<p>So I am a freshman at a public 4-year U, and ugh, I sort of hate how college works. So on my Linear Algebra/Differential equations class, I do all the homework, attend all my classes, yet I do poorly on my exams. On my first one, I got a 54%. I took this as a wakeup call that I need to study more. My second one, I got a 53%, and thats with actually studying the material. I just dont get it... it could be perhaps I get real nervous come the exam time. Now, I dont know if there was a curve to either or both those midterms. I have 1 midterm to go and then I have the final. I don't know what to do, and it feels like I'm just wasting my time, Tens of thousands of my parents' hard-earned money, and the like.</p>
<p>Don’t panic! I would definitely talk to your professor if you haven’t already. Some of them keep track of when you talk to them, and how often you came to talk to them during their office hours. I failed my first Calc test, so I went, talked to my professor, and told her I know I messed up. She agreed to give me extra points on my test to help my grade at the end of the semester. Math isn’t easy, that’s for sure! I would try talking to your professor to see if they can help you out! You never know! (Could you answer my thread please?)</p>
<p>I definitely second what Jessica said… my first semester of college taking calc I think I failed both midterms. I went to the professor often for help and showed her I really cared about my grade and learning what I did wrong. Depending on the professor this could really work. You won’t end with an A, but I ended up with a C- instead of failing and I know the professor probably pulled some strings to let me pass. The professor could also tell you if there is a curve and what grade you’re currently looking at.</p>
<p>You might also want to try talking to other people taking the course. There are lots of different ways to study, and you might not be doing the kind that prepares you for tests in this course.</p>
<p>I’m wondering if most of the students in your class are sophomores or juniors? Freshman are at a disadvantage because they often aren’t prepared for how difficult the tests will be, haven’t figured out the best way to study for tests and how to balance social life and academics. Definitely talk to the professor. Find a study group. Make sure you’ve been going to all the problem and review sessions. Also, find out if there was a curve and what your grade is; is it possible that a 54 was ok?</p>
<p>Clearly, you’re not doing something right.</p>
<p>It’s possible that the exams just are that hard, and they’ll be curved, and you’re all right in relation to the pack. But that’s not terribly likely, and in my experience (which, I admit, is not all-encompassing), much less likely at the colleges regular people attend, as opposed to your MITs, your Harvards, etc. But if that is what’s happening, then your error was that you’ve missed a very important announcement in class, in the course syllabus, or both.</p>
<p>Assuming that’s not the case, one of your errors is that you didn’t start going to your teacher’s office hours after the first exam. And not so much to tug on his or her heartstrings, as Jessica10238 seems to suggest, as to find out why you didn’t know the stuff as well as you thought you did. The more you talk with your teacher, the more insight you’ll get into the kinds of questions he or she is expecting you’ll be able to answer.</p>
<p>I suspect you may also have committed another common error among math students: failing to distinguish between being familiar with the material and having mastery of it. I tell my students, “You’re ready for a math exam when you can tell me: (1) what kinds of questions are going to be on the exam, (2) how to recognize the different kinds of questions, and (3) how to work each kind. If you can do that, then the only thing you have left to worry about is stupid stuff, like multiplying wrong or dropping a negative sign. And if you can’t do that, then you’re not ready for the exam yet.” Is it possible you’ve been falling short on one or more of those criteria?</p>
<p>Are you sure you are actually failing? In many college classes, getting around 50% is AVERAGE, which will usually be curved to around a C+/B-.</p>
<p>
That’s probably not enough studying. Most good students find they spend up to 10 hours/wk outside of the classroom on each math & science class. I bet you have been spending much less than that, even AFTER you decided to “actually study the material”.</p>
