I’m going to keep this thread very short. In high school, I was a 3.9 GPA 2130 SAT student WITHOUT EVEN TRYING, and now that I’m finishing up my first semester of college, I am struggling just to get an A- in 3/5 of my classes. Before anyone says I should be trying harder, I really have upped my level of effort and am studying a lot more in college than I ever did in high school. What is wrong, and why am I struggling so much just to earn a subpar GPA. Thanks for the help.
either:
1)you did a bad job scheduling your schedule (bad teachers/bad timing)
2)you didn’t gear up in hs (non-ap courses…etc)
3) you’re trying but not hard enough
btw. just by the way you worded this paragraph, i have a feeling you’re trying to put in the least amount of effort to pump out an A. that’s never a good mindset in college.
This happens a lot. Happened to one of my step-daughters. Naturally smart, rarely lifted a finger in HS. Got to college, got her butt kicked first semester because for the first time she actually had to work, and she didn’t know how to and wasn’t used to it. She had to learn time management and study skills that a lot of kids picked up in high school. She’s doing fine now, but it was a huge learning curve for her at first. You’re going to have to work, and you’re going to have to work a lot harder than you’ve had to in the past. Did you take any APs in high school?
And even if you can’t get an A-, plenty of people are B students and their life isn’t over just because they weren’t on the Dean’s List.
Adjust your expectations. You are only starting college and have yet to get into the swing of things. My dd had some adjustment but did better in harder classes as time went on. In college you have less busy-work and more long term deadlines just you are expected to meet, more time spent out of class. All A is not really much of a goal, who really cares? Try to learn and enjoy if you aren’t doing that already.
Grades in college and in HS are totally different. The numbers don’t mean the same thing.
A 3.9 in college is exceedingly rare. Med schools, which are notorious for their high selectivity, are fine with students who have 3.6-3.8.
Right now, 53% high school students get an A or A-. Only about half will get those grades in college.
If you have a 3.7, you’re among those top students. There’s nothing to feel bad about.
What courses are you taking?
If you took a year long AP course in HS, that is the equivalent to a semester course in college. So the material will be coming twice as fast.
When I was in college I tried to find the optimal amount of studying that would result in more A’s than B’s.