College is kicking my butt :/

Parents Forum
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<p>Ok sorry, this is probably going to long winded and may come off as whiney (and please feel free to be blunt/short with me) but I need to vent and could use some advice. </p>

<p>Back story, I was a fairly standard CC student in High school (to be honest probably a bit below average by CC standards, 2130 SAT only applied to a couple Ivies, not extremely motivated to go to a top-ten school or bust, etc…)
But anyways, I had big plans: wanted to go to a good business school, get a sweet gig (IB, consulting, whatever..) go to a top graduate business school, work some more, have a family. Then I wanted to veer over into the non-profit sector. I even toyed around (still kind of am) with being a public interest lawyer.
Well anyways I had big plans and needed to excel in school. I went to a college prep high school and did well in school, took 8-9 APs/PSEOP classes, was active in the community, Eagle Scout, etc…
Had big dreams and wanted to go out of state. Money and FAFSA kept me instate instead and I went to my financial safety. Was not happy at all at first and wanted to transfer but by orientation I had eventually come around to it and really liked the school. </p>

<p>So then September rolls around. I’ve never been a good time manager and I struggled with that initially. Wasn’t that big of a deal, just missed out on a little sleep.
Struggled with math, but a lot of people struggle with college math, so I wasn’t too hung up on that. Also struggled with microeconomics, which I was bummed with because I one point I was thinking about majoring in it (still might minor in it). Didn’t study too hard for the first exam and got a 78 on it. I was determined to work harder for the next midterm. I go to a big sports school and we had a big basketball game the night before the midterm…decisions decisions! Well, I sold my ticket and stayed in and studied. Messed up one of the graphs (nothing too major, but enough where the prof didn’t get me any credit for the problem…-20). So I ended up getting a 79. All that work and skipping the bball game for one extra point. I was pretty depressed; I thought I was doing it right, I love sports and I really wanted to go to the game but stayed back and studied. I thought I was doing the right thing in my situation and it didn’t really pay off. </p>

<p>Now it’s finals time. I did ok on my paper for one of my liberal arts class (got an 86…not amazing but I’ll take it) and got an A in that class. I must have aced my micro exam because I ended up with B+ in the class. Not happy with the final grade but I know that it could have been much worse. Math final…totally bombed it. Was set to maybe but unlikely get an A in the class, but more realistically an A-/B+. Ended up with a B. Totally bombed that final. Ended up with a 3.47. Not horrible and my parents tried to comfort me by saying I did fine and you always hear horror stories of good students bombing out of college with like a 1.7. Problem is, in order to stay in the honors program, I need at least a 3.5. (got until the end of the year)</p>

<p>So next quarter, I was determined to bring that up. Came out of the gates a little more motivated but still struggled. Poor/lazy work ethic caught up to me in my computer science class. I didn’t do all of the practice problems and the readings and I ended up getting C+’s on the first couple of quizzes that were supposed to be easy. </p>

<p>Took macro this quarter, did a lot better, I like the subject matter. Also took another gen ed that was pretty easy, reminded me of a high school class. </p>

<p>Had to take a science class to fufill a gen ed, so I tried to find a relatively easy science class (I’m pretty bad at science). The entry level Earth Science class wouldn’t fit into my schedule so I took one that was still entry but a little harder and more in depth. Looked interesting so I didn’t think it would be too horrible.
Studied kind of hard for the first exam, walked out of the test thinking I did really well, like solid A. Ended up with a 83 on the test. Wasn’t thrilled, but again determined to do better. The subject matter covered on the second midterm was a bit easier and catered more to my interests so I figured I would do better. Still studied pretty hard. Ended up with an 86.5. Meh, I was kinda discouraged. I figured that has to be something wrong with the way I was studying and the fact that I am naturally weak at science didn’t help things either. Took the final Wednesday. Still had a shot at an A- (had a really strong lab grade), needed a 94 on the final. Don’t know what I got on the final but it must have been pretty bad since I ended up with a B in the class. I was very bummed when I logged in to check my grades. </p>

<p>I might finish barely below a 3.5 again and it really bites this quarter because next quarter I’ll be eligible to apply for honors programs within the business school…but you need at least a 3.5 :/</p>

