Rebound former low GPAers: How DID you change your ways??

[Unepetitevoix]

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I am a student who is going back to school for post-bac to raise my abysmal GPA from before. I thought it'd be different this time, but it's not! I have purely good intentions, but I'm falling into the same bad habits as before. I also work full-time and have other responsibilities, so whenever I have a shrapnel of free time, I end up wasting it away instead of studying (or that I need to do errands or something else more immediate). I want to know how people changed their ways and become great students. Any advice would be helpful..

 

[RegulateRo]

i know that its tough but you have to prioritize things. you are competing against students who don't have to work full time or students who may not have as many other responsibilities. If this is truly what you want you have to either sacrifice that self-time or other priorities...there just isn't enough time in the day to do all of those things unfortunately. working full-time is a plate-ful on its own. i know this isn't really too helpful in terms of a formula for changing your trajectory. i think it might come down to managing priorities for you. i would try to see if there are other responsibilities you can downgrade to give yourself time to focus on school and still have those bits of time that you need for yourself. hang in there and don't give up on your potential.

I am a student who is going back to school for post-bac to raise my abysmal GPA from before. I thought it'd be different this time, but it's not! I have purely good intentions, but I'm falling into the same bad habits as before. I also work full-time and have other responsibilities, so whenever I have a shrapnel of free time, I end up wasting it away instead of studying (or that I need to do errands or something else more immediate). I want to know how people changed their ways and become great students. Any advice would be helpful..

 

[aidama]

I am a student who is going back to school for post-bac to raise my abysmal GPA from before. I thought it'd be different this time, but it's not! I have purely good intentions, but I'm falling into the same bad habits as before. I also work full-time and have other responsibilities, so whenever I have a shrapnel of free time, I end up wasting it away instead of studying (or that I need to do errands or something else more immediate). I want to know how people changed their ways and become great students. Any advice would be helpful..

It sounds like scheduling would be a very important thing for you to try. I mean strict scheduling - every minute planned for. Make one up every month and put it on your fridge, save it to your computer, keep it under the mirror of your car, etc. Make sure what you spent time planning is smacking you in the face like Link and Navi.

Like the above poster says - discipline and sacrifice are the key words. Ultimately practice makes perfect. Give it a try. 🙂

 

[DividedByZero]

I think you already know what you have to do. Quit your job, get rid of distractions, actually buckle down and study. I'm talking like right after classes you start to hit the books only taking an hour break for dinner and keep going until you can't anymore for weeks on end type-of-intensity. I know money is a huge issue but if you really want it, you have to start considering taking out student loans.

I was working about 25 hrs/week through undergrad and was about 2 hours from home (read: extra distractions!) and came out with a bad GPA. I just finished up my masters this year and came out with a 3.87 only working about 5 hours/week for food money and ultimately ended up quitting with a month and a half left of school because it was becoming a bit burdensome. I also went out of state about 12 hours away from home where I knew absolutely nobody and it really cut out a lot of the distractions.

 

[DrMidlife]

There are people who can work full time and also get A's in school. I'm not one of them. Sounds like maybe you're not either.

If you're taking classes and not getting A's, then you're doing more damage. I'd recommend not taking any more classes until you have a more realistic plan. You'll probably have to map out a financial plan that lets you quit your job and do school full time. That'll probably require you to be an admitted, degree-seeking student, such as going after a 2nd bachelors. Which might mean you have to get private loans. Which is bad. But what are you gonna do?

Meanwhile, with respect to time management, I've started keeping a log of my internet time, why I got online and what I ended up doing instead or in addition. It's kind of humiliating but it's working.

Best of luck to you.

 

[Crisco]

your job has got to go. If your GPA is being hurt because of your job, it can not be there.

Secondly, I don't know if there is a way to force or do something to fix your bad habits. A lot of it is discipline and if you can't do that, you may need more time before school. Simply put, if you can't stop yourself then who can?

Depending on distractions there are certain extreme measures you may have to take. When I went back to school, the internet and everything else that comes with it was a big distraction so I never installed internet in my room.

 

[Jlaw]

I am a student who is going back to school for post-bac to raise my abysmal GPA from before. I thought it'd be different this time, but it's not! I have purely good intentions, but I'm falling into the same bad habits as before. I also work full-time and have other responsibilities, so whenever I have a shrapnel of free time, I end up wasting it away instead of studying (or that I need to do errands or something else more immediate). I want to know how people changed their ways and become great students. Any advice would be helpful..

There is no secret, you've gotta make school your priority. Either you deprioritize work and your other commitments or you put off school until you can. Once you have time to study and complete the work you will find that better grades come easier.

