Hi everyone this is my first time posting on college confidential! So I’m a freshman and am graduating 2019 and am so stressed out about high school. I didn’t expect it to be so much harder then middle school. I am looking at possibly three b’s my first semester and am so stressed out. The classes are biology, geometry, and AP computer science. I don’t understand biology at all and am constantly confused. Geometry i was over confident about since i was a Straight A math student and got a b my first grading period. AP computer science is just so hard. It is java and i am thinking about dropping it but i feel its gonna look extremely bad on my record. Could anyone please help me on how to get out of this slump of 3 b’s and if i should or should not drop AP computer science?
Thanks! 
Not to scare you but it’s downhill from here. Anyways for biology try reading/rereading the chapters. I believe regular and honors biology is pure memorization so that might help. Maybe get a tutor for AP Computer Science or ask your teacher what resources, materials, etc. she can provide that could help you.
first off THANKS FOR REPLYING! Our textbooks don’t really help that much because the tests are mostly on notes. For AP comp sci the teacher does not teach. All we do is watch videos on the unit and then have to do labs and take tests. Its so difficult and not to mention the test are 70% of our grade.
Can anyone else give feedback???
Many good students don’t actually have good work habits because they never had to learn this. So first take a look at your work habits. Unless you need to use your computer for an assignment, turn off all your electronics. Yes, all of them. I see a lot of kids so glued to them, they don’t know how distracted they are.
Next accept that high school is harder and you have to study harder. There is a lot more material and it is being covered a lot faster than in middle school where you might have spent an eternity working on basically the same thing. Simply going through the motions of reading or doing problems may not be enough. It’s your responsibility to learn and if doing those things isn’t sufficient you need to do more. You may need to study several days for an upcoming test. You may need to re-read material, make notes and study materials from it, or do extra problems in addition to the ones assigned by the teacher. Look for resources to help. Go over notes and quizzes (and make sure your notes are taken well to begin with). Meet with your teacher for extra help. Maybe find a study buddy, though that will only help if you both stay focused and if your study buddy isn’t way behind you. Online materials also might be helpful if you aren’t getting something.
I am wondering how you got into AP computer science. Usually this has a prerequisite of at least algebra2.
@mathyone firstly thanks for replying! second AP comp sci does not require algebra 2 in our school
1st: Don’t freak out about Bs. I’ve had a couple and they haven’t impacted me tremendously.
2nd: Push through CS. You don’t know until you’ve exhausted all of your resources available to you.
3rd: You’re a freshman…you’re still working towards learning your study habits. Freshman year is an adjustment period. I wouldn’t say to not try to life those Bs-they impact your high school transcript-but just try to relax and understand how you learn best and use resources such as AP prep books or online resources (there are plenty) or your teacher (teachers like it when you go up to them first). Also, study for extended period of time for the tests (if you cram, you’re less likely to grasp concepts).
Seriously, just relax a bit and find your study habits and work towards bringing your grades up. Freshman year seems a lot tougher due to the adjustment to high school, but all of these struggles will translate into a better understanding of yourself and your learning styles to get through the other 3 years. Keep pushing yourself and good luck!
@XoXdreamerXoX thank you so much for replying! and yea i will thanks!
I am a sophomore this year, and I can relate to your story! Last year I ended the year with an 88 in bio and an 87 in geometry, because the first two quarters I got 88s and my midterms and finals weren’t great. This year I’ve greatly turned around my GPA. Here are a few tips:
-study for tests gradually, not all in one night
-change the way you study, not everyone can look at flash cards, read notes, or look at diagrams
-use an assignment planner so you’re not overwhelmed, plan ahead so if one day you don’t have much homework you can begin homework due another day and have less to do then.
Stick with APCS, just get extra help, same with Bio and Geometry. If you have any questions, lemme know! =)
@MPC6789 thank you so much for replying! I’ll take your advice and change my study habits.
@sayfullahstah Thanks for replying! Yea thanks I will try studying harder, and could you tell me specifically which schools don’t look at freshman year?
