by "E90M3" (e90m3)
Published 11/19/2017 at 19:42
by "E90M3" (e90m3)
Published 11/19/2017 at 19:42
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STARS: 15
Back in 2009, I failed out of Georgia Tech. No, the story with Georgia Tech does not end there. Some of you may know that yes, in fact, I did graduate from Tech with a ChemE degree . I started a Tech back in fall of 2008, where I basically took classes I had pretty much taken in high school; gen chem, calc 1, and biology. I did alright, but I didn’t really develop any study habits. Then spring semester my first year happened. I took physics 1, calc 2, CS 1371 (programing for engineers in MATLAB), inorganic chem, and inorganic lab. Well, I’ll let the results speak for themselves:
So, my GPA dropped to a 1.8, which is the minimum GPA you need to stay in Tech as a sophomore. I then followed that up by retaking both calc 2 and physics 1 that summer. I dropped calc 2 and got a D in physics 1. That brought me down to a 1.68, and as a result I failed out.
Earlier in the semester, when me getting a D in the class was almost all but certain, I had to figure out how I was going to stay in school. Grade replacement was my answer.
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This meant that I would be able to stay in school because the F I got would be removed from my GPA calculation.
The day grades came out, I went to Tech and personally walked the grade replacement around to everyone who needed to sign it. The change got applied that same day and I was back in school.
I worked my ass off fall 2009 to pass all my classes. I only got a 2.25 that semester, but I finally had the confidence and, more importantly, the study habits to pass that school. Eight years later, graduating from that school is still probably my biggest accomplishment.
"rillweid - Now with more TRD and less TDI" (rillweid)
11/19/2017 at 20:02, STARS: 0
Feeling this pain in ECON right now.
"WilliamsSW" (williamssw)
11/19/2017 at 20:07, STARS: 2
This is awesome - and a great example for others, too.
I have a different story, with some similarities. Back in January of ‘88, I was a junior at Illinois, in Mechanical Engineering. Had a miserable start to the semester, and dropped one class (Fluid Dynamics). Ended up getting a 4 hour F in another ME class - yeah, a 4 hour F in my major. Good times.
I was lucky enough to stay off of probation, because I got an A in Bowling. Seriously. That’s what kept me out of real trouble. I ended up staying the summer in Champaign, took 3 classes (more than allowed- had to get a Dean to sign off on it, but got 2 A’s and a B), then changed my major to Industrial Engineering, in the fall of my senior year. Never looked back after that.
That F was a real wake up call for me - -it was 30 years ago now, but it took that for me to realize that a) I needed to get my shit together and work at it and b) I hated Mechanical Engineering. I eventually got my MBA from the U of C and have been fairly successful in finance the last ~12 years or so.
"E90M3" (e90m3)
11/19/2017 at 20:08, STARS: 0
That’s never fun. Calc 2 was almost my downfall. I barely got a C, my third time. Best of luck with econ.
"unclevanos (Ovaltine Jenkins)" (unclevanos)
11/19/2017 at 20:15, STARS: 2
4 weeks left and I’m supposed to graduate. I can’t wait to leave my dump of a school.
"E90M3" (e90m3)
11/19/2017 at 20:15, STARS: 1
This is awesome - and a great example for others, too.
This is one reason I like oppo so much. All of our combined knowledge is really good to learn from. It’s also good to hear from people who have gone through similar things and how they went about things. I got a lot of support here when I was unemployed. While it doesn’t make the situation any better, it was always good to hear about other’s experiences while unemployed and know there was a light at the end of the table.
Does have some parallels to my experience. Getting an F is always a wake up call. If I had actually studied that semester I probably would have done alright. Like I should have passed calc 2. Oh well. The life lesson is probably worth it.
"random001" (random001)
11/19/2017 at 20:23, STARS: 0
Wow. Good on you!
I had no issues with my undergrad degree. Wildly enough, the only C I got in my studies was in Electromagnetics. The intro class. What job have I had for the last 17 years? Radar and Electronic Warfare, the basis of which is...electromagnetics. Oi!
Grad school, on the other hand, has been a struggle. Going back after 15 years out of school has been a wake up call. I never realized how little college had to do with the real world until I tried going back. It’s been a ton of work. 15 more credit hours to go.
"E90M3" (e90m3)
11/19/2017 at 20:25, STARS: 0
It’s funny how those things work out. I mean I got a ChemE degree then worked as a petroleum engineer.
I thought about going to grad school when I was unemployed. I wonder if I should have done that. Probably would have tried to get a masters in petroleum engineering.
