<p>Well I just had my first term of college, I am a biochem/biophysics major with a pre-med option. I went to an extremely challenging high school and had a good GPA and developed good study habits. The transition to college was great but I realised I had to develop a completely new way of studying for finals and midterms. I got progressively better on each midterm and did great on my finals. However due to the first couple midterms that were not so stellar, I pulled 3 C's and a A. I should also add that I took very challenging courses compared to what my friends were taking and next term I am taking 2 classes that should be easy easy A's and and 1 class that I should be able to swing a B in and one class that I will have to work my tail off in but I should be able to pull a B in it too. Under the assumption that my study habits continue to evolve to fit my college classes. </p>
<p>So my question is... how hard will it be too pull my GPA up? I would like to end up graduating with a 3.6ish. I am planning to take courses over the summer so that I don't have to overload myself with tough classes during the year, so I think that should help. </p>
<p>I also want to add that I didn't have trouble with the classes, I found them completely interesting, I showed up to classes, I took notes, I did all my homework, I just had trouble studying for the finals and the midterms.</p>
<p>Why don’t you just calculate your best possible cumulative GPA by graduation, given your current grades (average them out assuming you get straight A’s from here on out)? Then, decide on whether you should make your GPA a big concern…
From what I’ve been told, your study habits do improve, and classes do get more difficult, but you adjust along with that, so grades usually get better after the first term ‘transition’ period. As for study habits, I think effectiveness (no distractions and ACTIVE studying) and NO procrastination are the only keys to succeed in that.</p>
<p>you can play with the numbers… if you get a 3.7 for the rest of your 7 semesters, assuming you took the same number of credits each semester, your final GPA would be</p>
<p>[(7 x 3.7) + (1 x 2.5)] / 8 = GPA</p>
<p>obviously, classes that are more credits count more towards your GPA, so if you got an A in a 1 credit class, and 3 C’s in 3 credit classes, than your GPA for the semester is lower than 2.5</p>
<p>You’ve got plenty of time and credits left to pull it up, don’t worry about it. Assuming you don’t get more Cs (and preferably as few Bs as possible) from here on out, of course.</p>
<p>Don’t worry too much about your GPA; worry more about your study habits. Which parts of the tests did you have problems with? Did you get confused by wording on multiple choice questions? Were your essays weak? Did you have trouble remembering the material during the test? Figure out your weaknesses and then formulate a plan to combat them. If you have trouble determining what you can do to improve the areas where you are weak, list them on this board and I’m sure some students here will be able to help you out.</p>
<p>I’ve heard many times that your first semester is likely to be your worst while you are adjusting. Make the most of your semester and try to figure out what you can learn from it. If you can take your adversity and use it to improve yourself, you will be better off in the long run.</p>
<p>Thats what I keep trying to tell myself. That its more important to learn the material and develop good study habits and then the grades will come.</p>
<p>My math and chem class, I would just freeze up on the exams, I would go talk to the professors after and I would do all the problems I missed on the exams, and I would get them all right. I understood the material, I just froze up on the exams. But I did a lot better on the finals becuase I stopped, took my time and just thought it through and did 100% better. </p>
<p>My Psychology classes I was trying to memorise all the answers and then I figured out that just listening and reading and taking notes and understanding what I was studying was much much much more effective. </p>
<p>I also started using flash cards, and that seemed to help alot.</p>
<p>It helps to have a feel for how the professor tests and grades and you need an exam to get that feel unless you can get it from someone that took the course with that professor before or take a look at previous tests. Some professors and departments put old tests on websites so that students can practice.</p>
<p>I’m in almost the exact same position as you except for I’m on the pre-pharm track and got a B instead of the C’s. Which I mean might not sound bad to most people, but you know how important GPA is in the whole application process. But anyway, what I’ve found helpful is to remember that apparently adcoms love the whole “I started out rough, but worked hard and now,voila, I have a 3.7” story. </p>
<p>So just make sure you do your best (I’m sure you were doing that anyway…I studied so much for my chem final, but noooo, I just had to get a D in it) and remember that when you’re in med school you’re gonna laugh about all these worries we had in the first semester of our freshman year :-)</p>