do bad first impressions hurt chances of TA'ing / receiving good recs in the future?

Student Lounge College Life
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<p>So .... I'm currently having a C+ average in my chemistry lab ... some of it is probably because I am in the honors chemistry track, but some of it is because I procrastinated on a series of assignments and lab reports, attended debate competitions four days before the assignments were due, thinking I could finish them on time, and in essence my old high school habits are haunting me. </p>

<p>I have an A average in the rest of my classes. It's just that the lab course requires lots of coursework. (It has equal credit hours to the lecture!) I don't mind the lab work. It's what I wish my high school experience was like -- going in depth into topics like how the subtlest stereochemistry geometries in a molecule will affect reactability. And I think I've ruined my chance of an A, but if I keep good habits for the rest of the semester, I think I can pull a B, and finish my first semester with a 3.8, or a 3.6. I just pray I don't end up with a C, or that'll hurt my Echols scholar application. </p>

<p>But what I'm really worried about is long-term impressions I'm making. I mean, I think they know I can write lab reports that show critical analysis and so forth, given that I have received top grades (compared to the rest of the class) on some of them, but I have also cases where I handed a write-up late and got 50% off. And just two days ago, I basically handed in a report with all my books cited, but with sparse footnotes (meaning I didn't cite every assertion because I didn't have time to make 50 different citations), omitted a major section of the report to finish it on time, decided not to do the prelab, skipped some questions on another writeup, because an on-time assignment gives me more points than being late. But basically the recent assignments I've handed in don't show any distinction or critical thinking.</p>

<p>So: is it possible to TA in a subject later in your college career if you make gaffes like that in a subject early on? Or hell, get good recommendations from them when you get to that point? If I beat my old high school habits now, and basically pull up from my less-than-excellent performance, is it possible to repair the damage...?</p>

<p>Also, how common is it for students at selective colleges to submit inferior work just to make deadlines?</p>

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<p>If you're only a freshman, I would not stress so much. They do look at grades but they also consider if you're capable of handling the demands and balancing your assignments. At the moment, you are not doing either well. You do need to kick the habit now to show the professor that you can be responsible.</p>

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<p>First of all, who's "they"? TAs? They really don't give a rat's ass, nor will they have much influence (if any) in future matters.
The professor? As long as you get a good grade in the class, I don't think much else really matters. The professor(s) often don't even go through most exams/assignments/papers, the TAs do. Even if the professor does, I doubt he/she cares about which students are doing what or how; really, they have much more important things to worry about (ie, not the undergraduate class they're teaching).</p>

<p>And you're going to have plenty of teachers, don't really worry about what every single one thinks of you.</p>