"barnie" (tlanarch)
11/19/2017 at 20:28, STARS: 0
Good on ya, son. Now ya know that you can learn and work at something. Some fundamentals have been learned and practiced. The real learning starts when ya get out in the work-a-day world. Breathe deep, enjoy the victory! Now get off my lawn and go get a job... Bon voyage.
"AM3R, lost another burner" (am3r17)
11/19/2017 at 20:29, STARS: 1
Great job turning it around! I know that’s a tough school, and you must have really worked your ass off.
Mind sharing study tips/how to get into the habit of studying? I know personally that was something I always struggled with (it took failing a class I aced my sophomore year of highschool to wake me up) , and I’m sure it would help other oppo’s who are in school currently struggling with it.
"E90M3" (e90m3)
11/19/2017 at 20:30, STARS: 0
Oh I actually graduated with a job. That was what I used to do.
"random001" (random001)
11/19/2017 at 20:36, STARS: 1
I would have avoided it if I had a choice. I spent almost 9 years as a civilian scientist working for the DoD, now I’m a contractor. My Physics degree, which along with a helluva lot of experience, should be able to get me back into DoD, but alas, no. It takes something like “work” for the management to change a position to allow for series 1310, rather than just 8xx (scientist vs engineer). I’m better at this than most EEs, but I don’t have the letters.
I know it’s overall less money in gov’t rather than contractor land, but there are perks. A pension, for one, and if one makes 20 years, they are eligible to maintain the medical insurance plan for life. Still gotta pay the premiums, but you get it as if you are still an employee. The way things are going, that is basically gold right there. So on to grad school I go.
"E90M3" (e90m3)
11/19/2017 at 20:38, STARS: 0
I did a lot of practice problems. Either old tests or the practice tests professors gave. That works really well for math/engineering classes, which is good because that’s pretty much all I took. Being in a fraternity, I had the advantage of word, aka old tests. To offset this, most professors posted old tests so greeks wouldn’t have an unfair advantage. So I would sit down with a friend and work through the tests.
One class, transport 1, I sat down with a friend and we spent like 4 hours working out old test problems. I got an A in that class. It also helps if you actually do the homework and don’t copy from a solutions manual. I had all the solutions manuals, but I only used them as a reference when doing home work. One class, transport 2, the prof made her own problems, so I couldn’t use a solution manual. Some others in the class had homework from a previous semester. Her tests were extremely hard. If there was one class that made me question my choice to be a ChemE, it was that class. However, because I actually had to work to do that homework, I got a B in the class; a quarter of the class got a D. A fraternity brother was in that class with me, well all my ChemE classes that semester, and we’d sit down and spend 6 hours doing that homework. Looking back, that was well worth it.
"RacinBob" (racinbob)
11/19/2017 at 20:38, STARS: 1
Engineering school in a lot of ways is just academic hazing. I never applied
most of the things I learned in school. However having survived it apparently gave my employer the confidence that I could learn what I needed to do work in the real world.
The funny thing is, after you get the job, your grade point is irrelevant. However, it is totally relevant to whether you get the job. That’s just how companies are.
Congratulations on making it through.
"E90M3" (e90m3)
11/19/2017 at 20:41, STARS: 0
I mean, I worked as a petroleum engineer for 3 years, so I agree the engineering degree is basically just showing you can learn things quickly.
I got laid off from that job, and while several companies asked my GPA, no one really seemed to care. There was one place where I even talked about failing out of school; ironically, the guy interviewing me had also failed out of Tech. I got offered that job, but I had already taken another job.
"Highlander-Datsuns are Forever" (jamesbowland)
11/19/2017 at 20:53, STARS: 1
I learned very quickly during my first semester taking calculus 1 that my high school had done a shitty job of preparing me for real math. My classmates were getting A’s because they had already learned the material. Second semester was better because I figured some things out and the pace slowed. For me getting a 5 credit C really sucked. I would have been in a world of hurt with a D.
"dogisbadob" (dogisbadob)
11/19/2017 at 20:54, STARS: 1
congrats on making it
"RacinBob" (racinbob)
11/19/2017 at 20:55, STARS: 2
Yep, once you have been employed, people are a lot more interested in how you performed in your last position than your GPA. Nobody really cares what GPA you got unless you can demonstrate that you backed it up with accomplishments on the job.
"E90M3" (e90m3)
11/19/2017 at 20:56, STARS: 0
My high school had done a pretty good job, I didn’t really study at all for the class and got a B. I’m sure I would have done better if I had applied myself.
"WilliamsSW" (williamssw)
11/19/2017 at 21:14, STARS: 0
Very true about Oppo. Not many corners of the Internet are this good.
And yeah, with 30 years gone, that was definitely a life lesson I needed, too. I needed to learn it the hard way- but the lesson stuck as a result, just like yours did.
