What Happens if You Fail Your First Semester of College?
College has been harder than you thought.
You maybe expected college to be slightly harder than high school, but now that you’re in college you’ve learned something different.
College is much more difficult than high school.
Instead of juggling a few items, you’re now juggling (or rather trying to juggle) multiple responsibilities.
In high school you balanced coursework, athletics, and maybe another extracurricular. In college you’re managing classes, living in the dorms, working part-time, and maybe more.
Now that you know how tough college is, you’re not sure if you or your GPA is going to make it through the semester.
With much lower grades than you’re used to earning, you’re not entirely sure if you’re going to fail this first semester.
Although there are certainly things you can do to pull up your GPA, you can’t help but wonder what will happen if you were to fail.
If you do fail most of your courses, one of the following four things may happen:
1. You may be kicked out of your major.
If you’re in a major that requires high grades (e.g. nursing, engineering, etc.), your poor grades will result in you needing to switch majors.
This change of major may be mandatory. In other words you may have no choice in the matter. However, this forced switch of your major is not likely to happen without some warning.
Your academic advisor or college’s dean will likely contact you sharing his or her academic concerns before asking you to switch.
Rather than viewing these meetings as a threat to your identity or as an ultimatum, think of these meetings as necessary wake-up calls. If you want to stick with your major, you’re going to need to put in more time or even get extra help.
If you are not able to improve your GPA enough, you may be asked to switch majors.
This switch can often be a blessing in disguise. Letting you continue in a major where you have major obstacles would actually be a cruel thing to do to you.
Any advisors who encourage or maybe even force you to change have your best interest at heart.
If you do end up changing majors, you may be able to switch to a related major and transfer some of your college credits. You may even be able to graduate in the same number of semesters.
2. You may be put on academic probation.
If your GPA is too low, you will be put on academic probation.
So how low is too low? Typically a GPA lower than 2.0 will result in academic probation, but every college varies.
Being on probation essentially means that if you don’t improve your grades, you may be dismissed from your college or university.
This penalty is serious, and your college would not place you on probation unless your grades need substantial improvement.
Before despairing, know that you do have options. Even with little time left in the semester, you can work to improve your grades.
Turning in late work, establishing good study habits, and preparing for finals can put you in a better position heading into your final exams.
Approach your advisors and professors and see what options are available to you. They may help provide extensions, make-up work, or extra credit. Additionally, they can help point you to helpful resources on campus.
3. Your financial aid may be revoked.
Most scholarships require you to maintain your GPA at a certain level.
Usually these scholarships ask that your GPA is somewhere between 2.0 and 4.0. Check your scholarship information for the specific number at which your GPA needs to be.
If you do fail to keep your grades at the required number, you could be paying most if not all of your tuition bill.
Think through your financial options carefully. You don’t want more college debt.
Although this is a hard conversation to have, make sure your parents aware of your GPA and the possibility of losing a scholarship.
You may be tempted to withhold how low your grades really are, but lying about your grades or purposely concealing your GPA will cause more problems in the long run.
4. You may be academically dismissed.
If you do not make satisfactory academic progress (known as SAP), your college may deny you enrollment for the following semester.
This would mean you won’t be allowed to continue at your college second semester. Check your college to discover what is it’s SAP.
However, being academically dismissed doesn’t mean you cannot return ever. You may be able to return after a semester or a full school year.
This penalty is meant to be painful, because coming back will take courage, hard-work, and persistence.
These four events are only possibilities at this point, but hopefully understanding the penalty of consistently poor grades will help encourage you to get back on track.
Hopefully you can pull your grades up, so that you can pass your classes.
Take a good look in the mirror to see if you can actively take steps turn your grades around.