<p>Ugh, so I came here to get this off of my chest, ask for advice/help, and hopefully get myself in gear.
I don’t really know how to study. I’ve never really been a great test taker or studier for that matter. That 2130 SAT I talked about? Took me 4 tries to get that, with the last one me finally buckling down and using the blue book and xiggis tips. For tests in high school, I would rarely start studying before 10 PM. Heck sometimes I wouldn’t even start studying until midnight. Looking back on high school, I realized I wasn’t that great of a test taker. Math I struggled with, science was always a crap shoot. I always relied on homework grades and extra credit to boost me up to an A/A-. I exceled in history in government, wouldn’t really study for that and I would usually set the curve/come close to setting it. People told us our AP History teacher was good prep for college, but maybe I should change my major to history because my work ethic (looking back) was pretty poor and I just relied on my past knowledge and I exceled in the class and got 5’s on the AP exams. </p>

<p>So, even though I graduated from what was seen as a rigorous high school, I never developed a strong work ethic. Talking to other kids on break and how their first quarter/semester went, kids who I always did better than in high school, seemed to do better than me in college and told me college was easy. Why was it so damn hard for me then lol, I felt really stupid. I’m not the smartest person by a long shot but I always stood well on my own and did well in school. </p>

<p>Another thing, I have a horrible sleep schedule. I have problems falling asleep and too often I’m only getting 5-6 hours of sleep. I know this is a problem but I’m a procrastinator who is up late and has problems falling asleep (wonderful haha).</p>

<p>So I realize this post was a huge wall of text and went all over the place, but I need help lol. I know a 3.5 GPA is nothing to be ashamed of and it’s not horrible, etc… But I have high expectations and it’s not like I’m not trying, I’m working fairly hard. Still not sure how to study and I know I don’t study as efficiently as I could be. I'm studying in college a lot but don't feel like my results reflect that. </p>

<p>Any books you guys would recommend haha? Probably going to head up to the library tomorrow. Any personal experience with yourselves or your kids on something like this? At orientation they said honors kids are sometimes like this, never really had to study or don’t know how to study in my case and they have help for that. I’ll probably check that out when I get back on campus. Should have done it awhile ago. </p>

<p>Thanks, just a lost, confused freshman lol</p>

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<p>Does your school offer free tutoring?</p>

<p>I think your sleeping issues are stress related. you’re all anxious so it’s preventing you from easily falling asleep. Talk to your doctor about this.</p>

<p>Best wishes…</p>

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<p>Jeffrey, talk to your academic advisor AND make an appointment at the counselling center. BOTH. </p>

<p>Your advisor can help you find resources for improving your study skills. The counsellor can help you get a handle on the stress issues.</p>

<p>I think you’re going to be fine. You just need a little help getting your feet under you. The help is there, so use it.</p>

<p>PS – Don’t blow off the suggestion to see a counsellor. It’ll help, I promise.</p>

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<p>They may have had to work harder and more efficiently than you
did. You may have had more natural ability so that you didn’t have to
work as hard in high-school but college ups the ante so that you have
to work harder and more efficiently and use your natural talent.</p>

<p>In college (skipping the grade inflation discussion), a C is average,
a B is above average and an A is for outstanding work. There are some
professors that don’t give out a lot of As. In classes where there
isn’t grade inflation, you can see the students that live and breathe
the material get the As, the better than average students get Bs and
those that just scrape by getting Cs. In physics classes, you can
see half or more that fall by the wayside after two semesters.</p>

<p>So yes, a 3.5 or close to it isn’t bad. I’d call it good. Especially
if you spent some time in extracurricular things.</p>

<p>You’ve mentioned a lot of things and there are a few recommendations
to see a counselor. A counselor can discuss things with you in more
depth with faster turnaround than we can here. There are many standard
ways to improve performance though. There are books out there on how
to be a college student too. Our son had a class where one of those
books was a required textbook.</p>

<p>One thing that our son did was to study the material for a class
before the course started so that he had a pretty good overview of the
course and the material wasn’t new to him in class. Having some
familiarity means that you have more time overall to absorb material
and concepts and can think about things while you are under less
pressure and it makes memorizing things easier. A modified approach
to his is to read one or two lectures ahead of the class.</p>

<p>Another thing that can help course performance and your interest in an
area is to keep up with current events in the area. For an econ class,
this may mean reading the Wall St Journal everyday. One of our son’s
econ courses required students to read a financial paper daily. The
professor asked current events questions and awarded extra credit
points to those that answered questions correctly or indicated that
they knew the issue. What percentage of students do you think would
actually do the reading everyday with a reward given out once a week?
According to my son, not very many.</p>

