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[Alcibiades]

I'm currently taking 16 hours of courses (2 of which require lab, so I'm in class longer than that every week) and it's getting to be a little pressure-some for me.

I'm used to taking 12-14, usually 12 actually.

Another problem is that I joined one of these classes pretty late (a Latin class) so I was playing catch-up with that class but at the same time playing catch-up with everything considering the way I distributed time for each class.

I'm only allowed to drop 3 classes in my whole college career. I've already wasted one on a PE class (dumb but it had to be done). I never planned to use one again, but at this point I think it might be wise to take the plunge early so I can no longer have to worry about that class.

The class I'm most behind in is a Data Structures class (in C and JAVA). I'm pretty sure the reason I'm so behind is because my programming background and skills are really lacking, especially since I rarely do any of it in my own time.

The only drawback to choosing to drop would basically be the loss of about $500-600 in tuition that I payed in the beginning of the semester. That would really suck, but at the same time it would really serve as a lesson for me, as I never plan to do more than 15 hours again unless I'm totally confident in my time management skills...

It would still be very possible for me to continue the 16 hours and do decently, but I'd basically have to give up almost all my free time left and forego many things I was planning for the semester like gaming sessions, sci-fi/lit. conventions, and other social/entertainment-related activities...

What would you guys do?

is (fun time + buddies + less stress) > (worry about having lost money)?

Ever since I've decided a drop is an option, I've felt a lot better about how things could turn out.

Either way (whether I drop or not), my time management skills are due for an overhaul, and I need to do some yoga or spiritual thing so I'm can focus and not be distracted and paranoid so much. I actually don't feel like I spend as much time on TV/forums/etc... as much as I used to, especially with no election and the major games being released I definitely have not turned on the TV much or posted as much, but somehow or another I have a hard time focusing on all the different things I have to do. I'm sure dropping a 4 hour class w/ lab would help at least narrow the things I have to focus on, and I'd be more confident of pulling off B's in those classes if I did that...

If it hadn't cost me money (well, I'm doing loan + scholarship, but either way it's coming out of some funds somehow). It's just distressing to think if I drop I could have used that money for like a really nice monitor, games, clothes, etc... and I wonder if that will continue to haunt me Also I'm really behind in my college graduation plan, but I've already decided I'm not going to graduate anytime soon and it's not like I have any planned direction or aspirations at the moment anyway, I pretty much hope for some videogame-related job but other than that I haven't given it much thought since HS...

 

[Manick Joe]

Take Snoop's advice and "Drop it like it's hot". If you're just starting to struggle and have a 'C' in the class seems like you can go nowhere but south by the end of the semester. At which point you're going to waste even more money by re-taking the class to save your GPA. Unless you have the herculean effort in you to get your shit together ditch the class.

 

[AntoneM]

How does your university handle tuition? I know that both Universities I've attended have a full-time student status and after you reach that status you just pay a flat tuition. For example, at the first university I attended the limit was 12 credits per semester, so if you then desided to take 18 credits that semester you would still only pay the flat full-time student tuition, basically you'd be getting 6 "free" credit hours.

The other bit of advice I might be able to bestow upon you is to not let money rule you, view money as a means, not an end.

that said, I have ended up dropping about 15 credits in 4 years. But it's because I'd try to take 18 credits, see how the classes were, and if I though I could manage I'd go through with it, if not then I'd drop one of them before it would be factored into my GPA.

 

[Alcibiades]

"Unless you have the herculean effort in you to get your shit together ditch the class."

yeah, I think I have that effort somewhere in me, as I've pulled off stuff that had me thinking "how the heck did I survive that" afterwords, but at the moment I'm not in any mood to go about that as I'm pretty worn after a few weeks already it'll only get worse...

"How does your university handle tuition?"

pretty much I pay for every hour, along with special fees for certain classes... I'd be losing quite a bit, but I know it's not the worst thing in the world...

 

[AntoneM]

that sucks, it seems like the univ. is trying to make you take a low class load so that it takes you longer to graduate without actually forcing it upon you.