 

[LaughingGas]

I think you don't have enough will to pursue the career of what you want. The advisor that I talked to, he told me "first of all find what went wrong with your gpa and second fix what went wrong". For me it was my laziness, time management, bad study habits and addiction to internet. As for my laziness, I started to work out regularly to increase my endurance for everything, sleep early. For time management I try to write down or think a day before what I should/will be doing the next day; for study habits, I tried different study methods that i could think of and I'm still trying different ones, for my addiction of internet, I deleted my facebook account(BIG ADDICTION!!!), messengers and made myself to get tired so I don't have energy to even use internet.

As you mention you have do recognize your problems in certain extent, so you know what you are doing wrong, seems like you have struggle to start the initiative to change. Once you overcome that start, you will see changes linearly.

 

[Unepetitevoix]

I appreciate all of the advice. I know working full-time is a huge chunk of it, and the exhaustion once I come home is really hard to combat. I also was never that great of a student (I've gotten a vast array of grades in my transcript, and the good were never attributable to great study skills, but rather were related to paying attention in class and my own critical thinking). and I have untreated ADHD and a learning disability, so that's an avenue I have not yet explored. (Which, I know it's a controversial subject, but it also literally takes me 5-7 hours to read one 30-page chapter of a book.) It's frustrating to me because I know I am very smart, and people (including the physicians I work with) are all surprised at my non-competitive GPA, because I've picked up a lot of clinical knowledge at work in the time I've been there.

I guess I never really understood how other people successfully studied and got As. That, and because of my ADHD, I miss out on big details that are very self-destructive, even though I have the purest intentions on earth. Example: in the last two months, I've been slaving over an essay for my cell biology class. I was very proud of what I created and how much research went into it. Three hours before it was due, I caught a glimpse of one of my notes that mentions that my professor wanted it SINGLED spaced, not doubled. I guess a lot of people won't be sympathetic because it is my fault for not noticing it beforehand, and I was very upset with myself because of it, and I thought about whether being a doctor was for me or not (especially since I can't miss out big details like that while treating a patient.)

It may be working 40 hours (plus up to 20 hours of volunteering a week PLUS part time school) that is spreading me thin. It may be the untreated ADHD, and I just need medication, or that I never learned proper. Or it may be that I don't have what it takes. Either way, how do you all study? How are you thorough with your assignments and make sure that you get that A you worked for?

(Also, the reason why I still work is because I fully have to support myself, as I live alone in a very expensive city. It's good clinical experience, but it's also partially the security of not taking out a loan until I'm in a formal program just in case this test run doesn't work out.)

 

[LaughingGas]

I think first of all If you know your gpa is bad, you should try everything to bring that gpa up. I'm quiet sure whether D.O. or M.D. school, first process is to screen out applications based on GPA (correct me if I'm wrong). If I were you I would reduce the volunteer hours, to a minimum extent. Second I think you might unconsciously blame your poor academic performance on ADHD and learning disabilities. It's a human nature to think negative way when you are diagnosed with something negative. One you start putting yourself toward negative way, you end up unconsciously reasoning yourself with disorders you have and do less than your full potential. I might be sound harsh since I had no prior exposure with people with ADHD and probably it's something that is preventing you from studying with full potential.
I doubt in the world of academia or professionalism, they would take in consideration of your "disadvantages",and how you would "blame" your poor performance on what people call disorders will not get sympathy from admission committees; rather they would prefer/ take in consideration of how you overcame your obstacles in this case the disorders you mentioned and you progressed to obtain the minimal requirement that med schools ask for.
According to what you tell us, you seem a smart person that is recognized even with physician you work with, which you believe you have a capability to become a doctor. Get treatment if necessary, overcome those disorders and don't let yourself weaken and depend on your poor academic performance on it.
If you really want it and you know you are smart enough to be one, with enough will you should be capable of overcome those disadvantages.

 

[pritomd]

Not in a post bacc program but I have an upward trend for undergrad GPA so far.

The biggest thing for me? Doing work/studying on weekends. Before, I'd do zero to 1-2 hours of work the entire weekend. I'd sit down to do stuff, but I'd always get distracted, end up playing a game or something, movie/TV, whatever.

Since then, I've done all my homework for the week on the weekends usually, which frees up lots of studying time during the week and thus, an increase in grades and a upward trend in my GPA that will hopefully get me into an SMP next year 🙂

 

[mic2377]

You need to decide if you really want to be a doctor or not. No excuses, no ADHD, no "I don't feel like studying," etc. When you are in med school, you study day in, day out, otherwise you aren't gonna hack it.

Also, you need to address exactly what it is that you need to succeed. Can you actually handle working/studying? If not, study as hard as possible, get those killer grades, and take care of other commitments later. I know all about this, I ended up doing WAY too much in undergrad, as I was working 35+ hrs/week while going to a rigorous school. My GPA suffered! But, I took 2 years off, prioritized, and refined my vision. Then I went to an SMP, blew up the curve, and am now in med school.

This could be you if you are disciplined, persistent, and ready to work hard. If you aren't..... it may never happen.