Ugh...I hate this...

[thejigsup]

I worked two jobs while I was going to my CC. Come to think of it, I still do work two jobs and I am now in Grad School. I keep a very high GPA because it limits your possiblities if you don't have one. It's hard, I don't always sleep a lot, but you can do it!!! Wishing you all the best. You are not lazy, you are tired.

[carbon14]

I also worked 2 jobs when I did my BSc & actually still had to take out a loan-learning is expensive! Here's the best advice I can give you:

On money: Keep the highest paying or least stressful job with the loan so you're not totally reliant on it. If you can, get a puff job-I worked at the library at one point & had plenty of time to study while on the clock. Or if you excel in a particular subject, get a job with the tutorial services (not sure if they'd look at your overall GPA or just the subject GPA though). Or see if you can't TA for a class you enjoyed (which pays & keeps you up to date on the subject matter). Also-scholarships. Most are easy to fill out (maybe write 1 essay) so try to do as many as you can. Even if you hate writing-just imagine that the scholarship amount is your fee for writing the essay. No matter how random they may seem-just apply-it'll only cost you an hour filling out the application. Worst case, they say no & you're no poorer than you were before. You could also take a year off between completing your current degree & grad school to do nothing but work & save money (I think your GRE scores & most classes are accepted up to 5 yrs-probably depends on the state/school, but I doubt 1 yr off would be an issue). And like Annie said-in grad school you can usually get an assistantship or at the very least a stipend from your professor to help pay for things. Heck-I actually MADE money while I was doing my MSc & at least broke even with the PhD! So there is hope!

On school Don't give up! I would say the best thing to do is talk to your advisor or an advisor in your career choice at the Univ. you want to transfer to. Some programs require not only your overall GPA to be high, but also your subject GPA as well (in my case, the calculated GPA from all my chemistry courses-might be similar for you if you're going into nursing). In the case of your subject GPA, even if you retake the course & make an A, they might just average it with your previous grade, so it helps, but not that much-definitely talk to your academic advisor & see. You've still got 3 semesters, so there is time! And learn how to calculate your GPA to see how much you need to make a 3 (I think you can Google how, but check what your schools point system is-some count A+ A A- as 3 different scores, some just see an A as an A).

 

Why do you drop courses? Is that tied in with too much work? Try to plan out the courses you need over the next 3 semester (with substitution classes of the same hrs for classes you can't get into)-then you should be OK for a loan. Just be realistic-I think the average semester is 12-15 hrs. I've done 21 hrs working 2 jobs-I seriously don't recommend it! Also, try to spread out your hard/easy courses. OK-now I'm just telling you stuff you probably already know

 

Sorry for the long, rambling post but I can't stand to see people struggling to succeed, especially when they're trying so hard. Working 2 jobs on top of school is clearly not lazy! You clearly have the work ethic down & are no doubt intelligent as well, you can do this!

[InBruges]

The right path for you is going to have a lot to do with your personality type. Some people can work a full time job, go to school full time, and still keep a smile. It's admirable, but be cautious because not all people are built this way. It probably wasn't too difficult for Johnny Unitas to throw half way down the field, but that doesn't mean anyone can do it. We all have our gifts.

 

From your post, this is clearly burning you out. This is not going to change. You won't wake up one morning and all of the sudden be able to handle it, despite how many other people tell you they can. My advice to you would be cut back your workload and take the loans. It's either that or giving up on school and it doesn't sound like the latter will suit you.

 

I'd also recommend staying at the same school, even if your GPA is low. It shows more character to stay in one place and bring up your GPA than to transfer to an easy school and start with another GPA. Grad schools, job interviewers... they can all look at a transcript and it's not hard for them to figure out a person ditched somewhere hard to go somewhere easy. It doesn't look good.

 

I knew a person that got into grad school with an overall GPA less than 3.0. They had a horrid GPA under 2.0 their first couple years and then a complete turn around to near a 4.0 the latter two years. So stay where you are if you can.

 

Good luck.

[Jetta]

You basically have to get all A's to be a nurse, at least that's how it is around here and then there are still no guarantees. So your best bet is to aim for the teaching field. You could teach health, they do have that as a program.

 

Good luck.

[Bella20]

Slap in the butt. Get to it. There's no point around it, really. And I feel you... I'm applying to medical school and from now on I have to get straight A's.. Just, go. Do it.