<p>He had a physics course where the professor did the same thing - he
awarded extra credit points if students knew about physics issues in
the news. I think that he said that some of the quiz questions related
to stuff not covered in the course but in the news.</p>

<p>Knowing what is going on can help you to be more interested in a
course and the material it is covering and can help you to remember
ideas and concepts and make connections.</p>

<p>The thing about doing the homework exercises, getting your first draft
done early on papers, having another student or the writing center
review your papers, showing up for classes, using the tutoring center,
using study groups, figuring out the best environment for how you study
and dealing with procrastination and time management are all common
recommendations. You need to execute on these.</p>

<p>College is time to have some fun too so don’t feel that you have to
spend all of your time working - that can even be counterproductive.
But find someone that knows you and can figure out your problems and
help you with a program to improve things a bit more.</p>

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<p>Seek help. There are free tutoring sessions available at colleges. If tutor is good, he/she will point to poor studing approach specifially for each subject that they tutor. As an example, my D. ws an SI for Chem. prof. She mentioned that many try to memorize Chem. material and this approach does not work very well in Chem.<br>
She herself used prof’s office hours a lot whenever she neede reassurance that her understanding is correct. Why not? You tuition is paying for all these services, not just lectures, might as well use it. Also, D. mentioned that study in groups has helped her a lot. She like to explain material while others liked her explanations. It works for each side.</p>

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<p>Jeffery… Sometimes it just takes awhile to find your groove. Have you picked up on the way your professor do their examinations? That helped me a lot. I knew the one used the tests that the book created, so I always studied for that class by taking the practice quizzes and practice exams the book came with. Also, you might want to think about what you’re of tests you prefer and take that kind of course. Essay… Multiple choice… Etc… Ask your upperclassmen for help when signing up for courses.</p>

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<p>I went to college with minimal knowledge of English. I figured that if I read the chapter before class and re-read/do the homework right after class it helps. So basically I took care of the routine things the same day. That simplifies my time management. I pass that little “wisdom” to my kids and looks like it works for them as well. If I remember correctly, my college even had a how to study course for kids who need the skills. Hope you find something like that at yours. And see the counselor like others have mentioned. Good luck.</p>

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<p>I would look at the sleep issue more. A lack of sleep can disrupt memory efficiency. My son has sleep issues and, for his second year of college, petitioned for a private room in quiet dorm. He still has his noisy friends but now enjoys them on his own terms. His grades have improved remarkably. I would also suggest exercising every day (can be as little as 30 minutes, just make sure you sweat). This will help with sleep and improve mental clarity.</p>

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<p>I also think intro courses are harder sometimes. D1 was a math major, she got solid Bs in math the first year. Her grades got progressively better later on. In college, professors tend not to give partial credit as often. She used to kick herself for making one mistake in calculation, and then everything was wrong after that. </p>

<p>Good studying habit is key. It is important not to cramp before the test, that is often too late. The way to do it is by understanding the material as the professor is teaching it. Go to office hours (way before any test) to make sure you are on the right track. D1 said sometimes her professors would even disclose what the test would cover. </p>

<p>3.5 is not a bad GPA to start with. Don’t beat yourself up too hard over it.</p>

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<p>Good start. The key to improvement is being honest about where you really are and finding out what you need to do to get better. The fact that you are problem solving this now leads me to believe you will get it figured out by the end of the year.</p>

<p>Don’t be afraid to talk to profs and get to know them and go see them when you are a little bit lost. They notice these things.</p>

<p>Also, A’s are tougher to get in college. Some profs have a point of honor of not giving them out very often. So, it’s different in that way too.</p>

<p>Good luck.</p>

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<p>FIrst, relax. Close to a 3.5 is a strong gpa for your first year. Studying a a skill that you will need to learn, just like your classes. </p>

<p>From what I am reading here it sounds like you are still relying on cramming as a way to learn, and it appears it is not working for you. I am not surprised. It is not the most effective way to learn. You need to “study” daily (even if the exam is 4 weeks away). That way you still get the basketball game and the grades. </p>

<p>A university at Buffalo Professor has a wonderful online guide- a how to study. Check it out. It really walks you through managing your time, and how to learn. </p>

<p>[HOW</a> TO STUDY](<a href=“http://www.cse.buffalo.edu/~rapaport/howtostudy.html]HOW”>HOW TO STUDY)</p>