"Sovande" (sovande)
11/19/2017 at 21:15, STARS: 0
I can’t remember a single instance where my GPA was addressed when interviewing for a job. And this was when interviewing at companies.
"E90M3" (e90m3)
11/19/2017 at 21:23, STARS: 1
There are many reasons why I retuned to oppo after an absence of three years. It’s really hard to beat this place.
As far as the life lesson, I had to attend and pass two schools for work. The first one wasn’t too bad, on the other hand, the second one was very difficult. I made myself physically sick from all the stress. I studied all the time for it. Looking back to college I was like I can do this. I ranked fifth in the class when we were done. I did better than some people who had masters degrees in petroleum engineering. Two people even failed out of the school, I know one got fired as a result.
"Michael" (mhanczyc)
11/19/2017 at 21:23, STARS: 3
Same day.
Same outcome. Made it, got out. Took a long time. BSME ‘13
"E90M3" (e90m3)
11/19/2017 at 21:25, STARS: 2
Oh wow, small fucking world.
Also congrats on getting out as well.
"WilliamsSW" (williamssw)
11/19/2017 at 21:37, STARS: 1
Life is going to throw challenges at you once in a while. It’s great to learn early in that you can handle them- and how to handle them.
And I do think that failing once in a while is a great way to learn.
"Michael" (mhanczyc)
11/19/2017 at 21:41, STARS: 1
Congrats to you as well sir.
"Dr. Zoidberg - RIP Oppo" (thetomselleck)
11/19/2017 at 21:42, STARS: 2
I flunked one of the last classes I needed to graduate. I received a letter saying that I was eligible for immediate dismissal, but they put me on probation due to have no other official failings on records. The F was a byproduct of other life events and poor coping skills. And to be blunt, the material was well over my head. A year later, I retook the course and got an A, and graduated in spring. I’m glad I came back and finished, because I was inches away from quitting and dropping off the face of the Earth (academically speaking).
"Michael" (mhanczyc)
11/19/2017 at 21:46, STARS: 1
Agreed about school just showing that you know how to learn. Neither of us work in the field we graduated. ME -> packaging engineering, ChemE -> frac.
Luckily I’ve gotten past the point where employers ask GPAs. I think I had 2.18 at graduation. Good enough for CAT, though. Left that one for my current employer.
"E90M3" (e90m3)
11/19/2017 at 21:48, STARS: 1
One of the best things about this website is the fact that you learn others have had similar struggles. There is some solace in knowing you’re not alone.
I failed a ChemE course with a D. Took it the next summer with a girl, at one point I vehemently hated, and got an A. She helped me get an A in that class no doubt. After that we were on much better terms.
"E90M3" (e90m3)
11/19/2017 at 21:52, STARS: 0
I’m currently working as an engineer at a chemical plant and while that may sound like a lot more ChemE, it’s actually way more ME.
I’m glad people no longer ask my GPA, and if they do I want to ask why that matters any more. Usually the phrase that comes to mine is “why the fuck does that matter?”
"BIGBLOCK472 - wide and bizarre" (bigblock472)
11/20/2017 at 01:11, STARS: 1
I hear you.
I [barely] graduated high school with a 1.17 GPA, down from a 3.8 my freshman year. As it turns out, being a fat gay kid with Tourette’s living in abject poverty in the mid ‘90s in the most conservative state in the nation and living in a highly disfunctional household with an abusive patriarch is harder than it sounds.
Education had previously been what kept me distracted from all the home/homo stuff that I didn’t have the tools as a young adolescent to deal with. However, my sophomore year the AP Biology teacher I admired most didn’t recognize that the lone senior in the class and his posse of testosterone-poisoned fuckwad redneck underclassmen, all vying for his approval, were terrorizing me on a near daily basis in her classroom and lab.
It was when I realized that the bullying was simply being ignored because the senior was on the basketball team and the teacher’s husband was the basketball coach that I spiraled into a really dark and angry place.
So angry .
I isolated myself and made the conscious decision punish everyone (ha!) by failing every class I didn’t need to graduate and barely passing the ones I did need, hence the 1.17 GPA. I was hurt and alone and dealing with things that kids that age shouldn’t deal with, but I guess I showed them, right? ¯\_()_/¯
Post-graduation I opted to go to the local community college due to its proximity to my home and did pretty well academically. After bouncing around a few majors I settled on nursing as a result of my mom’s sage advice. I did as well as one can do in nursing school... seriously, the associate degree nursing school I attended was by far the most academically challenging thing I have ever done. Students are aggressively weeded out through impossible exams and one-chance-only skills checkoffs and by other tortuous means. Worse still, I witnessed instructors bullying the weak students in clinical even if their theory grade was impeccable. One poor gay kid was lambasted in class by a cunt of an instructor just for wearing a sweater that was a little too feminine.
