<p>This is my second semester at Berkeley and I'm already devastated and feeling miserable every single day. I failed (literally failed, not asian fail) my second midterm in a math course in fall. It wasn't even a hard class, and I did study HARD for it too. I didn't party too much either. I ended up passing that class cuz I studied my ass off for finals, but still.. That's not good enough. I was one of the smartest students in high school and just barely passing really killed me. Everyone on this forum seems genius and most of my friends ended up with A's or B+'s. And those factors just lower my confidence and I feel so dumb.. to the point where I should just quit Berkeley because my brain can't follow. I was going to be pre-Business before fall semester started. But now, I don't think I can even get into Econ major now... </p>
<p>And now, I am taking Econ 1 with Professor Delong. And is it just me? I don't get the problem sets at all. I read the textbook and few chapters of that short intro book, but these don't help me. I lost when I sit through lectures and GSI doesn't make sense. And honestly I'm just struggling and I don't know anything. I took AP Macro/Micro Econ in high school, and I thought I got the econ stuff down. But what the hell. I am thinking about changing it to a P/NP and just retake it next year or sth. I feel so dumb because this should be basic stuff and everyone else seems to get it and think it's a joke class. I feel bad that my parents are paying so much money for me to only fail.. I know I'm just whining mad now but I don't know what I should do... Midterm is next week and I am really not ready for it. It's almost 4 am and I can't sleep..</p>
<p>Lol I know how you feel hahah like I know EXACTLY how you feel. I took a math course too and it was like the easiest course conceptually and anywhere else, I would’ve gotten an A but here I failed the first midterm and ended up with a C in the class. I had a pretty miserable freshman year academically. I was literally like depressed the whole year I’m pretty sure. It was the point where I was like maybe I should try smoking cigarettes lol but I didn’t start because I’m better than that : P anyways, you may be trying to major in something that is harder at berkeley than anywhere else so I suggest taking the courses at community college (maybe while you’re at Berkeley) and then do an easier major here. I honestly can say my life is a lot better after switching to an easier major and still trying to accomplish my goals. You have to get over what other people will think because in the end, dropping out is worse than taking an easy major…you know what I mean?</p>
<p>It gets better though. I hope. I think. lol and maybe you need a break. I wanted to graduate in 3-4 years but now I don’t give a f. cause i need to get out to do better here.</p>
<p>You are not a alone; it’s pretty common for first years to feel a bit depressed. Berkeley just sort of tends to do that. As you go on, you will see that the Berkeley forum here accumulates a lot of “**** berkeley” and “my life sucks” type of threads around midterm season. But it’s just generally the pressure that’s getting to you. My advice next semester is to plan your schedule carefully. Take maybe 1 pre-req and then find some classes you think you will enjoy so you can see that Cal isn’t only about memorizing textbooks and formulas. Maybe you will even find a major that interests you outside of business/Econ. Econ and business aren’t the ultimate majors or anything.</p>
<p>Have you considered taking a semester off and then returning. I did it, and it was the best experience I ended up changing my major, and figuring out my life goals. </p>
<p>Agree with demoz. If you keep failing, lower your expectations. Consider a more relaxing major (Media Studies?) and work your way from there. Major doesn’t equal career. But sometimes you really do have to suck it up and make it through those core classes, especially lower-division.</p>
<p>I noticed Brad DeLong changed his blog name from “Grasping Reality with Both Hands” to “Grasping Reality with the Invisible Hand.” I guess one-handed economists are what we need…</p>
<p>Sigh don’t feel that way. This happened to me before this semester started too. I was so paranoid about how I would do (I still feel this way). That kept me from sleeping for like several days. Just remember that we still have 3 semesters to go. If it kills you that much about grades, try some GPA booster classes that you sure you can do well on. Take a language that you are familiar with? Or 1-unit seminars for LG. There are a lot of possibilities, so don’t feel like you’re a failure. Just hang in there, if you need someone to talk to, please feel free to PM me. We’re pretty much in the same situation (just I try to force myself to think more positive now b/c thinking about all this crap makes you so stressed out…).</p>
<p>I also had the strong urge to take a semester off from school, but my parents completely flipped out about this idea so I am still here. I actually improved my grades since.</p>
<p>First of all, I feel your pain. My ‘low point’ in school actually came in my second year when I become very addicted to a computer game and my grades tanked for that fall. This is actually worse than failing your freshman year since I was supposed to adjusted for college and mature enough to work independently after a year in college. I had to start over from scratch.</p>
<p>My point is, if you have to fail, at least fail in your freshman year so you can only improve from there. You definitely don’t want to be in my situation that you did kinda okay in your first year and then take a huge dip the year after. I’m still trying to recover my grades and shotgun-applying for jobs as a junior when I’m supposed to be receiving invitations from highly-reputable companies…</p>
<p>Your life sounds awfully like mine when I was a freshman. I came in undeclared but thought about doing pre-business. Took econ my first semester and did not do well. I had one of the easier professors too. Ended up with a horrible GPA and it was a total slap to the face for someone who graduated in the top 5% of their high school class. I partied only once that semester too, so I know it was my rough transition to Berkeley that got me more than anything else. But I went through the same thing as you did. I felt really stupid and hated being at Berkeley.</p>