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<p>I know you need a few hundredths of a point to make the honors group, but I really doubt many people saw the title of this thread and expected it was written by someone with a 3.5 GPA. At least I didn’t.</p>

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<p>You have the exact personality that would have these types of struggles - bright enough to not have to work hard or get well-organized in HS, but not a 2400 SAT kid such that sheer brainpower could carry you. You are going to have to undo some of your destructive habits. First, a little perspective, I once got an 8 on a physics test. I would have pushed my mother down the stairs for an 83.</p>

<p>Work ahead. Do the reading before the lectures. Get to class early and sit in front. You sound like you are too distractable, so front row would be best. This may be all you need to bring up your grades. Study in the library, or, even better, a private room in the library and leave the cell phone and computer off.</p>

<p>Learn Cornell Notes. They are time efficient and proven effective. The idea is to review the important material every day. Leaving it to the last night will no longer work once you get to college.</p>

<p>Take care of yourself. Force yourself to wake up early every day, including weekends, and your body will naturally adjust to a better bedtime. Start an exercise schedule, done during daylight hours and outdoors if possible. No more energy drinks and no caffeine after noon - that by itself cures most sleep issues. Uninstall the video games - no bright screens after 7pm also helps.</p>

<p>Try to petition your adviser to get into the Honors sections, but don’t sweat it if you don’t. For grad school, GPA is king, Honors is secondary. See if there is an avenue to getting back into Honors if they kick you out.</p>

<p>Make a plan and write it all down. If it’s written it’s a goal, unwritten it’s a wish.</p>

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<p>You have to face the facts that college is not easy. Even those pals of yours that are saying that it is easy for them are probably not having an easy time, they are probably just used to studying more. There are a bunch of different aspects of college that will challenge you, and you just have to tackle them one by one.</p>

<p>Getting organized is a huge deal and will be something that you will need to work on regularly. It will help you later in life as well. You have some big goals and being able to manage your time and organize your study time along with all of your notes and study aids will be a skill that will help you get to some of those goals.</p>

<p>Part of what you learn in college are these skills that are what makes getting the grades easier. You are learning a work ethic as well as time management that you will fall back on when you hit crunch times later on. </p>

<p>From the post it seems like you need to get yourself more organized than anything else. it could start with something as simple as heading to an office supply store to get you the folders and sticky notes that you need to get your notes and classes put to order.</p>

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<p>I have a really different take. The problem is not your study habits but your perspective. Which I’m guessing has come from a relatively charmed life until now. It might hurt but this is all good for you!</p>

<p>First I honestly think your biggest problem is a not-yet-mature perspective on your goals and what life is about. </p>

<ol>
<li><p>You seem to think you should do as well in college as highschool. Your GPA is perfectly fine (especially as the first year is usually a challenging transitional year). I think you seem to expect As and also expect a direct and pretty easy link between your effort and that A (your examples are sort of ‘I dd this and it didn’t work’ when in fact your overall GPA will depend a lot more than one specific action or night of studying…for any given exam there is a HUGE amount of other factors going into a particular grade). </p></li>
<li><p>You also expect predictability. Make a path, just go down it, all works out. Life just isn’t like that. You have to be open to changing your major, your career, your goals. And also recognize that a data point today tells you almost nothing about the longterm trend in your life! Just because you have XX GPA in second quarter tells you very little about your overall future GPA in undergrad or grad school, succeed in your life plan etc. etc.</p></li>
<li><p>You have something like “honors” college in there. I guess it is yet another ‘should’. But what exactly will be different in your life if you are in or not in the honors college? I mean that quite specifically-- if you break this down you might find you are hold this up on some pedestal that, at the end of the day, isn’t all that. </p></li>
<li><p>I think you are a bit too obsessed with ‘numbers’ (or maybe not numbers but some belief about exactly each goal/hoop you should be achieving to follow this linear path you’ve made up). Its deviation from that pre-planned math that is really getting you down. </p></li>
<li><p>Relatedly there is this real disconnect. You want IB…but really want non-profit. You want a particular major but it doesn’t sound like you really get into it. You want a particular GPA but don’t really seem like the studious type. </p></li>
</ol>

<p>I think through counselling, you might want to try to get a bit deeper and maybe try to develop a more mature life plan that isn’t quite so cookie cutter and that makes you more open to the nature of life which is going to be full of ups and downs and things you can’t control, and weird turns, and failures, and unpredictability. </p>