Actually it was really feminine and he looked like Donna Summer, but still... the kid had good grades in nursing theory. Eventually the same instructor failed him in clinical and he saw the writing on the wall. Thank god I could put on some boots and Carhartt jeans and feign some measure of heteronormativity in the classroom. I had a lot on my plate and didn’t need that added to it.
As tough as the program was I did okay until the end of the third semester when my mom left my dad after years of emotional, physical, and sexual abuse. My brother took it really hard and I decided to stay there to keep an eye on him, but also because my dad was spiraling out of control himself. Word to the uninitiated—you can’t fix a dysfunctional parent. I should have bailed with Mom but instead I got sucked into what may be the fourth level of divorce hell. My grades and my emotional well-being went in the toilet and died in the sewer.
The result is that I failed my last semester of nursing school at the final. I was devastated, and would now be graduating a full calendar year later. It was incredibly embarrassing and I felt like a complete failure at life.
As much as that year hurt, I learned a lot in the meantime about electronic health records working as a unit secretary in the local hospital.
Once I graduated nursing school (which almost didn’t happen because the cunty instructor from above found my MySpace and learned that I am an atheist—and gay—and tried to keep me from being readmitted. Fortunately she failed because she’s a cunt. It was a huge ordeal) I went on to pass my nursing boards with flying colors (rainbow colors, Mrs. Cuntsalot!) and have had a very successful nursing career. There was some bullying from more senior nurses here and there but I kept my head up and delivered the best nursing care I could.
Fast forward eleven years and I have ended up working in the field of nursing informatics doing some pretty groundbreaking stuff. I just finished my BSN and I am starting an MSN program at the beginning of next year while I acquire some industry certifications.
A few months ago in my rural hometown I randomly bumped into Mrs. Cunty McCuntface in the grocery store. We chatted a minute, and I casually mentioned that I am making more money than I ever dreamed of and that I was only in town because because my lakeside vacation home is here, but that I’d be returning to the city soon enough. I thanked her for helping me learn how strong I could be, and I hope it dawned on her later what I meant.
After 11 years of hard work I can finally cross her name off the list.
TL;DR: Work hard even if you fail. Look out for #1. Sometimes it’s okay to be a jerk to people who were a jerk to you.
"KusabiSensei - Captain of the Toronto Maple Leafs" (kusabisensei)
11/20/2017 at 06:51, STARS: 1
At one point I had a quarterly GPA of 0.75 at Tech. I still graduated with a 2.65 and didn’t have to go through grade replacement.
So that was my one +$:”* it quarter.
Also, did Matlab just not make any sense at all? (I mean, it doesn’t make sense, because it’s not a programming language. That hasn’t stopped them from making engineers take that crap.)
"E90M3" (e90m3)
11/20/2017 at 08:07, STARS: 0
I got out with a 2.58. I had gotten it up to a 2.62 then found a job and was pretty much shooting for Cs my last semester.
Quarters? I guess you were there before 1999.
Matlab made no sense to me. I don’t know why they make us take it. I had a couple of AXOs that helped me pass the class. One had the final before me and was like this is what’s on it, make sure you know how to do this.
"KusabiSensei - Captain of the Toronto Maple Leafs" (kusabisensei)
11/20/2017 at 10:33, STARS: 0
Even after the change to the semester calendar, just about everyone in the College of Computing called them quarters. Old habits do in fact, die hard.
It would have made more sense to have the engineers take Python, but I was there for first year in 2005, so I’m the last of the “Introduction to Computer Science using Java” crowd.
"davesaddiction @ opposite-lock.com" (davesaddiction)
11/20/2017 at 11:52, STARS: 0
Yeah, I had a 1.8 one semester, too. Ouch...
"davesaddiction @ opposite-lock.com" (davesaddiction)
11/20/2017 at 11:54, STARS: 0
That’s wild...
"E90M3" (e90m3)
11/20/2017 at 12:59, STARS: 1
I was a memeber of the square root club, that brought me down to a 1.8 overall. Looking back it’s not so bad, at the time though, that’s a different story.
"E90M3" (e90m3)
11/20/2017 at 13:02, STARS: 0
Old habits do die hard. Sounds like you and I might have been there at the same time. My first year was 2008.
No idea why they made us take that class. I would like to thank a couple AXOs for helping me pass that class.
"davesaddiction @ opposite-lock.com" (davesaddiction)
11/20/2017 at 13:09, STARS: 1
Yeah, dark days...