<p>I’m going to give you 4 links to articles that you ought to read to understand what you need to do, and why you need to do it. To summarize, the problem is probably that you are confusing recognition with recall. This is a common problem with students in all fields. When you do the homework you have the book right there and can thumb back to see how similar problems were solved. After a while the approaches become familiar, and then when you review the book before the test they may seem even more so, but as you’ve discovered once you face a test and can’t refer back you can’t recall what you need.</p>
<p>The solution is practice. Go to your bookstore and buy the “Problem Solver” book for the classes you are taking. These are like SAT prep books, but for technical subjects. Work thru the appropriate section, checking against the worked-out solution, until you are solving them correctly without seeing how it is done. The test will be the same, and you’ll solve problems just as easily.</p>
<p>Now for the bad news; you face a big time deficit. Multiply 10 hours by the number of weeks you have been in school, subtract off the hours you’ve actually spent outside of class, and that’s your deficit. Unless you’re a one-in-a-million genius, you aren’t going to be able to learn the material without putting in the time.</p>
<p>here are the links to read: </p>
<p>[Why</a> Students Think They Understand—When They Don’t](<a href=“http://www.aft.org/newspubs/periodicals/ae/winter0304/willingham.cfm]Why”>Ask the Cognitive Scientist: Why Students Think They Understand—When They Don't) </p>
<p>[Practice</a> Makes Perfect—but Only If You Practice Beyond the Point of Perfection](<a href=“http://www.aft.org/newspubs/periodicals/ae/spring2004/willingham.cfm]Practice”>Ask the Cognitive Scientist: Practice Makes Perfect—But Only If You Practice beyond the Point of Perfection)</p>
<p>[How</a> to Ace Calculus: The Art of Doing Well in Technical Courses](<a href=“http://calnewport.com/blog/2008/11/14/how-to-ace-calculus-the-art-of-doing-well-in-technical-courses/]How”>How to Ace Calculus: The Art of Doing Well in Technical Courses - Cal Newport)</p>
<p>[On</a> Becoming a Math Whiz: My Advice to a New MIT Student](<a href=“http://calnewport.com/blog/2011/04/28/on-becoming-a-math-whiz-my-advice-to-a-new-mit-student/]On”>On Becoming a Math Whiz: My Advice to a New MIT Student - Cal Newport)</p>
<p>Math classes usually require a lot of study time. Simply doing the homework usually isn’t enough. Math problems come in all kinds of forms, and subtle variations can create a very different problem. Practicing a lot of different problems is very beneficial because it gives you exposure to a lot of different situations.</p>
<p>Get out of the major if you’re studying your brains out consistently and still failing (but you’re a freshman…so consider this later). If you enjoy struggling, then okay. Maybe you are meant for that major if you are willing to take punishment, try your hardest, and try to pass each class. I can’t speak for what will happen to your GPA, though. I know of someone that I don’t consider particularly bright as an ME at my school and he retakes almost all his classes…but he passes it the second time around. I could understand simple mistakes that throw your grade off like arithmetic with that much studying. These classes if I remember weren’t that hard and I have DE’s and PDE’s under my belt right now. Get yourself into a study group and yourself into office hours. </p>
<p>How are other people doing, though? As a math major, Real Analysis here is when people either “get it” or don’t. If you don’t, you’ll spend a ton of time trying not to fail. If you do, you’re probably math major material. When I think of it, these people are the cream of the crop when it comes to math pretty much on my campus and when the average grade on the midterm is basically a D, you can get an idea if you’re either average or not. I think at this point people evaluate whether they should continue doing math. I know people in my class that studied day and night, but I didn’t need to do that. A few hours every week. If even. Then a ton of time right before midterms. I didn’t practice a billion proofs for the midterm. I just made sure I understood what the hell I was doing beyond simple manipulation.</p>
<p>Understand what the hell you’re doing. Good grades will follow. Don’t study like it’s purely plug and chug. I hope you understand that programs often weed out people because they want their university’s talented going out into the workforce, not the people who barely survived and can’t do a good job after graduation.</p>
<p>Make smart friends from your classes and get an idea of what they’re doing to prepare for the midterms, finals, and see about making a study group.</p>
<p>Do you know what grade on the 4 point scale do those percentages translate to? They may be better than they seem.</p>