<p>Life isn’t going to be about mapping out 20 years of an easy ‘cut-and-paste life’ you read about somewhere, but don’t actually know anything about it or how it plays to your interests and abilities. Like most people, you are very likely going to go down a crooked and unpredictable path, and run into some road blocks, some let downs, take some other paths, have some good luck, some bad luck…and that is exactly almost everyone’s life. And its a great life! Likewise, you can’t just take that map and do ‘paint by numbers’, jumping through hoops and getting down when the hoop is a bit too high for your pre-determined map. </p>

<p>I realize I’m probably not even making any sense to you but I guess what I’m saying is you might benefit not so much from ‘learning to study differently’ as you might from ‘learning to change your perspective’ (it will come with some counselling, some failing and getting back up, some getting out there in the world and good old maturity).</p>

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<p>I am so confused. Who complains about a 3.5 GPA, particularly for freshman year?</p>

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<p>Thanks for the replies everyone, I really appreciate it. I’ve read them all but I’m traveling so I’ll try to keep this response a little shorter.</p>

<p>I definitely plan on seeing a counselor and talking to someone at my school for some. What kind of counselor do you guys mean? Like a psychiatrist or a shrink?</p>

<p>I know some of you keep saying around a 3.5 isn’t horrible, and I know that it’s not and I know that I kinda made it sound like the sky was falling.
The reason I’m a little upset is because it’s not like I wasn’t trying or was skipping class, I was trying relatively hard in my classes. I sat within the first 3 rows for my large lecture classes and I don’t think I skipped a class this quarter (I skipped a couple last quarter…mostly from oversleeping :/). I studied for all of the exams (well at least my version of studying lol). I go out a little on the weekends, but things don’t get that crazy where my whole weekend is sunk or my weekdays are affected. But I know I have to switch gears and do something differently. </p>

<p>Oh and someone mentioned the prestige or whatever about being in honors…to be completely honest I don’t really give a hooey about that, I really only care about honors because of the priority scheduling. And some of the honors groups within the business school have great networking opportunities with companies I’d maybe like to work with. But yeah…it’s mainly the scheduling. </p>

<p>Magnetron…I think you pretty much hit the nail on the head or at least I came to a very similar conclusion when I was thinking about this the other day haha. </p>

<p>And yeah I definitely need to work on my sleep habits. Most of the time it takes me over an hour to fall asleep and I rarely go to bed before one. </p>

<p>Thanks guys, I’ll respond more when I get access to a better computer, but I do appreciate your input and thank you very much for it.</p>

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<p>You want to do better. That’s the first step to learning how. I would recommend reading these two slim volumes:</p>

<p>[Amazon.com:</a> How to Become a Straight-A Student: The Unconventional Strategies Real College Students Use to Score High While Studying Less (9780767922715): Cal Newport: Books](<a href=“http://www.amazon.com/How-Become-Straight-A-Student-Unconventional/dp/0767922719/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1331957205&sr=1-1]Amazon.com:”>http://www.amazon.com/How-Become-Straight-A-Student-Unconventional/dp/0767922719/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1331957205&sr=1-1)</p>

<p>[Amazon.com:</a> How to Win at College: Surprising Secrets for Success from the Country’s Top Students (9780767917872): Cal Newport: Books](<a href=“http://www.amazon.com/How-Win-College-Surprising-Countrys/dp/0767917871/ref=pd_bxgy_b_img_c]Amazon.com:”>http://www.amazon.com/How-Win-College-Surprising-Countrys/dp/0767917871/ref=pd_bxgy_b_img_c)</p>

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<p>I can’t speak for anyone else, but what I had in mind is to call your college’s counselling office and ask for an appointment with one of the counsellors. They’ll talk with you and determine if you need short-term counselling there on campus, or if they want to refer you to a therapist. They’ll also be able to give you information about the college’s resources for helping you with your studying. So start there.</p>

<p>Believe me, you’re not alone. LOTS of freshmen have trouble adjusting to college. But as I said above, there is help and if you take advantage of it, I have a feeling you’re going to be OK.</p>

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<p>You’re on the right track in realizing you need to learn how to study. </p>

<p>In addition to the other great suggestions, I want to emphasize that most professors really are happy when students come in during office hours and ask how they can improve their grade. If you’re struggling even a teeny bit in a class, I’d suggest going to the prof first.</p>

<p>Best wishes, Jeffrey. I think you have a fine college career ahead of you.</p>