 

[Alcibiades]

that sucks, it seems like the univ. is trying to make you take a low class load so that it takes you longer to graduate without actually forcing it upon you.

where do you go to school?

I go to a public school in Texas, and as far as I know it's the same everywhere here in Texas...

actually, on the whole, it wouldn't be too bad dropping since I'm getting a bargain deal anyway because the tuition at my school for the education I'm getting is really a steal I think (I'm a Texas resident so I get the lowest rates)...

 

[Pochacco]

Don't quit.
College is hard. Suck it up, work hard, and struggle through it.
Wasting time on GAF won't help

And 16 hours of classes is like 3 hours/day - maybe 4 with labs and everything. That's not too bad. I know people who are in class (nevermind studying) 8+ hours a day - some even have part time jobs.

 

[tetsuoxb]

Do your 16 credit hours... in 3 months it will be over and you can call everyone who took 12 pussies.

 

[Space Age Playboy]

Only 3 classes? What kind of military school do you go to? I dropped that many in my first year.

 

[Alcibiades]

damn, now hearing 2 opinions I'm conflicted on this as before...

The problem is while the possibility of doing the 16 hours (w/ a possibility of a D in a class) is there, I think the greater possibility if just owning myself hardcore and not having a single A and maybe at most 2 B's...

I still have until April to decide, but if I decide sooner then the pressure will definitely be gone and I can maximize my efforts and grades in those other classes...

I'm pretty much all caught up in my Latin class, but now I'm behind in the other 3 classes (only slightly in 2 of them, but in the Data Structures class I'm pretty much in big trouble)... :/

 

[Aruarian Reflection]

I say suck it up and study.

 

[B'z-chan]

Drop that Data Structures class bro, you'll loose some money. But you'll be able to get your ass back on your feet within a month if you got rid of it now. Dont struggle now, cause it will bring you down in everything else.

so do yourself and you gpa a favor by dropping that one class. Take a summer class to make up for it. And you'll be back on track.

 

[nomoment]

You're bitching about 16 credit hours?

SUCK IT UP.

 

[teiresias]

I took 21 credits one semester and I was an electrical engineering major. You're such a pussy!!! :lol :lol

J/K . . . sorta. At this point I think you also have to consider whether you're "dropping" or "withdrawing." Meaning, is the class expunged from your transcript or is there a big 'ol 'W' for a grade indicating to future employers that you ditched it? If the 'W' is the case it may be worth it to stay in it and try as hard as you can, but if you fail maybe take it again and grade replace if your school allows that - you're original grade would still be on your transcript, but at least it shows you tried to better you grade in the class and maybe where making up for a bad semester or something.

 

[Kola]

Wasn't Alkibiades a famous Greeks statesman and brilliant military tactician? The dog of my History teacher back in school was named after him.

Ok, that piece of information was unnecessary now.

 

[BuddyC]

Schooling, and by extenstion, your future, is far more important than social functions. That's not to say that there's not a place for friends in the life of a student, but the focus of school is education, not interaction.

And please, please tell me you've got a job off to the side that is resulting in your troubles with 16 credit hours.

 

[Alcibiades]

if I drop I don't think that will be indicated on my transcript, but I think that's the least of my worries at this point anyway...

I've gotten 2 D's in my classes so far in my college career, and when retaking a class the grade is more or less averaged with the first grade, so for GPA purposes dropping then taking it fresh is better than just plain old retaking...

yeah, I think I'm going to talk my teacher and TA tomorrow about possible scenarios so they know where my status with the class is heading...

 

[GDJustin]

I vote for drop. You'll work your ass off and struggle, just to get out of school slightly faster. Take the 12 hr route, mate!

 

[Alcibiades]

Schooling, and by extenstion, your future, is far more important than social functions. That's not to say that there's not a place for friends in the life of a student, but the focus of school is education, not interaction.

