Not So Good GPA Freshman Year?

<p>Hi, so I just finished my freshman year here, and my GPA isn’t exactly as good as I was hoping it would be. Last semester it wasn’t that great (3.26) due to family problems that were stressing me out, but I was hoping that this semester it would be much better. Unfortunately, it wasn’t what I was hoping for, and will be a 3.59 at the max, but probably more likely a 3.53. I know that’s not horrible, but it’s not what I was hoping to get.
I don’t understand. In high school, I was in the top ten percent of my class, and never got a B+ or lower in my life. Now I have a B+ in three of my classes this semester. It’s not even like I feel like I’m struggling, but when I get my grades back they’re just so much lower than I expected. What am I doing wrong? Am I just not trying hard enough? And how much does GPA matter anyway?
Also what really bugged me was that I got a B+ in my English class this semester, and I’m majoring in English. It’s not even like I’m like a physics major where you’d expect my GPA to be low. I just don’t know.
What am I doing wrong? Is my GPA really bad? Do you think it will improve over the years, and that this is part of adjusting to college?
Please reply!!!</p>

<p>You need some perspective. Most students at BC graduated in the top 10% of their high school class. Being in the top 10% of your BC school is significantly harder than doing the same in high school.</p>

<p>Now stop fretting over your grades.</p>

<p>Think about simple statistics: 49.9% of all matriculating Frosh will end up in the bottom half of the class upon graduation.</p>

<p>But yes, college writing can be much different than HS writing. You will get better, and more efficient.</p>

<p>Good luck.</p>

<p>It’s great that you have academic goals for yourself. Your current grades aren’t really bad, but you may have higher expectations of yourself. As the other posters pointed out, college is a different ball game and most students see a dip in their grades from high school to college. With that said, you still may want to strive for more. That’s up to you.</p>

<p>The phrase ‘try harder’ is so elusive. I would say devote more time to acquiring the skills you need to succeed. This will require you to assess your academic strengths and weaknesses. I would suggest getting input from your professors. If you were to email them and state that you want to spend the summer developing new skills and polishing old skills to be ready for your sophomore year, there would be at least one or two who would respond. Just make sure to clearly ask them which areas need further development. At some point in their lives they were where you are now and they should be able to provide guidance on strategies you can use to develop these skills.</p>

<p>Don’t forget that BC offers free academic services, including academic writing workshops and paper reviews. They often suggest things like reading challenging material continually to immerse yourself in the written language, starting a blog to practice and develop your voice and style, making a rough draft by speaking into a recorder or computer with voice recognition. Of course, their more specific advice and instruction is based on student needs. I used these services and found them helpful. I also identified a few academic mentors, professors and graduate students, who could help provide specific content expertise in my major.</p>