Hi all! I need serious and honest advice. Currently I’m suspected from PE for a semester for poor academic performance. I’m into my junior year, physics, math and chemistry classes weren’t hard, but once I got into PETR classes my GPA took a hit. Not sure is it because I’m procrastinator or is it because I cannot comprehend more advanced classes, period. My professor also suggested that difficulties come from me not being a native speaker… I don’t know what to do - continue PE, but honestly I’m scared $^&%less that I might waste another year and if my GPA will drop again I’ll be forced out of the program. Just a waste of time. Or I could transfer to geophysics major, which doesn’t have thermo, fluid mechanics etc. Honestly, the stories I hear about thermo from those who already taken it- " average on a test 16", “people are getting negative grades!” discourage me… When does one know that it’s time to change the major?
Reading Cal Newport now, preparing myself for spring 16…
It looks to me that it’s matter of trying vastly harder (long hours of studying all the time) or changing the major.
Study smart, not hard. You don’t have to live with your nose in a book if you have good study habits.
boneh3ad, any studying hacks?
I think you should switch to geophysics or some other physics, math or chemistry major, since these “weren’t hard” for you. You could always get a graduate degree in petroleum engineering later if you really wanted to, and by then your vocabulary in related topics will have improved.
I wouldn’t risk being forced out of the PE program with another semester of very low GPA. Look at your grades as feedback and signposts telling you which way to go and not go. The good grades tell you what you’re truly skilled at right now, and you should continue down those paths.
If you continue to struggle even with a switch in majors, then you will need to get tutoring to figure out some solutions.
@ACT003, there aren’t any magic hacks. Newport’s book and web page, even by his own admission, aren’t mystical or secret. They are common tools gleaned from surveying the Phi Beta Kappa inductees. It’s more a matter of putting them to work than it is about looking for even more answers.
The two most powerful Study Hacks tools are the way he calendars in order to organize study time DURING THE DAY and using a clock to time minutes of “deep study” and breaks. Deep study means no FB, email, texting etc. My son simply puts his phone in airplane mode and starts the timer on his phone. When the alarm chimes, he takes a very short break.
You have the tools. It’s a matter of using them. Good luck.