University problem

[Deleted User] · 09/12/10 - 12:12

Hi,

I'm in my 2nd year of university and i've had a disastrous 3 months and i'm doing really badly on my course and looking like i'm not going to pass

If I dropped out at the end of this academic year
Would I have to pay all my loan so far back?

Also I have an overdraft of £500 from the bank
Would I have to pay that back straight away also if I left?

I'm really worrying myself to the point that its making me really ill and wanted to get some advice from people that may have been in this position

Thanks a lot in advance

[Deleted User] · 09/12/10 - 12:15

Of course you will have to pay the loan back. if it is an option, repeat the year if necessary.

stud u like · 09/12/10 - 12:15

It sounds a waste to be a university drop out.

Have you spoken to your personal tutor and see how he/she can help?

Plenty of students repeat a year. In my second year we had two repeating and they both did well in the final year.

All is not lost.

[Deleted User] · 09/12/10 - 12:17

eng123 wrote: »

Of course you will have to pay the loan back. if it is an option, repeat the year if necessary.

I mean straight away when I leave
I don't mean when I get a job over whatever the cap is

I don't know if i'll get finance for repeating a year and can't finance myself

[Deleted User] · 09/12/10 - 12:19

stud u like wrote: »

It sounds a waste to be a university drop out.

Have you spoken to your personal tutor and see how he/she can help?

Plenty of students repeat a year. In my second year we had two repeating and they both did well in the final year.

All is not lost.

It does sound a waste but I don't see another option

I spoke to him a few weeks ago and I said I was struggling and he said that I should see how i got on

What name?? · 09/12/10 - 12:23

Talk to someone at yuor student union about the financial situation so you know where you stand and why not stick it out while you look for work so that you have more choices or explore changing courses to one that suits you better.

stud u like · 09/12/10 - 12:25

BBFanaticMark wrote: »

It does sound a waste but I don't see another option

I spoke to him a few weeks ago and I said I was struggling and he said that I should see how i got on

He sounds like he couldn't care less to me. Try speaking to someone else. I seldom needed help as most answers were on the internet. I did have my favourite tutors to talk to when I was seriously stuck in wedge which was not often. I found the female tutors better at helping than the men as they were empathic and encouraging.

[Deleted User] · 09/12/10 - 12:26

What name?? wrote: »

Talk to someone at yuor student union about the financial situation so you know where you stand and why not stick it out while you look for work so that you have more choices or explore changing courses to one that suits you better.

I wouldn't be leaving until the end of the year
and theres no other courses I want to do
I've just had a really bad few months

[Deleted User] · 09/12/10 - 12:31

stud u like wrote: »

He sounds like he couldn't care less to me. Try speaking to someone else. I seldom needed help as most answers were on the internet. I did have my favourite tutors to talk to when I was seriously stuck in wedge which was not often. I found the female tutors better at helping than the men as they were empathic and encouraging.

Its not his problem though is it really?

ChristmasCake · 09/12/10 - 12:35

Have you considered requesting a deferral? It could give you some time to re-focus, and it'd let you start your second year again.

elliecat · 09/12/10 - 12:36

You should speak to all your tutor's(not just your personal tutor who may not teach the subjects that you study), you are only 3 months into your 2nd year things can and do get better. Try getting some extra help from the tutror's, ask them to go through the things you don't understand. They should have office hours or the equivilent, they are there to help it's what they get paid to do. Also go and speak to the Departmental Administrator and see if there are there any Phd students that could help you with extra tutition a lot of them are willing to do this as they teach anyway as part of their course. We did this for a student last summer who wanted extra tutition for the exams.

[Deleted User] · 09/12/10 - 12:36

ChristmasCake wrote: »

Have you considered requesting a deferral? It could give you some time to re-focus, and it'd let you start your second year again.

I have my rent to pay for the house i'm living in
so if i deferred i wouldn't get my student loan so wouldn't be able to pay that

Tictac2 · 09/12/10 - 12:44

BBFanaticMark wrote: »

Hi,

I'm in my 2nd year of university and i've had a disastrous 3 months and i'm doing really badly on my course and looking like i'm not going to pass

If I dropped out at the end of this academic year
Would I have to pay all my loan so far back?

Also I have an overdraft of £500 from the bank
Would I have to pay that back straight away also if I left?

I'm really worrying myself to the point that its making me really ill and wanted to get some advice from people that may have been in this position

Thanks a lot in advance

You repay the student loan as and when you earn above the repayment threshold, regardless of whether you actually graduated or not. So nothing changes there.

You will need to speak to your bank about your overdraft as your student status will change. In my day the overdraft facility continued at roughly the same terms (student overdraft became graduate overdraft) and then after a couple of years it switches to a normal overdraft.

However, don't do anything until you've spoken to a student advisor at your university about your situation. Your tutor can only really give academic guidance. A student advisor has more information at hand. They'll outline your options and give you the best advice on what to do. Just because you've had one bad term, doesn't mean you need to drop out.

I pressume when you say you're going to wait till the end of the year you mean academic year. If it's a break away from the uni you want, is there any facility to switch to a sandwich version of your course? This would give you a year's practical experience between your 2nd and 4th year which would boost your employment prospects even if your overall result was low.

