<p>Hey everybody, this is my first post here, but I've been a frequent visitor to CC ever since I began my college search. Anyway, here is my predicament:</p>
<p>Right now I'm a freshman at Cornell University. Unfortunately, my grades are very, very bad. I got sick at the beginning of the semester, fell behind in my math/science courses, and the rest was a downward spiral. Not to go into detail, but basically I would have to get all "A"s for the next 7 semesters in order to get like a 3.75 GPA when I graduate. And, getting an A at Cornell is often hard work. This is important to me because I would really like to go to a top-tier grad school like MIT.</p>
<p>I am extremely depressed about blowing it in the very beginning. I hate it when my grades don't show what I really can do. So, I have considered the possibility of transferring to my state's flagship university, a strong public school in its own right, but not as prestigious or laden with research opportunity as Cornell. However, if I were to do such a thing, I would have a fresh start at a high GPA (because I wouldn't transfer courses for credit), and it would be easier in general to get high grades.</p>
<p>What this boils down to is the age-old question of this:</p>
<p>Does where you go to school matter? (To employers and grad schools, that is). And, a corollary to that question: Which is more important, your alma mater or your GPA.</p>
<p>I'm looking forward to hear what people have to say about this, because I really don't have a clue. Any ideas will be appreciated. Thanks.</p>
<p>My rommate freshman year flunked out of ILR, wound up doing well at, and graduating from, a state school near his home. When I saw him years ago he seemed very happy.</p>
<p>A good friend of mine nearly flunked out of engineering, was on probation there, but he managed to suck it up, stick it out and scrape though there. He subsequently managed to earn two master’s degrees and he is doing well today too.</p>
<p>To me, it’s usually mostly about study/ work habits. If you can’t develop them, and fast, you can’t survive there proceeding like when you were in high school. If you can learn to develop them you will not only do better there but also probably do better in subsequent endeavors.</p>
<p>If you stay there though, it’s possible you cannot right the ship, and will not do any better. In that case you are looking at a miserable three years. I personally don’t think the degree+ poor performance has a great enough expected payoff vs. a state U degree with much better performance, in amounts sufficient to compensate for three years of suffering. In fact the payoff may not be there altogether, especially given the accompanying performance differentials.</p>
<p>However, it is also possible you will not succeed to your expectations in upper levels of state u, for the same reasons you had trouble initially.</p>
<p>So, in summary: I really don’t have a clue either.</p>
<p>Take your best guess, and hope for the best. But either way, you’ll be wanting to fix the underlying issues that put you in this situation.</p>
<p>At some schools (Maryland for example, I think) GPA doesn’t follow you. And even if it did, it might be easier for mtp100 to get straight As at his state school than at Cornell.</p>
<p>Yeah, right now my plan is to study hard during the spring semester and hopefully right the ship. If things don’t work out, then I’d consider transferring to where it would not be as difficult. </p>
<p>Either way, I definitely have to fix how I study. My habits are residual from easier days in high school. I’ve learned the hard way that a high school study schedule doesn’t cut it here.</p>
<p>The particular school I’m thinking of does not factor transfer credit into the new GPA. I made sure to find out about that on their Website. So, it would be a fresh start, which is quite tempting. </p>
<p>The reason I’m not identifying the school is that my Web-using parents would probably not be happy if they knew I was wondering about transferring They are already not happy about the grades.</p>
<p>Graduate schools (unlike med, law, etc) don’t really care about your first semester grades. They are more interested in your major GPA, and even more in your performance in upper-level courses and on independent work (research, lab work, whatever). Your letters of recommendation count more than anything else! </p>
<p>If you take your first-semester grades out of the equation, what do you want to do? Do you think you can succeed at Cornell in the future? Or do you think you can achieve more in a less stressful environment?</p>
<p>Don’t count on getting better grades at your state school–it’s not like they are easier. A lot of state schools also don’t have Cornell’s academic supports, either. The most important thing is to improve your studying abilities and techniques–so that you can succeed at Cornell or a state school.</p>
<p>grad schools know Cornell is extremely rigorous and if you pick up your grades, hten they will see an upward trend. As a current applicant and probable Cornell rejectee, please do not throw away the opportunity that I can only dream of.</p>
<p>The key is: you cannot allow yourself to fall behind, even for an instant. Studying and projects must be undertaken well in advance of due dates. And you have to proactively plan, well in advance, so that the buildup at the end of the semester does not slay you.
If one is not proactive it is very easy to blow it all at the end due to massive time crunch, as finals, final papers/ assignments and pre-final exams/ assignments all converge in a compressed span.</p>
They are already not happy about the grades.</p>