I’m really scared that I didn’t get as good of a GPA as I should have this year. For the most part I haven’t been doing well on tests so that was the main reason for my grades pulling down, so I feel like a 3.1 doesn’t show how much I’ve worked this semester.
I keep hearing that GPA will go up as my classes get more specific, but I’m worried that it won’t.
Have you really been told that higher level engineering classes will be easier than introductory chem, physics, calc, etc.?
Not that they were easier, but they would be more relevant to my major. The harder classes for me have been calc based physics and calc 2/3. But I’m a chemE, so i’ll take more chemistry later, and the classes would be easier to study for.
I’m an intended ChemE as well and have been under the impression that it just gets harder from here. 
I hope for both of our sakes that you’ve heard correctly!
it goes without saying that any engineering major will kick your a** and this can be pretty disorienting to students who sailed through HS with good grades. One of the KEY THINGS you need to succeed in this program is to figure out how to USE THE RESOURCES available to you. Got a study group? Form one. Know where the engineering tutors are? Find them. Use them. It’s a rare engineering student who can get good grades on their own.
My own son (BME at Iowa) blew his freshman year, including a D in calculus which required him to retake it. His GPA was well under 3.0. As a sophomore he started studying with other kids in the engineering library instead of the dorm (fewer distractions - no video game temptation). This completely turned him around. He ultimately became a tutor himself and TA’d two undergrad classes before he himself graduated.
Don’t worry.Don’t stress. You’ve hit a bump in the road and you need to change your strategy. You can do it.