Auburn University is a monopoly, and I am not referring to the Auburnopoly board game you buy at the bookstore. It is clear that in any monopoly the concern is to profit, and at a university, students are profitable.
It does not take an upperclassman to understand that college can drain a bank account. The competition for earning freshman scholarships is getting tough, and once a student has earned one, the pressure felt during freshman year is greater.
The Scholarship Board is not as flexible as seeing an advisor to change a major.
Unfortunately, this creates circumstances where students will have to make the tough decision of switching majors into a subject area that could have a negative impact on their GPAs. The transition often results in a lost scholarship.
There is an option to submit an appeal to the University Scholarship Committee where they will take all factors in to consideration and decide to renew the scholarship. This could be avoided.
I believe if a student changes their major during his or her first year, Auburn should offer an opportunity to complete a probationary semester if a student's GPA is within a certain range of their scholarship requirement.
Students who practice hard work and determination should be able to succeed.
The first year is all about experiencing Auburn for the first time as a student and experiencing all of the memories and mistakes that happen in college life. But as this upperclassman would admit, any choice made at Auburn is only a stepping stone to graduating from the best school in the nation.
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