And please, please tell me you've got a job off to the side that is resulting in your troubles with 16 credit hours.

well, because I haven't really placed a lot of value on some actual job or career for my future, in a way interaction is pretty important to me...

I mean, the reason why I placed so much value on my Best Buy job the past two summer is because they were directly related to videogames, and I had a blast doing it. It was more fullfilling that just about anything I've done in college to this point...

I can do a complete 180 easily and became a political science major and probably ace most of my classes (I'm a sort-of history buff that has done well in all those classes, even in HS passed the AP exams for history/government), but I don't see a future with that degree that is related to videogames, so that's why I'm sticking with the slow-but-computer-related progress I'm making as a CE major...

no, I don't have any job on the side, I just never adopted a steady set of time management and study skills (which I'm still struggling to do)...

 

[BuddyC]

If you're already behind on your graduate plan, it sounds like you've already given yourself a break in semesters past. I'd be afraid that dropping your class now would only be a temporary solution, that you'll work yourself into a similiar mess again, drop that class, and then the next time you paint yourself into a corner, you'll be stuck there.

But hey, that's just the bitter, misguided ramblings of a kid who's desperately trying to pull off 15 hours alongside a freelance writing career and the not-really-part-time job.

 

[teiresias]

but I don't see a future with that degree that is related to videogames, so that's why I'm sticking with the slow-but-computer-related progress I'm making as a CE major...

but in the first post . . .

I'm pretty sure the reason I'm so behind is because my programming background and skills are really lacking, especially since I rarely do any of it in my own time.

And you hope to be coding videogames or something?

 

[Alcibiades]

I'm not sure if I plan to be coding videogames or what, but I certainly would like to know programming, yeah I guess that's pretty uncool how I've managed my college career along with my aspirations of working w/ videogames but I can't go back now...

yeah, I've given myself breaks in semesters past, also only done summer school once so that hasn't helped me catch up at all...

The thing is my mind is just not "feeling" the whole 16 hours deal... I have 1 PE class, 1 English, 1 foreign language, 1 Electrical, and 1 Computer science....

It's too much, and while I think that in terms of intellectual ability it's not far-fetched for me to do well in them, in actual application of my study-time and reading/lab work/programming I can get too mangled with so many different things going on at once...

If I had 100% self-control where I would stay completely away from videogames/forums except one night a week it would be plenty feasible, in fact it wouldn't be an issue, but I've got procastination and commitment problems as it is on top of the whole time-management/study skills issue, so yeah... overall I'm in a sucky situation...

 

[LakeEarth]

I dropped two classes and took them during the summer. Thing is, when you're at school full-time, usually dropping one class will only put something like $15-30 back to your account. In summer you'll be doing part-time, so each class costs $500 or so (at least at my U). So for dropping those two courses and doing it during the summer, it costed me about a grand. Sucks but better than getting some real shitty score.

 

[radioheadrule83]

Try this:

I started a Media & Communication degree to the tune of £1,100 per annum. I did two years so that's £2,200 at least. In my first year I moved into student halls costing me £750 for 14 weeks. 42 weeks @ that price = £2250. In total approx £4,450. I fritted away the rest of my loan and got a bank overdraft for £1,400. My student loans were approx £3,000 for each year (£6,000). In summary my debts because of University stand at £7,400. AT LEAST

I failed the second year because I basically stopped going in and started using the cash to party HARD. Why? The degree is total shit. You glaze over everything generic in a really short time, you never really become specialised in anything vocational. It will be useless to me when I leave.

I put a form in to take a year out from study, and I've been working full time in an administrative grade post. File monkey stuff. I can do better than this job, but you know what? I'm actually happy here. I have money to buy all the stuff I want, and what I do isn't particularly taxing. The only thing itching at my conscience is that I've accrued a 7k debt for absolutely nothing.

In June, my University will get in touch with me to organise going back to do my second & third years. I'm gonna see if I can use the credits I already have to move to a course in something computer or music-related. If not, then I guess I'll have to start paying back my debts.

Thom