So I graduated from high school as the valedictorian of my class and am attending Berkeley. I’m a chemistry major and I take Chem 4A. I did really bad in my first midterm (as in a C or around that percentage). I saw it coming because I’ve always struggled in this class (for some reason it is very physics-oriented: we are doing quantum mechanics) but I still can’t really accept the fact that I got such a bad grade. I’ve spent literally all my time on this class and I’m starting to think that maybe I’m just not supposed to take chemistry, or maybe they just made a mistake admitting me into the university because everyone else is so smart and I don’t feel like I’m good at anything anymore. I don’t know if I should drop the class but it’s too late now to enroll in another in replacement (and if I only drop this one class the total number of units gets below the minimum required). What am I supposed to dooo…
Guarantee you’re not the only one. I got a 37% on a midterm last semester at my school.
Buckle down, study your butt off, go to office hours, ask for help, and knock it out of the park. You wouldn’t be there if you weren’t capable.
I’m guessing you’re a girl? My daughters tend to internalize stuff like this-what if I’m not good enough, should I quit?
The answer is no. Stick with it, you’ll get better. You’re swimming with the big dogs now, you might have to paddle a little faster to get there.
@9822liu My first midterm at MIT was a 51% (low C or so) – you are not the only one.
As @bodangles said, study hard, go to office hours, ask for help. If there are practice exams available, do them.
Yours is a very common experience. My daughter was a mess last year at this time when she thought she flunked a midterm in physics because she got a 60something. She ended up with an A for the term. I am going to tell you what I told her and several others on this site, “your head will not blow off if you don’t get an A.” Do what the other posters above have said, keep working on it, find resources, go to office hours, and don’t give up. Welcome to college and your difficult major. You have the ability to do well, you just need to adjust to the educational level.
Here are some old exams for practice:
https://tbp.berkeley.edu/courses/chem/4A/
It sucks to be average. You chose a selective school so it stands to reason that classes that expose your limits with likewise expose others strengths. At some point, it is hard to maintain a 4.0. Hard to take that lesson first semester though. Do you best and hang in there. College grades are a 9 inning game and this is your first at bat.
Read what your twin wrote:
http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/college-life/1921689-failing-in-college-after-being-an-honors-high-school-student-p1.html
Go to the tutoring center. My dd found out early from a pre-med student at her volunteer clinic job that the “A” students go to tutoring every night for every course. She went every available opportunity and graduated at the top of her class.
The UCs tend to have really good tutoring options. Find the tutoring center in your department. It should be free.