I’m in my freshman year of college, and I’m really worried about my performance. So far we’ve had our midterms, and I failed math (calculus) and scored 67% on another difficult subject. Besides these two, I have three more easier subjects. Take into account that I’ve put a lot of time into studying (and practicing) these two subjects, so these results are very unusual and disturbing to me. I was excellent in math in high school, I went to competitions, but usually ended up in the bottom half.
I don’t know why I have such bad results, considering the effort I’ve put into these subjects. Note that it was real studying, not texting and studying. I’m majoring in Computer Science, and I like it, but what if I’m just too dumb for it?
Has anyone had a similar experience? I feel like I’m working my ass off, but the results are disappointing… Please help! Am I doing something wrong in my study methods? I don’t skip lectures, and I’m always up to date with the material…
I was the best student in high school, and now I’m among the worst… I’m losing my academic self-confidence and I don’t know what to do to fix my situation 
I think this is a common experience. If you were the best in high school I am guessing you are probably at a pretty tough school. In that case probably 80% of the students there were in the top 20% of their class (I am pulling these numbers out of nowhere, but you get the idea), and there are probably a ton of valedictorians, etc.There are probably people there that WON the same competition you went to at some point. As a result, the metric is higher and where you were the top in high school you are probably now somewhere in the middle. College professors know this and assume that top students should be able to keep up with faster, harder material. Classes like freshman math and physics might even be what my family calls “firehose classes”, designed specifically to weed out “unworthy” students. They are sometimes made unnecessarily hard and are usually the most-failed classes in the school.
As for what you can do to fix this or at least make it less of a shock, try to find out whether your school has organized study groups or tutoring. These services are designed to help you and you should feel no shame in seeking them out. Get together with friends from class or from your dorm and study together. Two heads are sometimes better than one, even if there is a little distraction involved. Find someone who thinks differently from you so you can put your heads together to solve problems. Take advantage of the fact that you are at a school where so many smart people congregate. Try to keep up to date or a chapter ahead of the material, and keep attending lectures.
Freshman year is supposed to be tough, especially at a great school. You are NOT too dumb. If you were you wouldn’t have gotten into the school.
Best of luck!
Many people find first semester of college a big jump up from high school, both in terms of difficulty and in terms of time required. Many students also find out that they were not as well prepared for college level work as they expected.
Also, if you didn’t take calculus in HS, be aware that many students take a time to get their head around it: calc asks you to think in a very different way than the maths that you have done previously.
@GoatGirl19’s suggestions are excellent, but I would add one more: wear a path to your professor’s doors. They all have posted hours: use them. Prepare before you go by thinking about specific things that you are struggling with. Review your midterm yourself first: now that it’s corrected, can you see where the problems were? Take the ones that you can’t figure out to your calc prof and ask for help. Go to your comp sci teacher and let them know that you are disappointed in your result, particularly as you had felt prepared going in. Ask if s/he can see aspects of mastering the material that you could focus on.
The prep part is important: it’s being respectful of the learning process and your prof’s time. But, the time is there for students to use- don’t waste a good resource by not using it!
As others have said, this is a common finding for those students at top STEM schools. This is where you see the real difference across schools. I know of schools that promote themselves as just as good as actual top schools in STEM. And I have read posts on this site contending that Physics 1 is physics one regardless of whether it is taken at community college or CalTech. No, it’s not. Nor are most courses at many non-flagship universities the same as those at top schools. Sorry, but there are real differences-as this OP is finding out. I know plenty of students at great STEM schools who work like dogs and still struggle to pass. They are not partying instead of studying. These are not usually weed out classes, by the way. The goal is to retain students not weed them out. But the goal is to bring everyone up to speed before they embark on higher level classes.
Do not interpret the classes as weed-outs. That is a huge mistake and misconception. The people in these school’s admissions office are competent too. They accepted you and know you can make it, as is true of most students who attend and study STEM. At some point you will put the struggles behind you and start realizing that you are now enjoying some classes and you are learning an incredible amount. The key is to stay with it, don’t get discouraged, don’t think of the grades as having anything in common with grades you may have gotten at a low level public or in high school-even if you went to a top notch competitive high school. Feel good if you are passing-re-take if you don’t pass a class. Your goal is to become excellent at whatever it is you are studying. Do what you need to do to make that happen and keep moving forward.
Consider this as part of the process experienced by most of the best minds in STEM.
This a common experience. Getting to college an finding out everyone else seems smarter/more studious than you no matter how high you soared in High school. There is some really good advice here, learn some new study habits.
In many college classes, you have to do more than you are recommended.
In my case, I had low B in ochem 2 before final, but I spend a week re-doing all the previous unit exams, book problems, 200 ACS problem set, and practice problems. I got a solid A after final exam.