College Advice.

[Caruso329]

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?

[sexypanda]

Dude, you're in college and taking precalculus?

[jakethebake]

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

[Patrick del Poker Grande]

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.

[Patrick del Poker Grande]

Atta boy.

[mmbt0ne]

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.

[voltron87b]

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.

[Boris]

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.

[ChoicestHops]

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

Talk to a counselor at your school.

[Patrick del Poker Grande]

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.