I go to a local community college in SC, when I first started here I had a 4.0 as I got more into the semester my GPA began to decrease going from a 4.0 to a 2.0. I am not on any academic probation but I notice that I am barely getting by I don’t want to just get by I want to succeed. I am a pre-nursing student trying to finish my prerequisites and my general education requirements. I have not found the work to be hard or anything I do plan to transfer but I want to show an increase in my grades and not a downward trend. What should I do, I have also thought about changing my major from pre-nursing to psychology.
Why are your grades lower than you’d like if you don’t find the work hard? Is it test anxiety, time management problems, failing to turn in homework, being overwhelmed by too many classes at once, etc?
Some text anxiety I had to take a remedial math class and didn’t do so well so I have to retake in the spring. I have not found the work to be hard or anything but when I did a remedial English course I missed two assignments which caused my grade to go from a B to a C. I was doing fine when I first started here I don’t know how they just slipped like that but I am going to have to find a way to pull them back up if its not to late before I transfer.
I don’t see how we can respond without some better understanding of what caused your grades to drop this badly. Are you suffering from depression or some other medical issue? Were you goofing off and not doing your homework?
You need to attend all classes, sit near the front if you can, always pay attention, keep ahead in homework and whenever possible do your homework and reading as close as possible to when it is first assigned (and not the night before it is due), and seek out help from professors when you need it. Get rid of distractions or whatever is causing your drop in grades.
I expect that you are already aware that a 2.0 is not going to help you to transfer. Also, once you transfer (if you even can) university is going to be more difficult than community college.
If you have anxiety see if your school has a counseling office. It also sounds like a level of increased diligence would help. Get a calendar (can be a physical calendar or on phone) and plan out when assignments are due and give yourself ample time to work on them. It is not acceptable to miss assignments. And when you have trouble in a subject like math you need to seek out extra help. Visit your prof. during office hours, if your school has a math center go often etc. Do extra practice problems to prepare for exams.
I have turned in all of my work when I first started I finished my spring semester with a 4.0 I had to take remedial English and reading and got C’s in those classes one of which with my English I missed two assignments and it brought my grade down to a C. I am aware that with a 2.0 it won’t help me transfer which is why I want to show an upward trend in my grades instead of a downward trend. I sit in the front of the class and I do my work and my assignments, what caused them to drop is because I missed some assignments if I had not missed those assignments I would’ve come out better. I have even started my science courses for nursing and I am considering switching majors. I know University is more difficult than community college I will get rid of whatever it is that is bothering me.
Why did you miss the assignments?
Maybe you need to keep track of everything with a planner or a calendar app or something? I’ve used a combination of a planner and Post-It to-do lists for years – I’d never remember everything otherwise.
Or was it just that they were listed on the syllabus but not announced in class? I know many people who have been burned that way. That shouldn’t happen more than once before the student learns it’s their responsibility to check the syllabus.
“I missed two assignments”
One of my daughters has a white board in her dorm room with a list of all assignments on it. It gets updated every time an assignment is either assigned or turned in. You might want something similar.
I had to take remedial math for this semester knowing that math is my strongest subject I took it online and stumbled and came out with a not passing grade. As I was registering for the course I started having second thoughts about staying in the class considering that I have been out of high school for a year and needed to brush up on my math skills. I plan to retake in the spring of next year. Thank you all for the feedback, I plan to go to tutoring sessions and set up my grades and get rid of distractions and not turn assignments in late it isn’t like me to procrastinate considering that I never did procrastinate in HS. I will take all of your advice into consideration thank you for taking the time to read my post and replying.
I was absent that day and missed the assignments, I am going to buy a planner and a whiteboard to put up reminders.