Is this typical for First Semester?

<p>Pretty frustrated with my first semester grades. There is a whole adjustment process that took place this semester and I have come a long way since Jan but it is too late now.</p>

<p>I bought a book on how to study better, looked for assistance from Academic Success Center, learned from my mistakes and hopefully I can only go up from here.</p>

<p>I checked my performance against other students and most of us with very few exceptions will end up with a GPA between 2.5 and 2.9. Is this typical for a first year Engineering semester?</p>

<p>I don’t know your plans for this summer but I would dedicate an hour or two each day to the next Math course…either Calculus III or Linear Algebra. If you cannot find a cheap textbook, buy the Schaum’s outline of those courses.</p>

<p>There will be some summer days/nights that will be too hot to do anything, so might as well relax in an air-conditioned room of the house or have a fan blow on you and prep for the next math course.</p>

<p>Yea that’s pretty typical, I guess. I was 22 my first year of traditional college with a full-time job and 3 kids, so I didn’t really have time to fool around. But the 1st year, in my CC, they required a college-prep class, EDUC 1300: Learning Framework which helped a lot. Common sense stuff like time management, goals, habits, etc, but put in real world perspective pretty much like if you keep doing with what you’re doing, will it help achieve your goals? if yes, great; if not, need to change. Neat class, like a reality check.</p>

<p>It’s pretty common. Engineering does not have the “grade inflation” that other majors have seen. I think CO School of Mines told us average freshman gpa was 2.8. </p>

<p>The main thing is that you set an upward trend from here. Good luck!</p>

<p>The dean of engineering at my school says the program’s goal is to have students graduate with about a 2.7 GPA. Not certain what the average is, but in short, yes it’s not unusual to have that range for an average.</p>

<p>Engineering school requires more efficient study techniques & better time management than in high school. The grading is more difficult. Adjusting to much larger class size, attending tutorials and self orientation takes some time. Typically if a student continues with the same easy going study habits as in high school, there is usually a 0.75 - 1.00 point (or more) drop in college GPA as compared to HS. </p>

<p>Study the class lectures ahead of time so it is easy to follow the class (lecture); attend the tutorials, get your doubts cleared, do the assigned (and extra) homework, review the past exams and hand in your assignments on time. Focus on keeping up with the class,do not procrastinate, and you will do fine. As the time passes, you will find yourself to be getting better with your study habits. Also schedule tough classes with a few easier ones to manage the workload. Sometimes even the best students get tripped up in their freshmen year in engineering.</p>