School, and grades.

[Ericson]

Well, since we were all kids we went to school. Most of us come out, go to college, get a great job, live happy.

 

My grades have never been so hot, i'm holding a steady 2.0 GPA average, I'm not sure if that's at all good, and at this point im losing any hope of having just a normal life, with a normal paying job to live middle class.

 

School was never really emphasized in my life and now that I've realised just how important it really is I think it's too late. My parents aren't very rich so I don't have any back-up.

 

I really have no clue what im going to do, or major in IF I even get accepted into a college. Does anyone here have any life experiences they can share? What should I do if I can't make it into college?

[in_the_mirror]

well 2.0 is not bad at all. you would surprised that a lot of the time colleges will accept you, its just you have to apply to many to make sure. just because you didn't do as great in high school doesn't mean that colleges will just look at that and say no. they look at acts and sats and they definitely look highly on recommendations from teachers and counselors at school, there is a lot you can do to get accepted, but go to the your assigned counselor and tell them what is up, they are always willing to help.

[BetterKarma]

I don't know where you're located but I believe in the US you can enroll in community college if you can't get accepted into a college of your choice.

 

"In North America, community colleges operate under a policy of "open admission". That is, anyone with a high school diploma or GED may attend, regardless of prior academic status or college entrance exam scores."

 

Don't give up hope. Go to college no matter what you grades are and do well because once you go to college you're going in on a clean slate. Your future employer will not ask for your HS gpa but rather your college gpa and merits.

[Ericson]

Yeah, but community colleges aren't the best to seek jobs from. And I understand there's always doing good on the SATS.. I'm just depressed, I know I can do much better then 2.0!

[BetterKarma]

Yeah, but community colleges aren't the best to seek jobs from.

 

That's not true at all.

 

For example, Baruch College in NYC is a really good community college with many elite alumni.

 

Besides, it's better to graduate with a 4.0 at a community college than to graduate with a 2.3 at Yale. There are a lot of people who choose to go to community college instead of private for the cost savings. If you make great grades in a community college, you will be able to apply for an Ivy League grad school. I know a lot of people who went to community college knowing that they will achieve a 3.8+ gpa so that they can save money and go to a really good graduate school later on.

[BetterKarma]

And I understand there's always doing good on the SATS.. I'm just depressed, I know I can do much better then 2.0!

 

No sense in beating yourself up over something that you have no control over now. It's over and done with. You have a 2.0. So, what now?

 

Focus on what you can do to improve your future rather than dwell on the past. What's done is done. It's time to figure out what to do to rectify that error.

[shikashika]

some people just aren't academic... or don't do well on standardised tests... doesn't mean in any way they are not intelligent or smart.

 

I hated at university how we had so many exams, tests .. even multiple choice tests... for the first two years of university my grades were not that good, because a lot of the junior level courses consisted of two midterm and one final exam.. even though I studied I did very mediocre on the exams.. when it got the higher level ones where I got to give a talk for an hour or do projects and presentations... my marks shot up sky high... its just the kind of learner I am..

Personally I don't think tests are any indication of how intelligent a person is... maybe you just have to find a place where its suited to your learning style?

 

My brother is great at taking exams... and would be petrified to have to do a presentation to 300 people whereas I love it!

 

What is it that interests you? In whjat environment do you feel the most comfortable?

 

For the record.. I'm nearly 30 and I still don't know what I want to do when I grow up...was talking about this with my mum the other day.. and neither does she... even though she's turning 60!

[Ericson]

Well, I love planes, i'm also interested in archetecual designs, I'm even a bit of a shrink. =D

[g1234567890h]

Back up just one moment.

 

What do you mean by

 

Well, since we were all kids we went to school. Most of us come out, go to college, get a great job, live happy.

 

Did you know that only 75% of kids in high school graduate? Of those 75% only 25% have the grades and the skills to go to college, but college is really expensive so how many actually go? Let's be really optimistic and say 80%. Did you know that 50% of the people in college will drop out without a degree? That means that 10% of those who go to high school graduate from college. That's one out of ten. People who go to four year colleges and get degrees are in the minority.