<p>Even though I didn’t continue the pre-business path, I became more focused from that point on. I allocated time for serious studying and time for serious partying (no, really). I made an effort to take classes that I was genuinely interested in. It was a good outlet from the classes that were required for my major. And life got better. In my four years at Berkeley, almost every semester GPA was higher than the last. So it’s definitely doable. Don’t worry if you’re not doing well right now. This is your first year, you’re still adjusting to college, and it looks better if you do worse now than later. Don’t overload yourself and try to take some fun classes. You’ll be able to enjoy college more. If you’re struggling, find people and form a study group. Go to your GSI/professor’s office hours. They might sound confusing in lecture/section, but they often make more sense if you sit down with them outside of class. Good luck with the rest of the semester!</p>
<p>OP, I think many here gave you good advice. Your feeling is not uncommon. Keep in mind that almost every student at Berkeley is top of the class from high school. And many students are from top competitive high schools where they are used to working at very high levels. You are really studying with some of the best students in the country. Berkeley is known for having harsh curves.</p>
<p>Have you try different studying techniques, tutoring, relaxation, take some time off, try easier classes, do an easier major, transfer to another school that might be a better fit. I know students that have done one or more of the above.</p>
<p>They can help you with many of these issues and can also refer you to additional campus resources. Hang in there! Take advantage of the support services available and you might find the going a little easier.</p>
<p>Jenny, I’m only a high school senior but I know how tough Berkeley is. The valedictorian of my school from a couple of years back is incredibly smart, but even she could not handle the business pre-major. </p>
<p>You got accepted to Berkeley, so I really don’t think you’re anything below intelligent. You should consider changing majors and find something you’re good at!</p>
<p>Don’t worry. It really does get better. Soon enough you will get the hang of it. It’s a pain in the behind to get use to things and the rigor of your classes won’t be an issue soon enough. Also, don’t worry about other people. Worry about yourself. Most Berkeley students like to present themselves as amazing intellectuals but in reality they are very similar to what you just posted. </p>
<p>If it would make you happier, I would look into transferring to another UC school.</p>
<p>That is very true. What seperates A’s and B’s and C’s is studying SMART, not necessarily studying HARD.</p>
<p>Example: In EE20N the Intro Signals and Systems class</p>
<p>Someone who memorized the solution to every midterm problem Babak has ever given without understanding the essential basic principles will ALMOST DEFINITELY score lower than someone who actually tried to understand what processes and concepts went into solving the problems on the homework/lecture and even just two of his midterms.</p>
<p>I’m sure the idea of studying smart not just hard extends beyond STEM into many other fields as well, so try it out. Figure out how the students doing well in the class are studying the subject and compare/contrast that to your study technique.</p>
<p>Any computer can memorize, so why would a professor want to test to see if you’re a computer? No, here at Berkeley they generally want to test you on skills that a computer can’t necessarily do unless it had a fairly sophisticated generic problem-solving algorithm, and in some cases, it may be impossible for a computer to solve at all</p>
<p>Yeah, just study smart; you don’t need to study hard. Be able to differentiate between memorizing some concept and truly understanding that concept(and the logic behind it). Most of the time in college you’ll want to understand everything you’re learning. Keep going back to the fundamentals…(aka, when I took calculus as a baby, I would constantly think back to the definition of the derivative and integral). If you’re only memorizing facts and figures and mistaking that for learning, college will be hard.</p>
<p>This isn’t to say that you shouldn’t memorize any material in college. As long as you’re able to tell the difference between memorizing and understanding, that should be suffice. 'Cuz sometimes you’ll need to memorize stuff.</p>
<p>OH, and don’t study EVERY single small thing for any exam. I think it’s detrimental to your time and clutters up your brain(causing your recall to be better during an exam but your reasoning to suffer)…just always focus on the big picture.</p>
<p>tl;dr: You don’t have to be smart to get good grades in Berkeley. You just have to study smart…i feel like grades can be easily gamed(maybe I’m too cocky?)</p>
<p>You seriously need help but don’t give up.
There are a lot of campus resources and services that you can advantage of.
I’m a math tutor teaching other Cal students, ranging from elementary school level algebra (i’m not kidding) to differential equations.
I’ve seen many dumb kids who don’t even know what y=lxl means.</p>
<p>I’m going to echo the sentiments of most other people by saying that you shouldn’t freak out so soon. I definitely got some pretty shockingly low grades on midterms my first year and it killed me inside, but it gets better. What I learned (and am still learning) is that each class and each semester presents a new test that challenges your study skills, learning skills, and life skills in general. You have to be proactive, and you have to be an aggressive learner. If your gsi is confusing then go to the office hours of a different gsi, ask people in your class, ask your professor, do a page of practice problems–never give up and never convince yourself that you’re not capable of learning something because then you’ll never succeed. It’s a continual challenge, but if you can become comfortable with it then it will make you a better student and better person : )</p>
<p>The only thing I study is concepts and I try to figure out how they would work from different angles. It honestly doesn’t take too long, maybe 4-5 hours of intense studying. I usually pull off B’s-A’s on my midterms. </p>
<p>A lot of the professors here don’t structure their tests for memorization. </p>
<p>I was in a terrible position last semester. I had to skip a lot of classes for personal reasons, and I really didn’t learn a lot. So when I had to cram for midterms and exams, I just went over the concepts and tried to apply them to the problems that came at me. I was able to pull off B’s.</p>
<p>It’s a game, dude. That’s all it is, nothing more. Even if you fail to succeed doesn’t mean your stupid, you just need to calm down and think straight. Don’t worry about other people because I bet they have as many problems as you do. The best solution is to receive help either from your classmates, friends, etc. In the long run the grade will support a better understanding of your knowledge, but that’s not what matters most. What matters most is your attitude. Tell yourself you are doing well and you plan to stay that way. I hope this all helps!</p>