So I am almost done with my first semester of college. At first it was hard adjusting due to homesickness and different academic setting, but it got a lot better. I found some friends and joined an accapella group and the future seemed promising. Now that the semester is coming to an end, I’m starting to predict my GPA and realizing that it’s only going to be about a 3.1. I am shocked. I have been a mess all week - severely anxious and depressed. I even had to have my mom come down and pick me up one night because I was having a panic attack. I cannot believe I did this poorly, I thought that I was doing everything right. I keep pulling B’s out on exams and it has made such a huge impact on my GPA. I’m so stressed now and can’t even get anything done. I even went to a student success center to get help on how to take notes and how to study. The thing is - I’ve been directly admitted to my school’s business program and to stay in I have to maintain a 3.0. I have little to no padding if I slip up the rest of my college career. I just want this semester to end and I want to go home. I’ve considered transferring out to a community college for the rest of college and going for something practical like nursing. I feel like an utter failure and the thought of having to do this for four years is absolutely killing me. Can anyone offer me any advice?
A 3.1 average for the first semester of college is not bad. It’s disappointing to you but it’s far from failing! Unless you’ve already had finals, you may do better than you expect. Kudos on having adjusted to living away from home and making some new friends. Try to relax and then figure out what you need to do to improve your grades. Perhaps a study group, tutoring or meeting with your professors or TAs might help. Give yourself more time to adjust to college before trying something else is my advice. Schedule an appointment at the counseling center for advice on handling the stress.
Okay, you are over-reacting. Yes, it is a huge jolt to students who got really good grades in HS to enter a more competitive college environment. But a 3.1 is still respectable. “I even went to a student success center” tells me it was a last resort and you have not pulled out all the stops on resources. For next semester, do the following:
- If you have any writing-intensive courses and your college has a writing center, take advantage of it for all papers.
- If there is any department offered tutoring, go even if you are busy.
- Gather questions together and go to office hours as needed to get them answered.
- Join or form study groups.
- Use rate my professor when registering for classes for next semester. Since you have to keep that minimum GPA going and hopefully raise it, I’d try to avoid profs with a reputation for tough grading. That is regrettable, but you need to do it where possible.
You can do this!