 

I dropped out of high school. I had to work a hard, low paying job when I got out of high school. I'm going to community college now and I'm going to transfer to a state college. They don't care what kind of grades you got in high school. I'm getting straight A's so far. After I get my bachelor's I'm going to go to Stanford or Berkeley to get my PhD. They don't care what kind of grades you got in high school. Most of the successful adults I know of had to work out of high school and waited to go to college. Then they had to pay for college themselves and work really hard until they got where they wanted to go. For me, I have to have a least a master's, but I'm going for a PhD or a doctorate.

 

I couldn't go to college, so I worked and then started going to community college. From there you'll go to a four year, then you can graduate or go onto whatever graduate degree you want to get. That's how most of the world does it.

[laboheme]

A lot of people from my high school went to a community college, which had open admissions. From what I gather, they still had to fulfill basic curriculum requirements -- i.e. take some math, some English, etc. If you do decide to go to a community classes (even if it doesn't have required classes), you will be able to poke around and take a few courses out of curiosity. That way you'll be better able to decide what to major in, if you're unsure right now.

 

Also, a lot of people I know didn't do too well in high school, but buckled up and got their stuff done once they got to college and had a clean slate to work with. If you do great at the community college, you should be able to transfer to a better school (not to say that community colleges are necessarily bad, but I do realize that people place a lot of significance on the school's reputation). I'm going to a pretty competitive state school right now, and about 1/5 of the people in my grade are transfers from two-year state colleges and from the aforementioned community college.

 

So the point is, don't give up. If later down the road you decide that college isn't for you, you'll always be able to quit and start working...but if you rule it out right away, it will be harder to make the decision to go back as an adult.

[Kalika]

My grades in high school were lousy. I ended up dropping out and going to a community college. Luckily the community college near me is a very good school and is relatively well known (as far as community colleges go). Whereas my high school gpa was around a 2.5ish, my community college gpa skyrocketed to a 3.67. I was much happier there than in high school. After I finished CC, I transferred to a 4 year institution and finished my bachelors with over a 3.9 gpa.

 

The point is this: high school sucks. It really does. But college is a lot different. Try majoring in liberal arts in college, take some courses, and see what interests you. And don't discount community colleges: the one I went to was very highly ranked in almost all of their programs, and I found it incredibly challenging. The professors were also exceptional because they really wanted to teach, and loved the subject matter. I too had no idea what I wanted to do, so I just put my major down at CC as Liberal Arts, and went about fulfilling core requirements (101 classes) and that's how I found out what my interests were.

[now_better]

I agree w/ what everybody above has written. You didn't do so hot in HS, but college is a completely new ballgame where you have a chance to start over. As far as I know, anybody can enroll in a community college. In California, if you do well, you can transfer after 2 years to a University of California school (among the best in the state and the top UCs are among the best in the nation). You'll be just like any other student there and have a chance to prove yourself. Of course the better the reputation of the school, the more competitive it usually is and you have to be willing to work hard to establish yourself. Figure out what you enjoy doing, look at your local CC course catalog, start planning your future and make a resolution to work harder at school. You really want to make life changing habits that will make you a better student and get higher grades which will lead to more opportunities in the future.

[rocio]

For now, concentrate on being accepted. To do that, you should apply to as many schools as you can afford to. If your top marks were in your English classes, then apply for an English major. If math was always your strong suit, apply into mathematics. Once you're accepted, you can easily switch your major. If you still aren't accepted (which I doubt, since your GPA isn't so bad), you can still take university courses for a semester. You will be an independent student, which means that you haven't been accepted into a program, but you're just taking courses. As long as you do well in those courses, they will accept you in the following semester.

 

University isn't just for brainy people, trust me.

[Mrs Elliott Smith]

If you're set on getting a college education - I have some advice for you:

 

1. Try a community college (2-yr. college), then transfer to a uni

 

2. Do a LOT of volunteer work (a man I know did more than 1,000 hours of volunteer work during high school, and attributes that to helping him get into college because his graes weren't so hot)

 

3. Don't write yourself off like that and think that it's too late to get serious about your grades (if you're still in H.S?)--- Even if you improve now, college application reviewers will take your improvement into consideration