@blast540 MS to HS has a bit of a transition…however it will get harder (especially if you wish to pursue undergraduate or graduate studies) so developing good learning and studying skills is crucial.
I’m not really a bio person, so I can’t really offer much advice. Lots of memorization and things I didn’t understand when I took it.
For geometry, I suggest doing lots of practice problems that go over theorems or other topics that you may have learned. I also suggest trying to prove some of the theorems/formulas, as you will know why they work. (caveat: some formulas, e.g. volume of a cone, are best proven using calculus, which may be too advanced for you).
For APCS, I’m aware that APCS is mostly a Java course which introduces some OOP concepts and other topics about data structures (I didn’t actually take APCS, but I’m majoring in math w/ CS). A good idea here is to take advantage of all the Java tutorials out there. More importantly, you will learn more if you put some effort into coding whatever method you are writing and also finding ways to simplify the problem by reducing #lines, or computational complexity, or amount of memory needed. Doing relevant coding exercises on your own and going through the testing/debugging is often more productive than watching videos of others doing the same problem.
A very simple example:
public static int fibonacci(int n){} // computes the n-th Fibonacci number, given by the sequence 1,1,2,3,5,…
If you have studied loops (for and while loops are usually taught pretty early in a Java course), you can set up a counter and compute F_n.
If you have learned about recursive calls, you can compute the n-th Fibonacci number easily:
public static int fibonacci(int n){
assert n >= 0;
if (n == 0 || n == 1){ return n;} //I used F0 = 0 and F1 = 1
return fibonacci(n-1) + fibonacci(n-2);
}
No problem! Glad I could help, if you have any more questions, let me know!
Also, colleges will probably look at freshmen grades but won’t take them too seriously, it is an adjustment time to figure out what does and doesn’t work! Just make sure you do your personal best and improve grades if you feel like you need to!
@mathyone: excellent advice
Geometry can be hard with all the proofs and theorems. I skipped geometry over the summer so what I used to do is find proofs online and study the section we were going to study with appropriate theorems and apply in proofs. That way I would remember them easily. Try using tricks to distinguish the theorems and all the corollaries because they all sound the same. So as many people said, try changing study habits. For Ap CS people just join software and computer science clubs and get coding and programming experience and then apply or do online tutorials. For bio which is also my weak subject, just memorize vocab and concepts. Bio is something that we have to memorize and I can’t give you tips on. Hope this kind of helps.
You’re a 13 year old, taking a college computer course? Why, how is that even possible???
Deep breaths here.
Geometry is a totally different animal from any other math course-- that’s one of the reasons I love teaching it so much. It’s a different thought process, a different paradigm. You’re certainly not the first or the last straight A student who found it a challenge. But hang in there. If you really do enjoy math, you may find that it grows on you.
And in the meantime, take a look at www.regentsprep.org . It’s a site run by the city of Oswego, NY, to prepare kids for NY’s Regents exams. But they do a good job with Geometry review. I imagine their Biology review is also good.
Now, to basics: have you gone to extra help? Have you asked your teachers what you could be doing to better understand the material? (This is not “how do I improve my grade?” It’s a totally different question.)
Above all, take those deep breaths. Get enough sleep. Spend time getting to know the kids in your new school. Three B’s haven’t killed anyone.
@MITer94 @MPC6789 @sayfullahstah @lolkar @bjkmom Thanks for the advice! i will be sure to use it
Geometry and bio were really hard for me as a freshman/sophomore too. I agree with the above advice about learning to find a study habit that works for you and putting more time into the classes, but I also REALLY recommend Khan Academy for geometry and Bozeman Science for bio. Khan Academy is a website/app with instructional videos on just about every topic of math, then with practice problems after a video that help you pinpoint what you’re doing wrong. Bozeman Science is a YouTube channel with instructional videos on bio/science that are super easy to understand (it evens helps me in ap bio too haha). Good luck!
@astar99 thank you so much! ill try them