Trying to transfer, bad grades

[renegade7]

I'm an engineering student now at a college where the only good department is engineering and no longer wanting to be in engineering. The problem is that I caught mono last semester and it tanked my grades, and despite that I had a diagnosis and was told to not attend class my request for a medical excuse or withdrawal was denied, now my GPA is sitting at like 2.5 (the godawful administration here is reason #2 I'm transferring).

I'm a sophomore now, and even though I got very good grades this semester my GPA is still only like 2.8, and even if I get perfect grades next semester they won't be able to rise above 3.2. That's good, but it's not high enough to transfer into a higher quality institution with a strong science program.

Basically, I need to improve not just my grades but also my overall academic reputation, and I need to do it fast or I'll have to waste time building up my grades in a major I just cannot stand anymore. Ideas? Help!

 

[dyre]

Jeez, that's quite a pickle you've gotten yourself into (not that it was your fault, but still). This is what I'd do in your shoes...I'm not saying it's the best plan ever, but maybe you can get some ideas out of it.

First, I'd get rid of any realistic ambition of getting into a really prestigious program (like Johns Hopkins or Columbia...it's not happening). Save those ambitions for grad school or med school, depending on what you're majoring in. Hopefully by then you'll have enough time to raise your GPA.

I'd probably go for state schools or lower second tier schools with relatively lenient acceptance rates and decent science programs, and I'd prepare to possibly spend five years as an undergrad. That's not necessarily to say you're definitely going to spend five years, but science programs are often credit intensive and you've spent three semesters taking classes that probably don't have much overlap (maybe Calculus 1&2 and Stat, if engineering requires that).

So, that said, I'd start applying for transfers to schools pretty soon (deadlines for transfers should be soon, right?). Shoot for the moon if you want, but apply for some backup colleges too, if you're sure you want to get out of your current institution no matter what. It's been awhile since I applied for college, but I think there are resources on the internet that graph average GPAs of accepted students, which can help you figure out what's a backup and what's a reach.

Then I'd probably look up / ask about potential introductory / basic science courses I could take at the current college which would be transferred over to most of the colleges I applied to. Instead of taking engineering courses in the Spring, I'd take those science courses instead (assuming your school allows engineering students to take arts&science courses). If you don't have many options regarding transferable science courses but you're positive you don't want any engineering courses, maybe take some nice, easy liberal arts courses to guarantee better grades. Plus, this'll probably be your last chance in life to take some useless but intellectually worthwhile courses like philosophy, history, etc.

If all goes well you'll get accepted to a decent-but-not-great institution as a science major and you'll have taken a few transferable science courses in your previous college. Maybe you'll even graduate in four years.

Good luck...you'll need it

PS: Before you do any of this stuff, think really, really hard on whether you truly want to ditch engineering. Transferring is a pain in the ass; transferring while changing your major after already investing a year into it is a much bigger pain in the ass. So far you've probably only taken introductory level engineering classes that teach boring-but-necessary basics. It could get more interesting later on...