<p>So I just got my grades for Fall 09', and they aren't lookin' too hot. I'm a freshman undeclared, trying to transfer to from Letters&Science to the College of Engineering. But to do that, I need a GPA of at least 3.0 by the end of Spring term, meaning I've got two more terms to go. </p>
<p>So for this Fall quarter I took MATH3A, CHEM1A, and CHEM1AL, which are 4 units, 3 units, and 2 units respectively. Got a C in math, a B in chem, and a B+ in the lab.</p>
<p>That added up to give me a 2.62 gpa. </p>
<p>Pretty much way lower than anything I wanted, and I'm just wondering if I'm screwed, or if I've got a shot still, or simply looking for some kind of consolation here haha...I don't really know. Just had to vent all that, thanks guys.</p>
<p>TO the OP, don’t be afraid to go to Office Hours. Don’t be afraid to ask/email the TA/prof. There are resources out there–ask friends! Be on top of your game, study and keep up with the HW on a day to day basis. Discipline your mind and you will achieve better grades.</p>
<p>op didn’t even take 3 classes. op took 2 and one had a lab…</p>
<p>so you took 9 credits and you got a 2.6? sorry but you should consider other options like community college or an easier major. i know engineering students who took literally twice as many credits and got way higher gpas.</p>
<p>Three courses is a standard load on the quarter system, though the lab usually doesn’t generally count as much as the full course. It may be that what the OP needs is a 3.00 in engineering pre-requisites – not any other courses like English or History he may have taken and didn’t mention.</p>
<p>A lot of successful engineering folks on CC have reported that study groups can be very helpful in grasping the material and in having a support group to muddle through. Go to class, go to help sessions, talk to your TA.</p>
<p>Did you get those grades because you slacked off or because you couldn’t handle the material? Think that over and decide whether being a <em>science</em> person is really the track you want to take. Engineering courses are intense. If you can’t do well in them, you really should pursue something else.</p>
<p>You’ve got a shot still. You may want to look into whether you can take an easier course load in the next two quarters. And you’ve probably learned some things about how to be successful this quarter that you can start using right from the first day next quarter.</p>
<p>Don’t listen to the people who are suggesting that the load you took is light. Someone who does 3 classes at a time on a quarter system finishes 9 classes a year; someone who does 4 classes at a time on a semester system – which many people here do – finishes 8. And a term with only math and science courses is hard for a lot of people, especially when it’s the first term of their college careers.</p>
<p>Use your school resources the next two terms to bring your gpa up. Get tutors, get help from TA’s or professors during their office hours or get into study groups.</p>
<p>and thanks for the suggestions guys, I’ll take everything into consideration. I definitely tried this quarter, finished every assignment and etc., although I acknowledge that perhaps my time could have been better allocated when studying. I know that I can handle the material; I just went wrong somewhere when preparing for the finals, as I was caught off-guard. </p>
<p>In retrospect, part of the reason I did so poorly was probably attributed to me doing the work just to complete it, not necessarily absorbing all the material as well as I could have. Whereas in high school this method worked quite well, I can see now how college is at a different level (homework means nothing in terms of credit, it’s just the tests). Next quarter I’ll get my act together, hopefully.</p>
<p>again, thank you all for the support and criticism.</p>
<p>Haha. You probably had Prof Akemann for 3A. If you got a C in that class, congratulations. Of the dozen people I know who had that class, half failed with an F and only 2 got a C.</p>
<p>I would take solace in the fact that you had one of the most unusually difficult professors you’ll probably have (if you did have him). I know kids who had to retake 3A and actually found Akemann to be harder than the first time around.</p>
<p>nontraditional - It depends on the school. This semester, I was taking 6, technically 7 classes, since choir counts as a class and gets you a credit, although I dropped one so it ended up being 5, or technically 6. Next semester it’ll be 5, technically 6 again. At my school, I know very few people (except upper level nursing students, and that’s different anyway because they take an average of 18 credits anyway because each class is worth more) who take less than 5 classes a semester, which means that most people complete 10 classes in a year.</p>
<p>haha yes I had akemann! was a pretty amusing fellow to be around in general, his class/teaching methods…not so much. Also, Im going to be taking around 17 units every quarter, which is normal I think.</p>