<p>So I'm in a chronic state of sadness. I just feel like I'm getting crushed by all the competition at Berkeley, it's just ultra disappointing when you put in the effort to read the book, go to office hours, attend lecture, do all the practice midterms, and then just not do well.
This semester makes me want to just curl up in a fetal position and hide away in shame. I guess most of the people here are smart enough to always be the top of every class, but how do you guys deal with being sad and climbing out of academic pits? I don't party at all and I work hard but I still feel like I'm not doing well and constantly playing catch-up in my classes :/ It's just disappointing to me. Maybe I'm not smart enough for Berkeley. Any advice would be great, thanks in advance.</p>
<p>What classes are you taking right now? Maybe they are just too hard or do not suit you. Try to make friends in your class and form study groups. Take a break and do something you really like during weekend. If you really need someone to talk to, there are someone in tang center who are willing to talk to you about dealing with stress. Good luck!</p>
<p>I talk to my friends about it. Just listening to me helps me feel better.</p>
<p>If you’re depressed about grades the one thing I would say is try and identify why you are not doing well. Is it because you don’t know the material or is it test anxiety? There can be many reasons why people don’t get good grades and usually it’s not because they are not smart enough. I am constantly adjusting my study habits trying to stay ahead the curve. Also you should talk with family, that always cheers me up.</p>
<p>This sounds awfully like depression.</p>
<p>If talking to friends isn’t really helping, there are therapists at Tang, and they’re free for up to six sessions. They might help.</p>
<p>just curious but what major are you?
i’m guessing it ain’t mass comunication :P</p>
<p>Ugh. I know that feel. Know it too, too well. </p>
<p>That said, I don’t know how much advice I can offer you; if I had definitive advice I’d be following it right now and working my way back up from this hole, but alas. Just know that you’re definitely not the only one (you’ve probably heard that said so many times it’s cliche, but it’s a true cliche). A lot of people are just good at not divulging anything about themselves; some take to exaggeration and straight-up lying to construct a fantasy world of sorts and avoid the real one in which they are inadequate. And some people really are as smart and accomplished as they say they are, and are pricks about it. But pricks like these with superiority complexes are just another reality of life in Berkeley, and of life in general…</p>
<p>Music and meeting people usually gets me out of a rut</p>
<p>To deal with the sadness, join a completely non-academic club - I made the mistake of brushing off all the advice I got last year regarding clubs in general since I thought I was doing fine, but I am amazed by how much better my semester feels with practice to look forward to every other day! Even though it seems like you have no space in your schedule, just going out and taking a 1-2 hour break and messing around with people will put you in a much better state of mind.</p>
<p>I think most students at Cal experience this at least once throughout their four years here. I felt this way so many times during my first semester where I did so horribly. Personally, you need to find an outlet. Find someone who you can vent to and you’ll probably feel much better. Keeping all this to yourself will make you so miserable… </p>
<p>What year/major are you?</p>
<p>I agree with Calicious. I’ve felt this way during my first semester and starting to feel a bit of it right now. Talk to your adviser to see if you could make a class pass/no pass to decrease the demanding workload a bit. My friend overheard a girl saying that she was able to drop a class past the deadline. </p>
<p>Study groups definitely help. Ask each other possible test questions and try to answer them.</p>
<p>I usually can’t think or study when I’m panicking/stressed; listening to music, talking to friends, and exercising help clear out my mind. Also, sleep is needed to think straight. Make sure you’re having enough rest, drink plenty of water and tell yourself that you got this.</p>
<p>Thanks for the replies guys, </p>
<p>I’m a MCB major and a CS minor. It’s my second year here, somehow I feel like the higher you climb classes-wise, the worse the competition gets. Not so much in CS as in MCB, but I just hate having midterms one week after another. Ever since round one of midterms started, I don’t think I’ve had a week without midterms. The classes that are kind of biting me in foot are Physics 8a and Bio 1AL, everything else isn’t bad at all. I didn’t take physics in highschool so physics looks like jargon to me. Just reading the book is exceptionally painful. </p>
<p>I feel like all my classmates are like, curing cancer or something and I’m just sitting here not understanding physics. Bleh. I’m completely doomed for the midterm this week.</p>
<p>If Physics 8A is giving you the biggest gripe, sit down and solve all the past Physics 8A midterms posted on Ninjacourses until you get it. When I mean “get it”, when you solve a lot of difficult problems, there’s a point that you find out a pattern for the solution for every question and you master the material.</p>
<p>There are at least 10 exams with solutions for Physics 8A so there is no reason to not utilize the resource you have. If you still do badly after solving and understanding all those past midterms, then you can start feeling sad again… lol.</p>
<p>Wowza I haven’t been on here in a while, but I wanted to post in this topic. I can relate to you with physics when I took it. I had Fajans and a GSI who was teaching in English for the first time in his life. Those two may have been the worst combination ever for a person who is learning physics for the first time in his life. I admittedly didn’t do too hot at all. I didn’t even know how I passed that class but I somehow did. (Finding out that you’re the lowest score in the entire class has got to be some achievement) And the textbook is laughably bad. Your only best bet is to practice the problems. There’s really no way to get around the physics 8 series without doing and understanding them. </p>
<p>As for Bio1al, I had Helen so it wasn’t a happy time, but it wasn’t the worst either. All I can say for Bio is to just buckle down and memorize. You really just have to breathe and live that **** (unless you’re really good at rote memorization). But don’t worry too much about that class because everyone usually does okay. You put in the effort and you’ll usually get the grade that you deserved. </p>
<p>I can definitely empathize with you on physics. All I can say is keep your head up. You mentioned no partying, but are you at least going out with friends and just spending some time for yourself. I know it was hell for me to study physics and if I didn’t take breaks, I would have likely just flunked that class.
