Am I going about my wanted future the right way?

[idontdothizz]

The one thing that interests me the most is psychology and psychiatry, because I am good at reading and understanding peoples thoughts and emotions...
I have always been good at being people's personal non-professional shrink.

I am 18 years old
I graduated high school
with a fairly low GPA... somewhere between 2.0-2.5...
I am job-less and car-less.
I do not live with my parents, I live with my girlfriend and her mom so not much assistance there...
Getting a job is not easy at all because everywhere is full and the only places I can find hiring are too far away...

But anyway, I realize that going to college for what I want to do will be difficult without transportation, or a job to get transportation, but I am currently doing what I can to change that, but I want to prepare for my future and it seems the only way I can do that is to prepare in whatever way I can.

The way I am doing that may sound silly but my girlfriends mom gave me her college level psychology textbook that she had to buy at some point when she went to college, and I was wondering:

How beneficial will it be if i learned everything in this textbook? Would it increase my chances into getting into a college despite my poor GPA?

I just want to be sure that I am not wasting my time on this textbook. Also, any advice would be greatly appreciated.

I have considered military but I have come to realize that life is too sacred and I do not want to ever have to take anybody elses life ever.

 

[scureto1]

You don't necessarily have to have a car to go to college, if you live on campus. It kind of sucks, but my girlfriend was without a car for almost 2 years of her undergraduate college. The textbook would likely help you out once you go INTO a college and were taking a psych class, but I doubt its going to be much help to get you in there in the first place.

 

[double ewe]

it's worthwhile to learn what kind of material you'll be studying, but definitely won't be much benefit in terms of getting in to school.

my advice is to get as much education as you can as quickly as you can - the best way to do that, for someone with a low high school GPA, is to find some way to take classes from a community college or through an online program from an accredited local university (lots of schools have distance learning programs, you want one from a respected university, not an online-only school). if you do well in these classes, it will be a big step towards getting into a full-time program. likewise, be as savvy as you can about funding - there are TONS of scholarships and tax breaks out there for people doing what you're trying to do, you just need to learn what's out there and be on-point about your paperwork. but the bottom line is that if you're serious about this career path, you need to make getting in to college your first priority. it's very do-able, but you've gotta be committed and not give up when it gets hard or seems hopeless or you realize it's going to take a few years to get what you want.

i was waiting tables four years ago when i decided i wanted to study math for a job in insurance/finance. had an unrelated college degree, so i started out taking undergraduate math classes part time. did well enough to not only get into a master's program, but to get my tuition and most of my living expenses paid by an assistantship. will be graduating in may into a job better than i was even willing to hope for when i started all of this. so it's possible, but it's going to take time, patience and a lot of work.

 

[shimazu]

The textbook wont help you get into a college. They go by GPA, SAT scores, and extracurricular activities mostly. You are going to have to go to community college first then transfer to a larger school. Community college is a lot less expensive,'and if theres public transportation in your area that could solve the no-car problem.

 

[shezinphx]

I agree with the community college. You might even get to go for near free if you are in the US with the Pell Grant. Once you have two years of community college under your belt you can transfer to a University.