College Advice.
 

Here's the situation. I'm a second semester freshmen in college at the moment. I've got 8 hours earned last semester (after dropping 6 hours) with a 2.75 GPA. I'm currently on the HOPE scholarship which pays my tuition and some other things. This requires me to maintain a 3.0 GPA. It is pretty crucial I keep this scholarship because my family is middle/lower class and can't afford to send me to school. So I'd have to take out a few loans. Roughly $6000 per semester. So I'm working on bringing my GPA back up.

I've now found out that I am failing Precalculus with only 2 more tests left in the semester. I have a 55 in the class at the moment. If I stay in Precalculus the minimum I can get would be a C. Or else it would be pretty detrimental to my already shaky GPA. The reason I'm not doing well though is because I've missed so much of class, not because I don't understand the material.

However, if I drop Precalc now, with my remaining classes and the grades I expect to make in them (based on my current grades) I am almost 90% sure that my GPA will be above a 3.0 next semester. And then I would be able to retain my scholarship.

But I'm already a semester behind, and this class is a basic core class that I will have to take if I want to advance in my major (Computer Science). So, my question is: Should I try and stick it out and bring up the 55 or, should I drop the class and just focus on bringing my GPA up this semester and not worry about being a semester behind?

Re: College Advice.
 

Dude, you're in college and taking precalculus?

Re: College Advice.
 

I'm pretty sure there's some good stuff here that can help.

Re: College Advice.
 

Bring WoW back post-haste. It's sad how many of my freshman class didn't make it through freshman year because they blew their life on MMORPGs and other video games. Don't go that way.

Re: College Advice.
 

Atta boy.

Re: College Advice.
 

I would definitely think drop it.

Seriously, getting HOPE back is hard as balls, and you're going to get evaluated after this semester because of the new rules. However, you have to complete at least 2/3 (I think) of the hours you sign up for in order to stay eligible too, so don't just go dropping any and everything.

Re: College Advice.
 

My gut tells me give it up, if you're in college and struggling with precal, you'll have trouble bringing up that 55. An extra semester ain't too bad if the alternative is losing a scholarship, etc.

Re: College Advice.
 

I hope this is a troll. In case it's not... Yer a fckin idiot and you need to get your shyt together quickly. Drop the precalc class (I can't believe you're on scholarship and not going to class). Bite the bullet next two semesters and take a heavy class load to get yourself back on track. Start going to 100% of your classes 100% of the time. Force yourself to study a minimum of 1 hour every night. If your GPA doesn't go up 3.00 after this change your major to psychology or mass communications. If this still doesn't work there is no hope for you.

Re: College Advice.
 

I would make sure you can't lose scholarhips or aid if you drop too many classes.

Talk to a counselor at your school.

Re: College Advice.
 

I'm an engineer and getting through all the calc classes was the key to getting through the curriculum on time. I'd imagine it's much the same in CS. That said, it's not the worst thing in the world if you're a semester behind. If you really have no chance to bring up your grade in pre-calc, I'd drop it and get the GPA. Isn't it quite a bit late to be able to drop a class without it showing something bad on your record, though? Also, isn't there a minimum number of credits you have to pull to keep the scholarship? 8 credits isn't even full-time, is it? I don't know the specifics of HOPE, but there is a bit of wiggle room, however, in most of these cases. There generally is a bit of leniency with these scholarships if your GPA isn't tanked too bad and you bring it back up the next term. I have experience helping my ex-gf write letters to scholarship committees to keep her money when her grades weren't so hot. I suspect you'll find yourself writing one or two of these yourself in the future. You better have something to make a good case for yourself.

Here's the father-knows-best crap you don't want to hear. The fact that you only pulled 8 credits your first term and you're already dropping because you're not attending class and putting the work in looks really bad for you in more ways than one. First, it's going to be hard to just turn it around. Everyone says "oh yeah, I'll for sure do better next term" or whatever, but it rarely happens. Also, if you want some leniency with your scholarship, this is a terrible way to start out. You need to realize what you're doing here and get to work. This isn't high school any more and what you do in the next four years or so is actually important - work now and you can cruise the rest of your life.

Re: College Advice.
 

You should quit school and become an internet poker pro.

Re: College Advice.
 

[ QUOTE ]
You should quit school and become an internet poker pro.

[/ QUOTE ]
Brilliant.

Re: College Advice.
 

