I know there’s no excuse… but I was going through a LOT of things, I had to go back home a lot because both my mom and my sister are really ill, and well the point is I didn’t do good AT ALL this first semester. I literally failed every single class and I know I can do better. I”m just wondering how bad I screwed myself over… Do Universities usually give second chances? Will i get my financial aid next semester? How does academic probation work? I’m really worried right now. All i want is a second chance.
6 Answers
If you took an F on every class for 15 hours (for example) then you now have a GPA of 0.00 on 15 hours with a 0% completion rate.
Some universities would dismiss at that level but most will put you on academic probation until the end of the school year.
If you take 15 hours next semester and get a 4.0 average (all A’s) then your GPA will be only 2.0 and you’ll have a 50% completion rate. That 2.0 is enough to get you off probation and avoid suspension but that 50% completion rate isn’t high enough to keep most forms of financial aid, only the most basic.
Financial aid decisions are made year-to-year though and not usually semester-to-semester so you will keep whatever it is that you have been awarded unless you are dismissed from the university.
Second chance? No, most universities don’t have a “do over” – it’s real life now and there are no more “do overs” for the rest of your life. That’s how real life works – mistakes you make now follow you for years. Some mistakes aren’t such a big deal, some are pretty important but not life altering, some “mistakes” can totally ruin the rest of your life (such as breaking the law and going to prison or getting yourself killed). Compared to going to prison or getting killed, failing a semester isn’t that bad.
How academic probation works: It’s not punishment for bad performance. In order to graduate from college you have to have a 2.0 or higher GPA. If your GPA is under 2.0 then you are placed on probation. That’s the college’s warning to you that you’re not going to graduate if you keep it up. They tend not to waste a lot of their financial aid money on folks that won’t be graduating if they can help it.
It’s also not a matter of “you have a semester to improve…” – it’s all about “can you get a 2.0 before graduation time”. If you drop your GPA to the point that it’s impossible to raise it above 2.0 then you will be suspended – that simple. If every indication is that, while you could bring it up, you’re not going to – you will be suspended.
Yes, colleges are caring and will help when you have issues such as yours. But not AFTER you get grades – you have to pony up before you fail and say “hey, I need some help here”. Yours is an example of when a full-semester drop might have been in order.
Some colleges have a program called academic bankruptcy. It’s for people that “failed out” (academic suspension) when they were younger and want to come back a few years later and try again. In that way, there’s sort of a “do over” at some colleges but it’s not immediate.
You’re in a pickle now. It’s very possible that your life situation is such that you just can’t go to college and succeed right now. But, if you leave the university with that 0 GPA then you’ll likely not be able to get into another later. You’re also in a position where it’s possible but highly unlikely that you can raise to a 2.0 in one semester. Getting to a 2.0 now requires that you get a 4.0 in the next one. You’re probably looking at three semesters to get that GPA to a respectable level.
That level GPA means you’ll be losing all but the most basic of financial aid. Any academic scholarships probably require that you keep a 3.0 as do most state funding programs. As much as a lot of people will say “if you work hard enough you can get a 3.0” – the math says it will take you quite a while to get there. You should expect that your funding levels will be different for next academic year.
Taking a 0.0 GPA hit in the first freshman semester is usually academically fatal. “Usually”, not always. Some people are able to recover and go on to graduate. You’re now in a position where you have to dig yourself out of a hole – but it’s not all that deep of a hole. Yet.
Add: you can recover a lot of that lost time and credit in summer session if you’re willing to give up your summer break AND save enough money to pay tuition for summer session. You might even be able to recover all of it if your school allows “repeat for replacement” of grades. Think in terms of the academic year and not per-semester. And see an academic counselor NOW.
If you do have stuff straightened out alot better and you know youll do fine then just keep going for it, financial aid should have been for the whole year so you still have the next semester and one semester will hurt your GPA but you can usually take classes over and stuff. With academic probation you just have to improve your grades for the next semester if not then that is where there are consequences, also if there were real problems then you could have talked to the dean or something and they usually have helped out.
There is usually some school that will allow you a 2nd chance. Stay at the school where you are, if you can, and see if you can get financial aid…that could be a problem. But academic probation is no problem. They just won’t let you do student activities and such next semester probably, and will expect you to do better next time or you’ll get kicked out of that school.
Honestly, now is not the time to worry…. if you need it your financial aid will cover you. The university will understand your families illnesses. You should talk with the student aid about your future there. If they are not aware of your families circumstances, they should be.
You can also take extra classes in spare time to pick up any extra that you missed – most colleges offer this. Not extra credit courses but the “booster” classes or “tutor” classes. There’s no shame in those, everyone needs them.
Every school has a different probation program, but you shouldn’t worry about the financial aid. You can always get assistance paying for school.
The main thing to do right now is not stress – that will lead to more failing grades!!
Good Luck!
I don’t think I’ve ever heard of a school that kicks you out the first time you fail to make average. On Academic Probation, you have the whole year to improve your average. Keep in mind that in includes your previous year, so you have to do better than minimum to balance out the previous year.
But I think you should leave school for now, until you get your life sorted out. Deal with your emotions, get help from a therapist if you need it, get yourself into a healthy and happy frame of mind to go back to school the following year.
What you need to do is get everything straighten out in life before returning to college. You have to put all your effort into college. It cost too much money! It’s just that simple and if you need to take a break from college and return-that’s fine. So take a deep breathe and set your goals and take it from there. Good Luck!