Hi, I’m a freshman in high school. I have two weeks left in this marking period and I am failing two classes, algebra based physics and algebra one. I don’t know why I am doing so bad at math all of a sudden. What can I do to make a comeback? Is it too late? If so how can I make up for it in the next three marking periods or is it too late for the whole year. My parents are freaking out and my guidance counselor has an appointment with them. I’m freaking out and I’m feeling Down on myself. I heard that if you do bad in freshman year you are screwed no matter what in the next three. Thanks so much for your help.
Get a tutor! Our school has some free tutoring provided by NHS volunteer but you may need more than that to get caught up.
If ur in hn classes drop to cp if it is not too late
At a lot of schools, freshman grades aren’t even factored into your college application. If they are for your schools of choice, colleges love to see a trend of improvement and persistence more than anything. Still, do your best to pass, but if you simply can’t, just make sure that you’re grades improve over time, this is in no way going to destroy your chances at getting into school. Take it from a guy who failed Geometry freshman year and Chemistry sophomore year and still got into the school of my dreams. Hope this helps
Do you get your tests back in those classes? What is causing you to lose most of your points?
Talk to your teachers. See what they suggest you do. They may be able to provide extra help and review sessions to prepare you for tests. A tutor would also be helpful.
Donny is right, not all schools look at freshman year. An upward trend is always good as well, so if you can pull yourself into the B/C range for math and science, you won’t instantly be counted out. I’m assuming you are going to look at colleges that aren’t math based. If that’s the case, focus on making your other grades as strong as possible, especially those that could be connected to your future major.
Khan Academy is also good!
Don’t stress yourself out too much about this. You have plenty of time to pull your grades up the rest of the year. Find yourself a tutor or find someone who is doing very well in the class and study with them. Go to your teachers before or after school for extra help. Plus you’re a freshman. You have three more years of high school left. From a current senior, enjoy yourself and don’t stress yourself out. Stress only leads to worse grades and a bad high school experience.
This is college advice but it applies to HS as well. Substitute Teacher for Professor.
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GO TO CLASS, BUY THE BOOK, READ THE CHAPTERS, AND DO THE HOMEWORK!
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Go to Professor’s office hours early in the semester and Ask this question: “I know this is a really difficult class-- what are some of the common mistakes students make and how can I avoid them?”
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If you have problems with the homework, go to Prof’s office hours. If they have any “help sessions” or “study sessions” or “recitations” or any thing extra, go to them.
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Form a study group with other kids in your dorm/class.
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Don’t do the minimum…for STEM classes do extra problems. You can buy books that just have problems for calculus or physics or whatever. Watch videos on line about the topic you are studying.
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Go to the writing center if you need help with papers/math center for math problems (if they have them)
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If things still are not going well, get a tutor.
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Read this book: How to Become a Straight-A Student: The Unconventional Strategies Real College Students Use to Score High While Studying Less by Cal Newport. It helps you with things like time management and how to figure out what to write about for a paper, etc.
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If you feel you need to withdraw from a class, talk to your advisor as to which one might be the best …you may do better when you have less classes to focus on. But some classes may be pre-reqs and will mess your sequence of classes up.
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For tests that you didn’t do well on, can you evaluate what went wrong? Did you never read that topic? Did you not do the homework for it? Do you kind of remember it but forgot what to do? Then next time change the way you study…there may be a study skill center at your college.
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How much time outside of class do you spend studying/doing homework? It is generally expected that for each hour in class, you spend 2-3 outside doing homework. Treat this like a full time job.
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At first, don’t spend too much time other things rather than school work. (sports, partying, rushing fraternities/sororities, video gaming etc etc)
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If you run into any social/health/family troubles (you are sick, your parents are sick, someone died, broke up with boy/girlfriend, suddenly depressed/anxiety etcetc) then immediately go to the counseling center and talk to them. Talk to the dean of students about coordinating your classes…e.g. sometimes you can take a medical withdrawal. Or you could withdraw from a particular class to free up tim for the others. Sometimes you can take an incomplete if you are doing well and mostly finished the semester and suddenly get pneumonia/in a car accident (happened to me)…you can heal and take the final first thing the next semester. But talk to your adviser about that too.
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At the beginning of the semester, read the syllabus for each class. It tells you what you will be doing and when tests/HW/papers are due. Put all of that in your calendar. The professor may remind you of things, but it is all there for you to see so take initiative and look at it.
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Make sure you understand how to use your online class system…Login to it, read what there is for your classes, know how to upload assignments (if that is what the prof wants).
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If you get an assignment…make sure to read the instructions and do all the tasks on the assignment. Look at the rubric and make sure you have covered everything.
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If you are not sure what to do, go EARLY to the professors office hours…not the day before the assignment is due.