As for MCB the major, I hate to tell you this, but it doesn’t really get that much easier. Stiff competition in that major is what makes that major notorious for its difficulty. The upper div classes aren’t too hard, but everyone is just vying for the good grades. Push through and enjoy college! As a recent graduate who is working full time, I can tell you that there are days I wish I could still have the downtime that I had in college.</p>
<p>I’m taking Bio 1AL and Physics, too, so I know exactly how you feel. </p>
<p>Batman is right. Just keep practicing problems off the exams and textbook. I didn’t take physics in high school, so I obviously don’t have a leg up. I find that going to BOTH GSI and professor’s office hours help the most, as well as SLC’s drop in tutoring.</p>
<p>By the way, is it advantageous to be in one of the Top 4 sections for Bio 1AL after the first midterm? I’m not quite sure how Meighan’s crazy grading scheme works out.</p>
<p>Heh, OP, I’m actually a CS major. I unfortunately don’t experience the same ease with my CS courses as you do, though… let’s just say CS70 is for me what Physics is for you. You are definitely not alone with how you feel. CS70 is a great class, but it has acquainted me much too closely with my own severe inadequacy compared to a lot of other, often brilliant, students at this school. I study so hard and barely even go out, yet the solutions to problem sets and midterms continue to elude me. ):</p>
<p>@Justin: Yeah, if I remember correctly, it’s better to be at the sections on top than on bottom lol. But don’t put your fate in Mike’s crazy scheme that makes no sense. Just do your best on the exams.</p>
<p>OP: i can definitely relate as well. here’s a thread from me back in soph year-ish i think.</p>
<p><a href=“http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/university-california-berkeley/876085-i-wanna-give-up-sometimes.html[/url]”>http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/university-california-berkeley/876085-i-wanna-give-up-sometimes.html</a></p>
<p>if it is any consolation, it gets better with time. you’d be surprised, just with staying in berkeley by itself gets better with each semester and you develop better study habits (at the time i made my thread, i thought there was no way I could improve on myself, but eventually you start to realize small changes you can make and you find a balance between life and school.) i am doing my very last semester here and my GPA is nearly an A- average and i hope to apply to med school next year. (for background, my GPA at the time was just under a 3.0 I think…so im not one of those kids who gets a 3.8 and cries about how hard cal is)</p>
<p>cheers. keep your chin up :)</p>
<p>Life isn’t shouldn’t be about being on top. Even if you were the smartest student at Berkeley, you wouldn’t be the smartest person in your field. In fact, you’d be up there where the difference in intelligence is a lot worse and you’ll probably feel dumb. Treat life as a race to be academically, financially, or socially the best and you will be guaranteed to be burnt out no matter your talent. Instead, live life aiming to be rich in genuine relationships and experience. Make a good group of friends. Build a good web of support, and rejoice in the fact that you are loved by many. Don’t lose sight of the things that you have been blessed with, most likely including your safety, parents, health, intelligence.</p>
<p>I don’t particularly like this thread, so I’ve been avoiding it so not to sound like a complete a-hole.</p>
<p>I did however stumble upon an article written today by a junior at MIT who seems to share in your misery. [Meltdown</a> | MIT Admissions](<a href=“http://mitadmissions.org/blogs/entry/meltdown]Meltdown”>Meltdown | MIT Admissions)</p>
<p>I’ll keep my opinions to myself, as everyone else has been supportive, I wouldn’t want to spoil it. I hope the article makes you feel a bit better that this is not just a “you” issue, or a “Berkeley” issue, or a “college” issue, but it really permeates our nation in particular and it is one of the burdens of greatness we all bear in order to excel and “be happy.”</p>