Awesome, these responses are great so far. I especially like this PM I got shortly after I posted.

from granny50

[ QUOTE ]

I can help you out. I can offer you private online lessons via messenger or AOL. For more information here's my (beta) website:
http://www.2hot2cool.com/11/shehzad20/index.htm


[/ QUOTE ]

sexypanda: yes I am taking precalc in college, my high school advisor [censored] me over and instead of taking it in high school they put me in Algebra 3. So it didn't count as exempting it.

jakethebake: Quarter mid-life crisis.. hmm thats interesting. Maybe I should buy a $60,000 car and forget about college.

Patrick: About to go buy WoW now, cheers!

mmbt0ne: I'm guessing you are a GA resident as well. I know I'm getting evaluated this semester, but I never heard about the 2/3 class rule. Can you show me a link?

voltron: My gut is telling me that as well.

Boris: No, I'm not a troll, I'm just starting to post in OOT more than the strat forums. Thanks for the comments. I'm still trying to adjust to college which is why I didn't go to 100% of my classes. Parents were assholes so I enjoyed my freedom a little bit too much, sue me. Oh and the HOPE scholarship is a regular Georgia thing. Every high school student who graduates with a 3.0 or above gets it. Not a huge deal to get. Not changing my major, there's nothing else I would rather do than computers. It's what I enjoy in life. Thanks for the words of encouragement.

ChoicestHops: I'm going to talk to my advisor tomorrow and make sure that I can drop these classes and keep Hope if my GPA is good.

Patrick: Yea, calc blows. I was actually thinking of doing a dual-major in engineering but I decided against it because it was an extremem amount of work. 18 hour semesters minimum.

Yea, I know I [censored] up dropping so many classes. Not going to class has already cost me two classes so far this semester. Another one I missed a paper and a quiz on the same day, so my 90 average went to a 30.
Last semester I started with 15 hours and ended with 8, and this semester I started with 12 and will be ending with 7 probably.

That's what my Dad says too about working now so you don't have to in the future. Good advice, I'm trying to take it.

bosoxfan: Dude, you are so right. Screw college.

Re: College Advice.
 

PdPG,

Great freakin' post. Couldn't have said it better myself.

FYI: Technically, 12 credit-hours is full-time.

Re: College Advice.
 

[ QUOTE ]

FYI: Technically, 12 credit-hours is full-time.

[/ QUOTE ]

Technically, because I started both semesters off with 12 hours, I am still full-time.

Re: College Advice.
 

^ What he said, especially the father-knows-best crap.
8 credits in one semester is a joke. What are you doin with all of that freaking time. I took 12 credits last semester and I felt like a bum. It sounds like you really need to get your priorities straight, I would hope that urgency to keep your scholarship would be enough but apparently thats not even getting the job done. You need to figure out what you are doing in life, why you should be motivated and do it right now. I say drop that precalc class now and work your ass off in the coming years, I know plenty of kids who have done college in 3 years so you can still do it in 4 if you pick it up. Sorry to sound harsh, but from the sounds of it you are one freakin' slacking freshman who needs a swift kick in the ass.
I honestly do hope that it all works out for you, good luck.
O yah, you already have over double the posts I do and you've been a member for 2 months, lay off the boards a little.

Re: College Advice.
 

[ QUOTE ]
FYI: Technically, 12 credit-hours is full-time.

[/ QUOTE ]
That's what I thought - that's what it was when I went to school, but I thought maybe GT (you going to G. Tech, Caruso?) counted things a little differently.

Re: College Advice.
 

I am a bum at the moment. I have no drive. No motivation to get a job so I have any spending cash. No motivation to get up for class (hence why I missed so many). It sounds stupid but yea I'm pretty damn lazy. I want to be a computer programmer as a career, or something in IT, that is why I'm a Comp Sci major.

Yea, I do need a kick in the ass I guess. I've gotten plenty so far though.

Most of my posts are from SSNL forum. When you see the majority of my posts lacking any substance then tell me to lay off the boards.

Patrick: I'm going to Georgia College and State University.

Re: College Advice.
 

[ QUOTE ]
You should quit school and become an internet poker pro.

[/ QUOTE ]

Re: College Advice.
 

The only line I can find is that you must be

"Be making satisfactory academic progress."

I don't know if there's anything more concrete than that, but I know that my friend lost it when he only completed about 40% of his required hours. I just pulled that 2/3 number out of my ass.

Re: College Advice.
 

Well out of 27 hours, I'll complete 15. The only thing I heard is that dropping classes doesn't hurt your HOPE GPA or if you receive it or not, but you are alotted a certain number of HOPE hours. 128. So the classes I dropped drain those hours. That is the only reprocussion I know of.

[ QUOTE ]
You should quit school and become an internet poker pro.

[/ QUOTE ]
FWIW this is what I'm doing as a part-time job already and will be doing full-time over the Summer.

Re: College Advice.
 

