I really don’t care what I got. The past is past. You guys are making it sound I care about my grades. Lol.
Well maybe you should care about your grades. Personally I love open note tests because I am much better at applications and problem solving than memorization. But that’s a personal thing. And “My parents were out of the country” really doesn’t fly after middle school, much less college lol.
From other posts it seems that you are at a CC. Your GPA will be important if you want to transfer to a four year college down the road. The better your transfer application, the more options you will have.
Don’t you care about your grades? Grad school requires good grades. Staying at Albany will require good grades.
^ I guess you guys haven’t gotten a C before in your life. @snowfairy137 you seem to be a high schooler who never has gotten a C in your life. Grades don’t have any knowledge whatsoever. It’s YOU the person if you actually put effort to the class. You can all A’s and B’s in every class you have, but when you’re in the workplace. It’s a whole new ball game.
…No, I haven’t gotten anything lower than a B, which is because I understand that whether you think they’re representative of knowledge or not, grades are important. All of your goals are easier with good grades. Grad school requires above-average grades. Not flunking out of university requires you to pass. You will likely have a separate, new GPA at the four-year school, so whatever you get this year will set the tone for the rest of your college career. Any failing grades will bring your average way down. Several A’s would buoy it up. Which would you prefer?
A 3.9+ in engineering has treated me way better than a 2.0 would have. (I’m not going to pretend there’s a big difference between 3.9+ and 3.7+, but there is between it and less than 3.0.) It’s gotten me considered for internships, research, and scholarships. It hasn’t gotten me into those things – interviews did that, mostly – because you’re right, grades aren’t everything. But all of your goals – going to grad school, finishing your degree at Albany, and eventually getting a job – are going to be a heck of a lot harder if you think grades don’t matter.
In grad school (maybe just in engineering? Not sure) I’ve heard a C is like failing. A’s and maybe B’s are expected. Grades matter then, too.
Keep in mind-- we don’t know you. ALL we know is what you’ve posted.
Grades are all that an employer will know about you. That transcript, that resume, is all that will determine whether or not your application comes off the pile to merit an interview. Poor grades bring less of a chance; high grades tend to increase that chance. You could be the world’s best candidate for your dream job, but if a potential employer isn’t impressed enough by your transcript to give you an interview, you’ll never get that dream job.
I think you do care about your grades. If you didn’t, you wouldn’t be concerned that people who take good notes can get an A on open book tests while those who don’t may not.
Take advantage of the tutoring center at Albany. Their disability services office may be able to help you learn to take better notes. If you think you’re missing things because you can’t write as fast as the professors speak, ask for permission to record the lectures.
It’s completely fair to let students use notes on exams as long as all of the students have that opportunity. In engineering, science, and mathematics especially, the exams are intended to assess your problem-solving skills, with particular attention to the topics covered (obviously). Part of that problem solving is learning to take the kinds of notes YOU need in order to succeed on the exam. Even if the test is 100% open book/open notes, I personally still make myself a formula sheet because I don’t want to spend time flipping through my notebook looking for a particular equation. If you know your notes aren’t great, find a way to improve them as a way to study for the test. Work through example problems using only the notes you intend to bring with you (a good way to discover “holes” in your note taking). Look back at lecture videos if your professor/college releases them, or find different explanations online. YouTube is a great resource for finding video lectures. Download and listen to them on your commute. Go to a tutoring session, or make an appointment with a private tutor.
Yes, students with better notes will get A’s. But they earned those just as much as someone who earned an A on a closed-book test, because they took advantage of the opportunity to prepare. If you don’t care about your grades, that’s totally fine, but don’t assume the people who got A’s didn’t struggle and earn those grades.
@NASA2014 since you’re gonna bash me, I may be a high schooler but I’m taking all first year engineering courses and general eds at a 4 year university (unlike you). And I think I’m gonna do just fine in the workplace because 1) I don’t blame my parents for my mistakes and 2) I have a engineering internship this summer. Good luck getting a good job or even transferring to a 4 year college with a bunch of Cs if you really don’t care.
I’m getting the feeling that this thread is going to go absolutely nowhere.
I do care about my grades, BUT I’m not those people that are really obsessed with them. I have friends who beg for getting extra credit. I’m not like that.
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The first sentence implies you do not care about your grades. Read it again. Were you missing a “don’t” between “sound” and “I”?
he second sentence says you do. Which is it?
Is part of your learning disorder processing speed? You may want to try typing your notes into a word processor so you can use the “find” feature to look up specific words or phrases. The faster you can find them, the more time you have to process and write the answer.
I actually write all my notes on Word. Although for some subjects like math or chemistry, it doesn’t work very well. I used to do study guides for chemistry.
What exactly is your concern?
Can you ask your professors for tips during office hours? What works well for other students? Albany has a tutoring center, so visit it and ask them too.
Yes, I will certainly go and check with them during office hours. I’m also concern that no one in the Department of Meteorology has ever done Meteorology major and Chemistry minor. I may be the first one which will be awesome.