<p>I transferred from Tidewater Community College to James Madison University - my dream school. I wanted to go there ever since I was a junior in high school. The thing was, I didn't have any money for school. My mom was only doing contracts in architecture and my dad was unemployed after the company he worked for died. I didn't want to take out loans right away, so I decided to use my scholarship money at a community college to get the first two years of school for free. It worked. All I had to pay was gas for getting to school, and working part-time allowed me to save some money. </p>
<p>Now that I am here at James Madison University, I am struggling. I am failing this psychology research methods class. I have never failed a class in my life. The other courses I am passing with B's and C's. I have this grad prep/job prep course that's worth two credits and is meant to prepare you for a career in psychology, but it's an easy A. It's like a high school class. </p>
<p>But I really cannot understand why I am doing so badly. I changed my study habits and I try to talk to the professor, but I am just not used to this new environment. I did really well at my previous community college, and in high school as well. But here at JMU, I am lucky if my semester GPA is going to be a 2.0. I talked to an adviser and will be re-taking my PSYC 210 class, but I just feel so bad. This is the worst I've ever done in my life. </p>
<p>What should I do next semester? </p>
<p>I also cannot help but feel pretty alone. I live off campus and although I met some really nice friends, most of the people I hang out with are what I would hardly call friend-material. The only thing I am good at right now is the JMU Archery team. I would say I am learning a lot. I joined a Filipino-American organization and became secretary of another club. But in the end, I miss my family whom I argued with so much, even after they disowned me for a time for not being Catholic.I want to talk to them. </p>
<p>I don’t know why I feel so different out here. I can’t focus; I’m just not myself. </p>
<p>I’d say it’s normal for transfers to have a bit of trouble adjusting, especially since classes tend to be much more rigorous after transfer. But this sounds a bit worse than usual.</p>
<p>Try to pinpoint why you’re doing poorly in your classes. Are the concepts too difficult? Do you do poorly on exams vs papers? Do you just need to put in more study time to cover all the material? Go back over your past assignments and see where it was that you lost points, what kinds of problems you had on them. If you’re not sure where the grades came from, maybe take the assignment with to office hours and ask the TA/professor for specific advice on where you went wrong. Learn from your mistakes! It’s hard to fix a problem when you don’t know what’s wrong, but if you know your weaknesses you can work on a solution.</p>
<p>As for making friends, well, it can take time. Joining clubs is a good start, study groups might be a good idea too. If you’re missing your family, can you call/skype them to chat? It might help with the homesickness.</p>
<p>Another thing you can try to do is find someone else in the class that really gets the material and study with them. I had two classes where I was failing almost up until the final, but things finally ‘clicked,’ I got an A on the final, and passed the class with a C. </p>
<p>Hang in there, but definitely try to figure out where the problem lies: poor study habits, test-taking, not understanding material, etc. </p>
<p>A big part of it is the simple fact that after transferring, you are going into actual upper level courses. The material itself gets more difficult as you move along within your courses. This increased difficulty often gets attributed to the fact that you are a transfer student, but this may not always be the right place for the blame. </p>
<p>It depends. Some are able to adjust quickly while others may struggle. I was like you–I also struggled when I transferred to my current university. It took me a while to get used to the UC quarter system compared to my community college’s semester system. I still get overwhelmed by the quarter system since everything sneaks up on you fast. For example, 3-4 weeks after the quarter has started, you’re suddenly hit with midterms. </p>