<p>Okay I'm not sure I'm posting this in the right place but here goes:</p>
<p>I am a freshman student majoring in Biological Sciences with hopes of becoming a Wildlife Conservation Biologist. I really love the idea of being able to work in the field, being close with nature and interesting species of plants and animals as well as researching in a lab. I am a very stubborn and determined person, so I was set on this major even though I had little to no experience with biology, math, or chemistry. I've always been better at language, history, government, art, etc. However, I am a person who loves to challenge myself but can't always rise to the occasion. </p>
<p>In high school, I was always an honors student and never had to study for anything. I was super lazy but somehow managed to get good grades and get into the prestigious honors college at my University. Well, I was in for a huge wake-up call this semester. I haven't gotten above a high C on a test yet which is absolutely unacceptable for me. I am struggling badly and feel as if I am very behind compared to my peers. I feel like I don't fit in because everyone looks down on me for being so lost and confused and getting bad grades... I finally think I figured out how to study, but even though I thought I studied a lot for my last few tests, I still didn't do as well as I wanted- at ALL. And I don't even know if I studied enough because to me, that was a LOT of studying!! I am devastated. I feel like I've destroyed any hope for my future and it's only the first semester of my first year. I am also in the honors college on scholarship so I know they're going to rag on me for letting myself become a complete failure. </p>
<p>Basically, I'm not sure where to go from here. Do I stick it out for one more semester and just work really hard? Do I change my major? And if so, to what...? I am an INFJ personality so I have considered doing Psychiatry, but majoring in Psychology requires a lot of math (which is not my strong suit.) I have many interests so I've also considered Law but I am just so lost and unsure that I don't even know anymore. Ideally, I would just like to suddenly become amazing at Biology, Chemistry, and Math and be able to follow my current dream, but that just doesn't seem attainable at this point. </p>
<p>I think that Biology will require at least as much math as psychology. Perhaps you are simply suffering from a rough adjustment period to college. You might try taking fewer courses next term.</p>
<p>MaddyN12- it’s ok to change your mind. College should be more fun than what you are experiencing. The fact that your are so unhappy is your brain telling you to re-think your major. You are a hard worker and want to succeed- that is huge- you just need to find the right place to direct all your ambition.</p>
<p>I wouldn’t rule out psychology because of math. There are math components to some branches of psychology, but overall it is not a math-intensive major.</p>
<p>One things you say is that you were “super lazy” in high school, and now it seems that because you never developed study skills, you’re running into trouble with how to study and learn more challenging material. Even if you just try to study “a lot”, that doesn’t end up doing much good if you don’t know what to focus on or how to study well. I think it would do you a ton of good to take advantage of resources available to you like professors’ office hours and university tutoring. Tutoring isn’t just to help you learn the material; it’s about helping you learn how to manage the material better on your own. I’ve been a tutor/TA for many semesters, and it can make a huge difference if you put in the effort there.</p>
<p>I would also talk to your academic advisor ASAP for help figuring out where to go from here. They can help you figure out if continuing in bio is feasible and a good idea, and they might also have suggestions to help you figure out what might be a better choice. Schools have resources for undeclared students that you might be able to take advantage of to find a good major choice.</p>
<p>Lastly, it sounds like your class struggles are negatively affecting your social enjoyment of college as well. Yes, it’s important to focus on classes, but you need some relief from that as well. If you feel left out or looked down on by classmates who are performing better than you, find a group of people from outside your academic circle - joining a club or intramural sport is a great place for that. When I’m in pep band, for example, people don’t talk about grades or classes because everyone is doing such different things - you just make music and have fun.</p>
<p>your going to need to develop study skills, find someone in your class to study, or get a tutor. You are basically treating college as High school. academic advisors will only help you with planning out major courses, or GE requirements, they cannot help “gain study skills” or help you in your courses. </p>
“In high school, I was always an honors student and never had to study for anything.”
This is the problem. Studying in college is completely different form studying in high school, particularly for math-intensive fields. It will take time but try to develop better study habits. Find the gaps in your schedule and fill them with review sessions so that you don’t cram before tests - it’s the best thing for your brain to retain that information.
Did you have AP classes in high school? What classes did you take last semester? How many credits all together?
Could it be that other students had better preparation in high school?
There definitely is hope and you don’t need to choose your major or career right now. I’m sure there are lots of services (tutoring, study skills advice, office hours, study groups) that could be really helpful for you.