I am in Pratt and managed to get B grades during my 1st semester by somehow struggling with D and C so far in 2nd semester mid-term. I obviously messed up and feel depressed about it and will definitely try to work harder and may be find a private tutor. But wondering how much impact this may have. Will it affect my admission? Or is this time to think about whether I fit in Pratt or in Duke? Or will it be ok if I do better in the finals? Any advise on tutors for Linear Algebra also is most welcome. Thanks a lot.
Sorry to hear about this. Most students at Duke find it difficult, so you are not alone. Have you sought help? Did you speak to your advisor?
I know tons of students taking tough curriculums who start their college careers with C’s and D’s. That is the reason many STEM students end up English majors. Engineering is hard. I’m not sure why so little is expected of humanities majors in this country but it sucks that engineering students, who tend to be brighter than their humanities peers (maybe not 50 years ago but the evidence is pretty clear now) end up with low GPAs in comparison when they are working their buns off and start out with better academic backgrounds and inherent aptitude. My suggestion is to power it out. Once you get to upper level classes it will get easier. Go to office hours, seek out TAs, go to recitations, do problem sets with others, use every resource available to get though the tough classes. You are not alone. It is grade shock for students used to only As to see Cs and Ds but it is not the same as getting those grades would have been in high school. Seek all the help you can. Also, your peers won’t necessarily share the information with you but I am sure many of them are in the same boot. It is part of being an engineering student. Just don’t give up on it.
Consider switching to Trinity if you don’t feel like you’re cut out for engineering.
Thank you all very much for your kind replies which was soothing. Especially motivated by the sentence to not give up. I will continue to try my best.
Don’t give up, and use every resource available to you. Those resources are in place to help students succeed. Be as proactive as you can, skip playtime for a while if you have to in order to improve things, and keep on trying. Only give up when you have exhausted all options, that’s a lesson for school and life.
Freshman year is often a wash. Don’t worry. And if you are thinking of graduate school etc., they usually distinguish between grades in your major field (or the field you are seeking to follow in grad schools) and other grades.