Dealing with disappointing first semester grades.

Parents Social Lounge
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<p>Wolfpiper, congratulations on an OUTSTANDING first semester of college! I know it's difficult for you not to see the 4.0 you've expected of yourself for as long as you've been a student. 4.0s in college are as rare as hen's teeth. It is very impressive that you've taken advantage of all the wonderful opportunities you've listed, taken 21 hours, AND are sporting 4 A's and only one B to B+ to boot! I, too, was in your position 30 years ago...pulled a B+ in Western Civilization my first term, my first ever...and was devastated. Silly me. What a waste of time. That B+ mattered not when whit when I was accepted to my top med school choice 3 1/2 years later. So, take your right arm, raise it above your head, bend at the elbow, and reach backwards to pat yourself on the back! You deserve it! You'll be fine.</p>

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<p>Wolfpiper,
I would respectfully suggest that you refrain from making posts like this one and ESPECIALLY that you refrain from criticism of particular classes.
You've posted a lot of personal info, and I assume anyone who knows you IRL would recognize you. It's not wise to criticize profs publicly.
Your reaction may be that it's unlikely that any prof will be reading collegeconfidential. Through the miracle of google, (s)he doesn't have to. It's likely that if someone interested in Japanese at your college "googled" correctly, your comments would show up. Then a prospective student asks a question during a tour or something in which your remarks are quoted-- not a good thing.
It's also not a good thing to let your concerns about what are in reality very good grades become known. Again, while CC may seem like a friendly little "pond," anything you post here is very, very public.
Don't post anything here you wouldn't be willing to have anyone at the u you attend read.</p>

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<p>Wolfpiper, please do not be so hard on yourself. You have selected an extremely competive career choice. You will be fine, try to relax. I can't remember if you have done some volunteer or paid work in pharmacy. Check into that on vacation and look for mentors.
Big hugs,
LA</p>

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<p>wolfpiper - You are doing great. College is not just about grades (although most kids would seriously envy yours...), but you know that. You're overcoming great odds and I think most of us old timers on CC know that. Keep on keeping on!!!</p>

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<p>Please tell me you're joking...Please. This is like someone posting that they are disappointed getting 2100 on the SAT's. Your GPA is fine...even the "lower" estimate. You need to find something else to worry about...not your grades.</p>

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<p>Try seeing your first C ever in post-graduate work!</p>

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<p>^^ Try for your first C+! Like you, I have standards too- anything below a 3.0 is a disappointment. I'd cringe if I saw a B- but I'd cry if I saw a C when I'd check my final grades. <em>shudder</em> But that will SO pass, especially when you go further into your academic career. You will realize that it's not the grade that counts but rather your experience in the class. I STILL talk about my first year seminar (got a B) and one of my core classes (got a C+). Only because I was able to bring them up in my future classes for relevance discussion and in conversation at parties- people are impressed that I learned that kind of stuff in school. Now I am a junior and I have learned that it's so far more important to make the most of your classroom experience than to worry about your grade everyday- it was a tough thing to accept but if I was constantly worrying, then I wouldn't enjoy school as much (it's a distraction!).</p>

<p>I understand you want to do pharmacy school- you've got time. Most schools will disregard freshman year- for the same reasons as colleges to your high school freshman year- you're just settling in and experiencing new freedom.</p>

<p>Hopefully you will not take Japanese at this school anymore- believe me such departments are not worth taking classes with, even if they do have at least one decent professor (speaking from experience again). You can always find opportunities such as a Japanese table at lunch or a summer study abroad, etc. Like you said, it's not really just the professor but rather the whole department itself that sets the rules.</p>

<p>At any rate, congrats on doing well in your first semester and you can feel much more reassured as you go into your second.</p>

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<p>Tickleme - as I read your comment I realized that 30 years later the undergrad class that I remember most as my fav, mention the most if that subject comes up and was the class that made the greatest impression on me, I got a B- in. I can't remember why I got a B-, can't remember the class being particularly difficult...so all the advice given to Wolfpiper here is so right on. Do not get "hung up". Do not let a grade interfere with the sheer joy of engaging and learning and growing.</p>

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<p>Well, grades came in today--3.75 (4 A's, 1 B, 1 pass). Not quite what I had hoped (missed that elusive 3.8+), but it could be worse... I'll just have to try hardere next semester.</p>

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<p>Wolfpiper, I think you need to just relax and get some perspective! School and university are two completely different environments - high school is like a pond with a few big fish, college is an ocean with a whole load of sharks. </p>

<p>I attend a VERY competitive university - ALL of us, bar none, were at the top of our game in high school. And the one thing all of us had to learn when we arrived at university was that we couldn't be the best all the time, and we shouldn't waste our lives worrying about it. We weren't told not to try - we were told to recognize when we had given our best, and not beat ourselves up that it wasn't better than everyone else. </p>

<p>I hope you're taking advantage of the social aspects of college life as well as studying, since you transferred to find them!!</p>

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<p>DS is a senior. He just got his first C in all of his college courses. It was a course in personal finance. He says it was the hardest course he has taken in college, and despite the C (and the lowering of both his semester GPA and his cumulative GPA), the course was well worth the time. He loved the teacher and learned a lot about managing his finances in the future. Sometimes it's not about the grades.</p>

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<p>That's not the first comment I've heard about personal finance classes being hard on kids' GPAs. Are they on offshoot of the traditionally dreaded intro to accounting class?</p>

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<p>Introduction to Accounting was easy. Political philosophy was hard...</p>