Taking a Year Off - Good, or Bad?

[Pfheonix]

I'm currently in college, and am absolutely certain I'm going to kill my GPA this semester. Therefore, taking a year off to work and try to help myself, or to help build some form of career since I'm not exactly sure if college is even right for me, might be an option/necessity. Now, my parents are both educators, and both obviously had to go to college for it. My mother and father have their Master's Degrees as well. This puts me in a pickle. For one thing, my mother is the only one of her siblings to have gone to college. On the other hand, flaming out of college might not be a great idea, which I would do even if I didn't take the next year off. So, is this the best option, or would I be better off just going into the military, trying hard as hell to get something in administration because I know I would do terribly in any sort of infantry capacity, or possibly go for some mechanical maintenance job, and sorting it out once I leave? Because, honestly, that's the second best option. And, if it helps with context, I'm from the United States, specifically the southeast portion.

TL;DR I dun fucked up, and now I will have a shit GPA. What should I do?

Captcha: On Cloud Nine. No. No I am not, good sir.

 

[Lionsfan]

What are you in school for? Is your GPA going down because you're not trying (hey it was how I wrecked my GPA), or because you have tough classes? Have you considered transferring to a different school? Maybe a slight change of scenery would help you out

Just my opinion, but I would try to avoid joining the military. The people I know who joined under similar circumstances to yours have ended up hating it so far. Don't join the military just because, join because it's something you're sure you want to do

 

[Friendly Lich]

I've known many people to take a year off and they can never seem to get back on track or dont come back at all. Also it doesn't look so great when a future employer takes a peek which they will. My advice would be don't do it just try taking less credit hours if you can.

 

[Fappy]

I fucked up Freshmen year and worked harder to make up for it. I'm not sure how deep the shit is that you've found yourself in, but as long as you pass classes and don't plan to get a Masters your GPA really doesn't matter all that much.

 

[Pfheonix]

What are you in school for? Is your GPA going down because you're not trying (hey it was how I wrecked my GPA), or because you have tough classes? Have you considered transferring to a different school? Maybe a slight change of scenery would help you out

Just my opinion, but I would try to avoid joining the military. The people I know who joined under similar circumstances to yours have ended up hating it so far. Don't join the military just because, join because it's something you're sure you want to do

Yes, I am lazy, and so am not trying, most of my classes aren't that tough, but I've always kind of flown through my classes on basic memorization skills. So my GPA is probably going to go under 3.0 again, which is bad since I get HOPE as a scholarship.

So, taking that year off often results in not coming back? Hm...

 

[Batou667]

So, taking that year off often results in not coming back? Hm...

I can only comment from a UK perspective but taking a year out before University is often a very good move. Going through the education system sometimes turns into a logical progression of passing exams, studying, progressing to the next stage of education, passing more exams, and so on, with no clear goal in mind. Education is a great thing but there's got to be a purpose to it - without direction you could easily find yourself a year or two years into a college degree that you have no passion or aptitude for just because filling out the college application or applying for the scholarship seemed like the path of least resistance at the time.

There are millionaires out there who never went to college. There are also graduates stacking shelves in supermarkets and flipping your burgers in McDonalds. Further education isn't the be-all and end-all, especially nowadays when every bugger and their dog has a degree and the whole thing is becoming devalued.

My advice is to think long and hard about the kind of areas you'd be interested in one day working in, and by all means consider a year out. A decade of non-stop education has probably given you the feeling that taking a year out is like "dropping out" or "slacking off", but in reality a well-spent sabbatical year can be one of the best moves you can make, especially if you still have the luxury of living rent-free with your family. You can earn some money, try out work placements in various industries/sectors, learn skills, and so on.

Don't forget to at least consider the armed forces - Army, USAF, Navy and so on. They do a lot of skills training and sometimes will even pay your college fees for you if you decide to go.

Good luck!

 

[Assassin Xaero]

My personal opinion is to not take a year off. That will just make it harder to go back the next year. My friend was thinking about taking a semester off and I was trying to talk him out of it, then learned his wife was telling him to, so he did. Think he went back the semester after that, but then quit going all together after that semester.

I got associates degree a year ago, and really have no desire to go back now (even ignoring the fact that I was going to school from the age of 3 until 20, and that I probably won't need to go back).