ChristmasCake · 09/12/10 - 12:44

BBFanaticMark wrote: »

I have my rent to pay for the house i'm living in
so if i deferred i wouldn't get my student loan so wouldn't be able to pay that

So how would dropping out solve this problem?

technologist · 09/12/10 - 12:47

BBFanaticMark -

I suggest you talk to someone in Student services - essential if your bad three months was NOT driven by the course ... but in any-case just to talk through

The start second year is a strange time and certainly causes lots of doubts - you need to get all of them exposed/listed - and the some of them resolved...

You are right to do this before Chrsiotmas - as you can then enjoy the braek and start the enw year on your new direction ...

[Deleted User] · 09/12/10 - 12:49

ChristmasCake wrote: »

So how would dropping out solve this problem?

At the end of the academic year is when my contract ends

[Deleted User] · 09/12/10 - 12:52

Tictac2 wrote: »

You repay the student loan as and when you earn above the repayment threshold, regardless of whether you actually graduated or not. So nothing changes there.

You will need to speak to your bank about your overdraft as your student status will change. In my day the overdraft facility continued at roughly the same terms (student overdraft became graduate overdraft) and then after a couple of years it switches to a normal overdraft.

However, don't do anything until you've spoken to a student advisor at your university about your situation. Your tutor can only really give academic guidance. A student advisor has more information at hand. They'll outline your options and give you the best advice on what to do. Just because you've had one bad term, doesn't mean you need to drop out.

I pressume when you say you're going to wait till the end of the year you mean academic year. If it's a break away from the uni you want, is there any facility to switch to a sandwich version of your course? This would give you a year's practical experience between your 2nd and 4th year which would boost your employment prospects even if your overall result was low.

There is but as I said i won't get my student loan and i have my house rent to pay until the end of the academic year so this isn't an option really

Tictac2 · 09/12/10 - 12:59

BBFanaticMark wrote: »

There is but as I said i won't get my student loan and i have my house rent to pay until the end of the academic year so this isn't an option really

er... you do realise you get paid during your sandwich year by the company you get the placement with. And you're still entitled to a 50% loan for the year. So the two combined should still easily cover your rent (you may even be better off).

This is exactly the type of advice a student advisor would give. Go see one.

Now.

[Deleted User] · 09/12/10 - 13:02

Tictac2 wrote: »

er... you do realise you get paid during your sandwich year by the company you get the placement with. And you're still entitled to a 50% loan for the year. So the two combined should still easily cover your rent (you may even be better off).

This is exactly the type of advice a student advisor would give. Go see one.

Now.

Oh I didn't realise thats what a sandwich course meant
I thought it meant just an extra year
No my course doesn't offer that

Tictac2 · 09/12/10 - 13:24

So basically you want to drop out but don't know how you'll pay rent for the following year?

Get a job.

[Deleted User] · 09/12/10 - 13:30

Tictac2 wrote: »

So basically you want to drop out but don't know how you'll pay rent for the following year?

Get a job.

You've misunderstood

First of all I don't want to drop out
I just don't see other options

Secondly my contract for the house ends in May of next year
I wouldn't be leaving until then if I left

If I applied for deferral I wouldn't get my student loan so wouldn't be able to pay the REST of the rent for THIS academic year so it isn't an option

[Deleted User] · 09/12/10 - 13:41

Is there no way that you can get back on track after a few bad months? Could you not speak to your tutors and get their help? If you have done that badly can you not re-sit some of your modules? You really should talk to someone about the course as all may not be lost, you are only in your second year so still have time to turn it all around, you just need to talk to your tutors and see what they can do to help you get back on track.

Tictac2 · 09/12/10 - 13:42

BBFanaticMark wrote: »

You've misunderstood

First of all I don't want to drop out
I just don't see other options

Secondly my contract for the house ends in May of next year
I wouldn't be leaving until then if I left

If I applied for deferral I wouldn't get my student loan so wouldn't be able to pay the REST of the rent for THIS academic year so it isn't an option

Firstly, you don't see any other option because you haven't explored any other option with Student Advice.

Secondly, if your house contract isn't up until May, why are you making a decision NOW on what to do about your course?

Thirdly, if you applied for a deferral now, the University would want to know why and offer you some assistance with ensuring you get back to your course next year. But most likely they would help find you some suitable work to help cover your rent.

You think you're the first student to ever be in this situation at your university? Go speak to the advisors.

Seriously, I'm beginning to think putting education out of the reach of some people isn't a bad thing afterall.:rolleyes:

I love Ellie · 09/12/10 - 13:49

What course are you doing?

[Deleted User] · 09/12/10 - 16:20

If you don't truly want to drop out then just don't. Of course you'll still have to repay your loan regardless of whether you stay on or not, so you may as well stay and get your money's worth.

My elder sister dropped out in second year and has regretted it ever since; she wants to return to education but it's no longer feasible. I'm just saying that you shouldn't give up because you're struggling. A lot of people resit modules and once they're putting more effort in, do better than they expected. Stick with it!

Daveoc64 · 09/12/10 - 16:52

I would go and talk to your University's student advisers. They should be able to explain all of the options open to you (coming back next year, working out student loans, how your University's regulations could affect what you can do etc.).

BBFanaticMark wrote: »

I don't know if i'll get finance for repeating a year and can't finance myself

The rules currently allow you to get student finance for the length of your course (usually three years) plus an additional year.

The student adviser would be able to clarify the rules for you.

Hey there!

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