Seriously, if you honestly care about pulling your grades back up, you'll forget that WoW ever existed. If you pick up WoW, I'll definitely take the under on your GPA.

Re: College Advice.
 

Over/Under 3.0 by the end of the semester.

1:2 Under
4:1 Over

Place your bets!

Re: College Advice.
 

[ QUOTE ]

Most of my posts are from SSNL forum. When you see the majority of my posts lacking any substance then tell me to lay off the boards.

[/ QUOTE ]

Emmitt's point, since you seem like you're taking a pretty big attitude (and judging by your current academic situation):

You admit to having no motivation to even get out of bed to go to class, but you've found enough time in about 2 months to make 700 posts. Even myself - I've made slightly over 1k in almost a year and a half. Each post may not take that much time by itself, but it can add up. I know, trust me - when I'm having trouble in classes (and I've been there), this was the first thing to go.

There needs to be some kind of priority in your life, especially now. As a freshman right out of high school, I kinda blew off my first semester (and I didn't even know about this place), and you seem like you're kinda doing the same thing. There's plenty of a chance to fix it, but you have to do it for yourself. There's certainly nobody here that can make you do it, only try to give you suggestions...

Re: College Advice.
 

Hey man, 15 hours in one year...just pretend you interned for a semester, and it'll all be gravy.

Good luck with the grades.

Re: College Advice.
 

Yea edge, I took it the same way I took the troll comment. But I guess he was saying I'm spending time on 2+2 that I could be studying. Sure, I could. And I'm working on bringing poker down on the priorities list at the moment. So with that 2+2 will come down too. Poker and 2+2 are just two things I enjoy and both take up a lot of my free time right now.

Re: College Advice.
 

[ QUOTE ]
Here's the situation. I'm a second semester freshmen in college at the moment. I've got 8 hours earned last semester (after dropping 6 hours) with a 2.75 GPA. I'm currently on the HOPE scholarship which pays my tuition and some other things. This requires me to maintain a 3.0 GPA. It is pretty crucial I keep this scholarship because my family is middle/lower class and can't afford to send me to school. So I'd have to take out a few loans. Roughly $6000 per semester. So I'm working on bringing my GPA back up.

I've now found out that I am failing Precalculus with only 2 more tests left in the semester. I have a 55 in the class at the moment. If I stay in Precalculus the minimum I can get would be a C. Or else it would be pretty detrimental to my already shaky GPA. The reason I'm not doing well though is because I've missed so much of class, not because I don't understand the material.

However, if I drop Precalc now, with my remaining classes and the grades I expect to make in them (based on my current grades) I am almost 90% sure that my GPA will be above a 3.0 next semester. And then I would be able to retain my scholarship.

But I'm already a semester behind, and this class is a basic core class that I will have to take if I want to advance in my major (Computer Science). So, my question is: Should I try and stick it out and bring up the 55 or, should I drop the class and just focus on bringing my GPA up this semester and not worry about being a semester behind?

[/ QUOTE ]

Precalc? In college? Comp Sci major? These 3 things seem incompatible.

Also:

[ QUOTE ]
Reged: 01/12/05
Posts: 764


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Get the fck out of here and don't come back until after the end of the semester. This is a ridiculous amount of time you've wasted, and you can see the results already. You've got zero chance of making it if you keep doing what you're doing. Zero.

(Yes, I'm being a dick. I don't care.)

Re: College Advice.
 

How do they seem incompatible?

I came here and wanted to get better at poker. I am getting better, so I'm going to continue to post. It's not time wasted in my mind. I asked for advice, not dickhead demands.

Re: College Advice.
 

how are you not going to your pre-calc class with so little credits? what are you doing with yourself?

and am i the only one who thought calc I and calc II were easy
how can you be failing pre-calc? its the same as algebra II.

my advice: take summer classes

Re: College Advice.
 

[ QUOTE ]

[ QUOTE ]
Reged: 01/12/05
Posts: 764


[/ QUOTE ]

Get the fck out of here and don't come back until after the end of the semester. This is a ridiculous amount of time you've wasted, and you can see the results already. You've got zero chance of making it if you keep doing what you're doing. Zero.

(Yes, I'm being a dick. I don't care.)

[/ QUOTE ]

im gonna have to agree with Jeff A. here

Re: College Advice.
 

[ QUOTE ]
Start going to 100% of your classes 100% of the time.

[/ QUOTE ]

I have found this to be very good advice.

Re: College Advice.
 

Sleeping, playing poker, spending time with the girlfriend, posting on 2+2, playing video games, etc.

I am going to be taking two Maymester courses. English 2 and hopefully again Precalculus. Then I am planning on studying abroad next year and getting my foreign language and an art class under my belt.

