Not doing well in school

Student Lounge College Life
1

I’m not doing well in school and I used to be really good in school. I don’t know what happened. I feel like all my chances of PA school are gone too now.

2

What happened is, most likely, that you’re taking much harder classes now. And competing against better students. That’s what college is: pushing yourself harder academically. Don’t give up: schools have resources. Get tutoring. Talk to your TAs, go to your professors’ office hours. Re-evaluate your studying strategies and work style. Join study groups. And know you’re not alone. Many former high achieving high school kids find themselves struggling in college. Learning to deal with such challenges is part of adult life.

3

Ask yourself

  1. Why did you get poor grades? family issues? joined a fraternity? too much partying? just not doing well even though you are studying? Too many activites? girl/boyfriend troubles?
  2. What classes did you do well in?
  3. What classes did you not do well in?
  4. When you took a test…did you analyze why you got things wrong? Never saw the material before? Only did basic problems on that material? Recognized the material but could not recall it? Dumb math errors?

In general, here are things you should be doing:

  1. GO TO CLASS

  2. Make sure you read the chapters /do the homework.

  3. Go to Professor’s office hours early in the semester. 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?”

  4. 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.

  5. Form a study group with other kids in your dorm/class.

  6. 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.

  7. Go to the writing center if you need help with papers/math center for math problems (if they have them)

  8. If things still are not going well, get a tutor.

  9. 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.

  10. Withdraw from a class (probably too late now) and focus on classes that you can do well in (while staying full time) if things are going badly

  11. Drop other activities that are not academic