<p>This is my first semester at the University of Michigan; I am a junior and transferred from a community college. I just found out that I received a 55% on a midterm that counts for 20% of the class and I don't know what to do now.</p>
<p>This is absolutely devastating to me since I am already dealing with extreme perfectionism and depression. Because I transferred from a CC, which has that stigma of being well, a community college, I feel like I don't belong at this school--I'm not smart enough to be here. Since I was homeschooled, I always felt like the odds were stacked against me for some odd reason. I tried to put my anxiety and feelings aside and tell myself I do belong here, but this is such a major blow, I want to give up.</p>
<p>I'm sunk into this hole of depression where I feel like I have no future because I cannot succeed at this school, even though graduating from U of M has been my dream for as long as I can remember and I worked SO hard to get in here.</p>
<p>At this point, is there any chance of passing this class with a relatively decent grade, or am I better off dropping this class altogether?</p>
<p>You’ll basically receive 10% out of the 20 it was worth so all other assignments aside, you would still be sitting at ~90% in the class. If the grades are a trend it’s another story.</p>
<p>Look at it like you need to get an 86.25 in the rest of the class to pull off a B (an A is unlikely unless he curves a lot or you get a 100 on everything else, so don’t create an unrealistic expectation). It’s one class and one test.</p>
<p>The class is Organizational Psychology. I’m a psych major but this class isn’t terribly appealing to me. I studied as hard as I could. I had H1N1 the 10 days prior and found out the weekend before I’d been studying out of the wrong book, which didn’t help anything.
I think I study pretty darn hard, way more than average, so I’m not totally sure what went wrong.</p>
<p>Comparing how much you study to how much everyone else studies is never useful. If you were sick and studying out of the wrong book for a week before the test, then I highly doubt an F on the midterm means you’re an F student. Just learn from your mistakes (and hopefully don’t get swine flu again), and you’ll do fine.</p>
<p>I’m with amarkov. Unless you’re going to get H1N1 before every test and always study from the wrong book, I don’t see how this is an indicator of how you’ll do in the future. Maybe you end up with a B in the class. Maybe you do a little worse. But if that’s the reason why you failed, you’ll do better in your future classes.</p>
<p>OP: That’s one of the reasons why I failed one of my tests before in HS (I’m still in HS by the way and am a senior). Illness and wrong pick-up can be adjusted on your next exam. How much have you been an expertise in the class so far? What have you been getting on your written papers? I would say that if they’ve been going really well, then I wouldn’t worry alot about just a single test. Thus, you know that you can do alot better next time.</p>
<p>I need to ask you something marginal: Have you been able to make good amount of friends so far as a junior transfer?</p>
<p>We have 2 papers due towards the end of class and a group project, and only have short quizzes during lecture, so I can’t say much regarding my expertise so far however, on the quizzes, I’ve received 100% on each.</p>
<p>Hopefuleagle86–it is very, very hard to make friends (at this school). Maybe it’s just me coming from a CC where I knew half the people walking down the hall, but I seem lost in the crowd. I’ve made 3 friends so far, all of whom are very nice girls, yet I feel the fact that they’re kind and outgoing puts them in the minority. To be honest, I was floored when I arrived here; the school seems to be filled with an overwhelming amount of snotty, stuck-up individuals who think they’re the next closest thing to God. Sorry, that’s going a bit off-topic but it’s the truth, for me at least.</p>
<p>If you really work on the 2 papers and the group project, then I would say you have no problem passing the class. You still have a chance for a B+ or A- at least. It’s amazing to see that you got perfect grades on whatever quizzes you’ve taken so far. So that puts you on the safe spot.</p>
<p>Join clubs or organizations. Invite some people to hang out. Introduce yourself to people that you’re a junior transfer and then they’ll understand. Let me know how it goes.
