Really bad GPA

Student Lounge College Life
1

<p>I just ended my first year of college...and am on a 2 week break before classes begin again (took summer classes, as well). My GPA is a 2.97!!! That is HORRIBLE....totally feel like the biggest idiot on Earth. I got stuck with 2 really crappy professors (one I managed to get for his very first semester of teaching...did not speak English well, didn't understand questions, clueless in lab... I was in BIO 2010- Unifying Principles of Bio, and the final was 30% of the grade...half of it was organic chem that he told us was not going to be on there...) Got out with a C in those classes, and because Bio was my only 4 credit for the year...it really messed me up! MY grades are pitiful...they were:</p>

<p>Fall 2008:
Public Speaking- A
English- B
Fundamentals of Psych- B
Biology- C</p>

<p>Spring 2009:
English- A
Human Growth and Development- B
College Algebra- C (SUCK at math)
U.S. History- C (sucky professor who could care less and did not teach well...the tests were even worse)</p>

<p>Summer 2009:
Abnormal Psychology- 95A
I/O Psychology- B
English- B</p>

<p>My Fall semester is:
Trigonometry MWF 11:00-11:50
Sociology TR 8:00-9:15
Statistical Methods of Psychology TR 3:30-4:45
Child Psychology TR 5:00-6:15
Biology of Evolution and Diversity MWF 9:00-9:50
Bio Lab F 1:00-2:50 </p>

<p>I HOPE to pull 3 A's and 2 B's (Trig and Stats). Which would give me a cumulative of 3.18, still sorry...but better.</p>

<p>Am I doomed? I am a Psych major (if that's not obvious), but will be going straight for grad school. The grad school, if I get my GPA up will be in Counseling/Clinical Psychology which is a very competitive program. However, if my GPA isn't pulled up high enough I will HAPPILY go with Social Work. But, my 1st choice is Counseling/Clinical Psychology.</p>

<p>With my schedule when is the best time to study what? Should I study/do homework for the classes that I take each day immediately after class? Or study/do homework for the class I will have the next day? Which would work best?</p>

<p>I definitely see me devoting a TON of my time to the Trig and Stats classes...probably both by myself, with a study group, going to profs office hours, and going to the tutoring center....</p>

<p>But, have I totally screwed myself over? I lost me scholarship, but can reapply in the Spring if my GPA is 3.0 or higher. The fin. aid dept. told me twice that in order to get HOPE back I needed to make an A and 2 B's this summer...which I did. When grades were posted it said 2.97...so I called a ton of people (got the run around of morons) and the registrar said "Nope, sorry, you needed 2 A's and a B" So I am NOT happy with those people!!! But...have I totally blown getting a high GPA?</p>

2

<p>No…you mix an eating disorder, severe anxiety, and depression and YOU see what happens…</p>

3

<p>Well, I am totally serious, unfortunately.</p>

<p>I was in counseling twice a week, had nutrition appointments once or twice a week, saw a psychiatrist once or twice a month, went to the infirmary often for blood work, weigh ins, etc. So all of those appointments took up a lot of time.</p>

<p>This year I will have counseling once a week (if all goes well), psychiatrist once a month, infirmary appt once a month, and nutrition appts maybe bi-weekly. I might have group therapy as well (not sure how often).</p>

<p>I am also going to be active in Psych Club, the BCM, and church. As well as exercising 3 times during the week (and saturday and sunday). But I can see a LARGE portion of my days being spent in the library…</p>

4

<p>lolz.</p>

<p>thats not that bad. its like a B average.
not great, but certainly not the end of the world, especially if you dont think you’re going to make a habit of it.</p>

5

<p>your grades are not “really bad”</p>

6

<p>LOL uhm that is not bad at all. Like its your first year so you can get the grades up.</p>

<p>I know people who were afraid they were going to get put on probation and/or dismissed academically (kicked out) from the college so you have it good.</p>

<p>“your grades are not “really bad””</p>

<p>ikr. When you start getting into 1.8 or whatever then you have REALLY bad grades.</p>

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<p>^ she did lose her scholarship</p>

<p>i’m sure you can sort out your problems and raise your gpa.</p>

8

<p>Deep breath. One, you don’t have a “really bad GPA.” In high school a 2.97 would be rather pitiful. It is quite a different story once you hit college. Some professors refuse to give As (4.0’s). There are a lot more foreign teachers. The curriculum is more based on the professor’s discretion than the department’s discretion. etc. etc.</p>

<p>Two, it really does stink that you lost your scholarship. You are not doomed, however. As you said, you can recuperate your grades. Just think, one possible scenario:
1st year: 2.97.
2nd year: 3.5 (your gpa is now 3.25)
3rd year: 3.7 (your gpa is now 3.4)
4th year: 3.8 (college GPA is now 3.5, something that is rather respectable- maybe not up to CC standards but good enough to get into most quality graduate schools). And that is a 3.5 with very attainable grades. Don’t force yourself into thinking that you need an A in every class from now on. Okay, so you won’t end up with a 4.0 at the end of college. A 3.9 would be nearly impossible. But there is hope. Don’t get too stressed out overthinking your grades.</p>

9

<p>Stop making excuses for yourself and do what you need to do to raise your grades. Like others have said, your grades are not that bad. Just put in a little extra effort and im sure they will improve.</p>

10

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<p>I second the comment about quit making excuses. I also have all of these and have still managed to pull a 3.8 GPA as an engineering and CS major. </p>