[ QUOTE ]
im gonna have to agree with Jeff A. here

[/ QUOTE ]
As most people will, but I'm not planning on leaving anytime soon. Sorry.

Re: College Advice.
 

drink beer

Re: College Advice.
 

This is not a difficult choice. Drop the math class. It will surely save you money in the long run; even if you have to pay for that one class later on because you need to go an extra semester, you won't have to pay for ALL of your classes.

-Michael

Re: College Advice.
 

Caruso,

Since you showed a little planning at least in your previous reply to me, I'm gonna have to say it one more time. Jeff may come off like a dick, but he's right.

Think of it in poker terms. The EV of getting better at poker (in addition to only being short term) is MUCH lower than the EV of straightening out your college stuff. Plus, once you get back on track, you'll have a lot more fun with your entire life, because you won't have to worry about your grades while you're playing/posting (which apparently you do, at least a little).

Then again, if you fail out, you'll have plenty of time to play and post.

Just get it done - everybody here that's replied in a serious way knows what they're talking about. They've either been there or in some cases are there (like me - school comes first right now). I suggest removing all poker programs from your computer for at least the next month - I know how it seems, but you're a second semester frosh, how many costs could you have? You'll have money for ramen and laundry. Get your classes taken care of, and do whatever it takes to keep your GPA up. Gonna be tough, but sometimes you have to make the tough calls. There'll be plenty of soft games for you to play when you get back.

Good luck.

Re: College Advice.
 

[ QUOTE ]
This is not a difficult choice. Drop the math class. It will surely save you money in the long run; even if you have to pay for that one class later on because you need to go an extra semester, you won't have to pay for ALL of your classes.

-Michael

[/ QUOTE ]

That's what I'm going to do. As well as going to 100% of my classes 100% of the time now. I am going to take 3-6 hours of courses over Maymester so that will help me get a few of those core courses behind me. If I happen to lose the scholarship I will just get as many student loans as I need and deal with them later in life. Finishing college with loans is still +EV compared to not finishing IMO. Worst comes to worst I'm going to transfer to the 2-year college here in town and finish my core their, then transfer back to GCSU to finish my major curriculum.

I'm going to continue playing poker and posting here on 2+2 because poker is something I would like to do as part of my income in the future (on the side, not pro) and I want to improve as much as I can. I'll try to ease up on the boards a little bit I guess.

*EDIT* Edge, I know. I'm going to try to slow down on the poker because it is taxing on my life, and not just school. I know I'm addicted to it, but I can't quit cold turkey and I would like to keep playing later in my life. But just not as much so. I'm working on cutting down my hours per day. I've gone from about 6-10 to 2-4 now in the last few weeks. Oh, and don't suggest GA.

Thanks for everyone's advice (even the dickhead advice which was taken with a grain of salt). I'll try my best to not [censored] up anymore, keep my scholarship, and graduate semi-on time.

[ QUOTE ]
drink beer

[/ QUOTE ]
Can't. I'm an alcoholic and I've been dry for about 3 months. Besides, I prefer liquor.

Re: College Advice.
 

[ QUOTE ]
I'm an alcoholic

[/ QUOTE ]

good lord uve got a lot of problems to deal with
u need to get ur life in order

Re: College Advice.
 

[ QUOTE ]
Seriously, if you honestly care about pulling your grades back up, you'll forget that WoW ever existed. If you pick up WoW, I'll definitely take the under on your GPA.

[/ QUOTE ]

this is very very true. having the above knowledge, if you still go out and buy this game you are basically saying that you dont really give a [censored] and are destined to lose your scholarship.

Re: College Advice.
 

what kind of CS program lets you take precalc your freshman year, study art and language abroad for a year and still graduate close to on time?

Re: College Advice.
 

[ QUOTE ]
[ QUOTE ]
I'm an alcoholic

[/ QUOTE ]

good lord uve got a lot of problems to deal with
u need to get ur life in order

[/ QUOTE ]

I was going to say I was an alcoholic, because I don't drink anymore, but most of the fucktards at AA (never been, quit with my family's help) say that once you're an alcoholic you're always an alcoholic. So that's why I said I was.

I have an addictive lifestyle. Oops.

[ QUOTE ]
what kind of CS program lets you take precalc your freshman year, study art and language abroad for a year and still graduate close to on time?


[/ QUOTE ]

God bless Liberal Arts colleges. I'm studying abroad during the summer semester, which I wouldn't take classes during anyways. So it's extra work. Precalc is just because I didn't take it in High School because my counselor was a dumbass. So I have to take it before Calc.