I would never pick a school with snobby people before getting a campus visit first.</p>
<p>Go to your professors office hours. As soon as possible. Discuss what went wrong, how to study better for the next exam, and what you need to do to succeed from now on. And every time you start to feel like you may be struggling, go back. If you have a GSI, make use of them, too. And really seriously consider going to CAPS to discuss the depression. Your a psych major, you know better than to try and wrangle that kind of thing on your own.</p>
<p>I am also a CC transfer to Umich, this is my second semester. I know it’s rough. Keep trying, and feel free to PM me if you need anything.</p>
<p>On the subject of snobbery at Umich, as long as you avoid the engineering students (or at least don’t tell them you’re in the LSA), I haven’t had too many problems. There are a lot of financially privileged kids who do not realize that they are privileged, but all in all it’s not a big deal. That said, I didn’t make any friends until I started a club early this semester.</p>
<p>If you got about 50% on a test that is worth 20% of your grade and there isn’t a curve (and since you don’t mention one there I’m assuming there isn’t), then the best you can do in the class is about 90% (because half of 20% is 10%, so you’ve already lost about 10% of the total points available to you). It is possible that if you show significant improvement from here on out that your professor will weight the later, higher, scores more than the breakdown in the syllabus says she or he will. I’m sure that’s very upsetting to you, but it doesn’t really mean that much given that you’ve only just arrived at a university for the first time. It’s likely that you prepared adequately given the expectations you’ve faced at earlier points in your education but that you were up against higher expectations.</p>
<p>If you aren’t certain that you understand what you will need to do in order to do better on the next exam, this is the moment to go to the professor and explain <em>clearly</em> that you are not there to challenge the grade you earned on the first test (because that is what most people who show up in office hours right after an exam has been returned are there to do), but rather to get guidance on how you can change your approach to the class so that you will do better in the future. Then listen.</p>
<p>You may want to try to find classmates to study with, or see whether your school offers tutors to students, or even to hire a tutor to help you get the hang of the new skills.</p>
<p>I’m not sure how you managed to be studying from the wrong book. Again, if you aren’t sure you know what mistake you made and how to ensure that you are using the right materials in the future, this is the moment to make sure you learn. The assigned text(s) should be listed on your syllabus, and the school bookstore should also have had the correct book(s) on the shelf or shelves for your section of the class at the start of the semester. You’re also going to want to make sure you go back and study the sections of the book that you should have been using now.</p>
<p>I wouldn’t drop the course if I were you. If you do choose to withdraw, make sure you pay attention to how that will affect you. The number of credits you’re taking can affect your full-time status, your health insurance, your ability to live in campus housing, any financial aid you may be receiving and so on, in addition to when you’ll be able to graduate.</p>
<p>Keep in mind that a lot more people start at university in the Fall than in the Spring. That means that some of the people you see around you who know what they’re doing right now were in your position last semester. Try not to measure yourself against students who’ve been there longer – not this semester, anyway.</p>
<p>“Keep in mind that a lot more people start at university in the Fall than in the Spring. That means that some of the people you see around you who know what they’re doing right now were in your position last semester. Try not to measure yourself against students who’ve been there longer – not this semester, anyway.”</p>
<p>Since when did the OP tried to compare himself/herself to other kids? It was considered brought up after I asked the OP whether he/she made friends already as an associates transfer; that, I can come up with something to help the new person out. I believe that the OP will naturally meet more friends as the school year goes on. Perhaps it takes longer to meet classmates with same interests and the need to find some free time to get involved in a club he/she will like alot. Michigan is a big school so there will be alot of opportunities to browse while you’re there. Otherwise, do not make a value that reduces to a certain degree.</p>
<p>However, Emiliz88, nontraditional made a supportive point though. We recommend you to see your professor and ask how the tests are made for the class. Try going to tutoring on the current chapter of the topic. Thus, you can ask professors the way that you will study in order to prepare for the next exam. Tell him/her if your method is the right way to expect something. Otherwise, the H1N1 & reading through the wrong book are conceited excuses individually, again.</p>
<p>umm study hard and prepare. You should know before a test what ur grade will be around by your work habits for that class. I got a 65 on my 1st marketing test 1st semester (didnt study). I studied for 2 hours for my 2nd one and ended up with a 92 because I knew I need a better grade so my average wouldn’t be ****ty. Just put the time in.</p>
<p>Thank you to everyone for all of the input on my situation.</p>
<p>Nontraditional–regarding the wrong text…in essence, I had the correct book however, U of M likes to charge students more for custom editions of the books (which I didnt have). When I looked up the ISBN, the primary author of the book came up however, the custom edition had chapters added/removed and had some entirely different content .</p>
<p>I had gotten in touch with my GSI immediately after my grade was posted and she wanted to meet with me to discuss the questions one-by-one, so Ill be doing that. She keeps trying to reassure me that the exam only counts for 20% of the total course grade but still, thats a huge dent in the grade, in my opinion. </p>
<p>Twistedxkiss–thanks for the suggestions. I do have a therapist who Ive seen for close to 6 years now, just didnt mention it because I dont really like advertising the status of my mental health Although, another GSI did tell me about CAPS last week when I broke down because I had to drag a friend to the hospital after she threatened to commit suicide. Where is CAPS, exactly? What have your experiences been like at U of M so far, and did you have to change your study habits significantly in order to be successful after transferring?</p>
<p>CAPS is housed in the Michigan Union. Even if you have a regular therapist, they may still be of some use if a crisis situation ever occurs. </p>
<p>Being a transfer student at UM is hard, we are at the bottom of the totem pole until we graduate, in virtually every way. I also had a really difficult time making friends, this semester I started a club and that’s made a big difference. I did have to change my study habits drastically to be successful here, I think umich is a very unique school and requires a unique method of attack, perhaps depending on your program.</p>
Although, another GSI did tell me about CAPS last week when I broke down because I had to drag a friend to the hospital after she threatened to commit suicide. Where is CAPS, exactly? What have your experiences been like at U of M so far, and did you have to change your study habits significantly in order to be successful after transferring?</p>