<p>A 2.9 isn’t horrible, however, if you’re unhappy with it, do something to actively change it. Get a detailed schedule (I happen to be in love with the Time Master) and try to better manage your time so that you can study more.</p>

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<p>Platt, what is Time Master by the way?</p>

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<p>yea that number 2 makes it look horrible, if only it were 3.0</p>

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<p>The Time Master: [Amazon.com:</a> Black TimeMaster (Medium) 2009 Planner: Office Products](<a href=“http://www.amazon.com/Black-TimeMaster-Medium-2009-Planner/dp/B001F4P5RS/ref=sr_1_6?ie=UTF8&s=office-products&qid=1249565506&sr=8-6]Amazon.com:”>http://www.amazon.com/Black-TimeMaster-Medium-2009-Planner/dp/B001F4P5RS/ref=sr_1_6?ie=UTF8&s=office-products&qid=1249565506&sr=8-6)</p>

<p>Best planner ever. I’d lose my mind without it.</p>

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<p>I know it looks really desperate now, but especially with what else you have going on in your life, if you can manage in the next 3 years to pull your grades up then very few are going to care about what happened freshman year. Obviously a 4.0 is eye-catching, but actually starting from a low GPA (and trust me, yours really is not as earth-shatteringly low as it feels like it is right now - you’ve basically got a B average, not so bad) and working to improve is in some ways more impressive: it shows you overcame challenges, know how to work through difficult odds and bleak situations. Which really, is a lot more important for grad school than having aced first year history or whatever like that 4.0 jerk.</p>

<p>This is coming to you from someone who had pretty serious issues her own first year, ending up having to take a bunch of incompletes and almost getting pulled out of school for a while for counseling: I just graduated in 4 years, and am going on to a PhD program in mathematics. A bad first year is entirely overcomable… even a bad few years is. When (a few years hence) you’re applying to grad schools, if you still feel worried about those first-year Cs, you can explain in your essay (briefly) what you were going through, and maybe even why that gives you unique drive and insight into this field you’ve chosen. From how hard you worked this summer and how driven you sound to study hard, do well, and go to grad school (you’re already ahead of the game if you know what you want to do with your life like that - most kids your age (in fact, most kids my age) are still pretty aimless and lost), I really think you are going to do fantastically.</p>

<p>The best advice I can give you is to take advantage of office hours if you are not yet. Go over your notes after class, write down all the things you find confusing, and talk to your prof/TA/study group about them. It’s something I still have a lot of trouble with - admitting I do not understand something and asking for help, but it’s really not a sign of weakness and so I’m working to get over it. The more advanced stuff you study, the less of it is going to make immediate sense: that doesn’t mean you’re dumb, it means you’re human. So make a complete nuisance of yourself to your TA or whomever, make sure you really grasp what’s going on as soon as possible so there’s never too much catch-up to do. The other plus to this is that for grad school, a good GPA may get your foot in the door but it’s really recommendations that pull you through: the more comfortable you get with forming relationships with professors now, the better you’ll be at it in your upper-level psych classes, the profs of which can then give gleaming descriptions of your motivation and abilities.</p>

15

<p>Don’t worry about it. You’re very lucky, that it turned to a 2.9. It’ll be a lot easier to raise it to above a 3.0! </p>

<p>I’m embarrassed to admit my gpa overall now is lower than that and unlike you, I need ALL As in my class next semester to boost it up to where you are now and continue. I’ve also had depression and anxiety but I’m trying to be optimistic right now. </p>

<p>Never loose hope!! If this is what you want to do and your grades are good. Then, you’ll do it~!</p>

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<p>I was expecting 3.7.</p>

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<p>A 3.0 isn’t all that bad, depending on the rigor of your course and professors. I know there are profs out there who refuse to give out good grades unless you trade your soul for it. No biggie. GPA isn’t that big a deal in college unless you are planning on going into some sort of post-grad program and your transcript will be reviewed.</p>

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<p>Biology and college algebra are definitely the wrong classes to get C’s in for any science major. Actually, the first time around I got a C+ in bio 2 and C in college algebra (both in the same semester, believe me I felt just as low as you do), but it turned out my bio professor gave me the wrong grade and I really got a B+ (HUGE difference) and I retook college algebra over the summer and got an A-.</p>

<p>2.9 GPA is something you have a lot of time and potential to improve on, but to be competitive for graduate school I’d consider retaking those classes. Even though I know people (psychology majors, non-science majors) who got C’s in those classes and moved on.</p>

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<p>It really blows my mind every time I see people complaining about a B average on here… Now, I’m not that familiar with US higher education (I’m Canadian, as if my screen name hadn’t already given that away), but over here, anything around 3.0 is considered pretty good. I go to an engineering-only school though, so I don’t know how that translates to other majors. But still, I only know a handful of people who have above 3.5 and that is considered amazingly good. I’m always surprised when I see people on this website who think it’s the end of the world if they don’t have anything near 4.0.</p>

<p>Now, like I said, I’m not sure about grad school in the US… but I do know that a 2.75 GPA is enough to get me in arguably the best engineering grad school in the province (which is my current school). I have a 3.13 GPA right now (after 3 years) and I’m pretty happy with that. I could probably get higher if I was more disciplined, but meh…</p>

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<p>For Econ grad school you need 3.7 or higher (depends on the school) and a 770 math GRE or higher. So under 3.0 is pretty bad in America (at most colleges)</p>