Dilemma, please help! Greatly appreciated.

Student Lounge College Life
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<p>Incoming, Undecided/Undeclared freshman here, going to UCI in the fall.</p>

<p>Humanities Core 1A S/A (4-unit lecture, 6-unit discussion)
Univ. Stu. 2 (UCI Majors)
Math 1A (Precalc)</p>

<p>I didn't pass the AWPE, nor the AP English exams. I also didn't do well in AP Calc, both in the class and exam. And I marginally passed the Precalc placement test, even though it didn't seem to me like I should've passed it at all.</p>

<p>In short, I'm not a good student. I attribute all of this to my declining performance, declining motivation and enthusiasm for school, and extensive dedication to band (DM duties/responsibilities and Rose Parade with PCC). I accomplished a lot this past year as well (in terms of music, financial aid, awards, etc.), but I don't give myself credit because of my low academic performance. To top it off, I increased my senior year courseload to 4 AP's, which burnt me out from the very beginning. I did it for the competition against the high-achievers, and it was both a stupid mistake and a stupid reason. It really wasn't worth it, but it happened.</p>

<p>Now, I feel like I'm behind, and I should re-learn things I missed. That's why I'm taking Math 1A instead of 1B or 2A (Calc). I'm not taking the Writing series because I want to major in something from humanities later on, but I could really use additional help with my writing. Any ideas? One major concern is that my schedule is lacking, even though I'll earn 16 units from the three courses. Then again, am I asking for too much again? Maybe it's better to take it easy at the beginning, but I'd like to fit in a Govt., Econ., or Spanish Composition class, and I'd be able to. And I'd also like to go on to grad school after undergraduate study, but if I start out with a small schedule, I fear that it could decrease my chances of getting in.</p>

<p>I am honestly at a loss here. I could really use someone's help. I'd appreciate it a lot.</p>

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<p>I don't go to UCI, but I seriously doubt your credit load will have anything to do with your chances of getting into grad school. My only advice to you is to aim for a good GPA in college once you're there, get involved in whatever field you choose, and keep an open mind. Work on your weak subjects and don't be afraid to approach your professors for help. Find a tutor if necessary. Don't let yourself get overwhelmed, and make sure you have time to socialize. Once you're a junior or senior, start speaking to your advisors, who can help you identify which grad schools you're qualified for based on college GPA, maybe begin a research project, and then of course study hard for the GRE.</p>

<p>In the meantime, relax and stop worrying so much. You've already been accepted into UCI, so forget about high school and focus on personal and academic development. College may have quite an unexpected effect on your motivation, as well as your career goals and priorities. Grad school, while you should keep it in mind, is too far in the future to agonize about as an incoming freshman.</p>

<p>At any rate, good luck with college.</p>

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<p>Hey so I just finished up my second year at UCI. As for the classes you are taking, two of them aren't that hard. Humanities core is a pretty tough class, mostly because of the massive amount of reading, but it all depends on who you get for your TA. Considering all of the units that it is for really being like 1 class and how many breadth requirements it gets out of the way, it is totally worth it. You have to read about a book a week for it (which is fairly typical for any english course at UCI) and there are 3 essays per quarter, except for the last quarter, when there are only 2. As for the experience I had with it during freshman year, I had 2 tough TA's and 1 ridiculously easy one, but overall it wasn't too bad. As for the University 2 course, that's pretty much a joke. It is really easy, and there is no midterm (as I remember, or if there was it must have been really easy), you do weekly assignments (taking maybe 5 min each on average), make 1 group presentation, and have an open-note group final (where your whole section takes it as 1). I did not take Math 1A but from what I heard it is pretty easy. So I wouldn't worry about it too much and if you were to consider taking any other class, maybe just take another easy breadth class to get that out of the way. One bio class that is super easy is Bio 1A (Life Sciences), so if you want to take more units and need a bio breadth class, take that. Just don't push yourself too hard, because you don't want to wear yourself out or stress too much. If you have any other questions, just ask!</p>

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<p>green is a great color...although birds don't fly with microwaves i think</p>