<p>Well everybody in this community has probably heard of this before -- I was bright in high school, did not have to work very hard for a 3.6 gpa and somewhat mediocre SAT score. 1920. My highschool was not competitive at all, I got in to my stateflag ship which no one else got in (my school sat score was about 950 average(yikes!)
i am part of the first graduated class and i am ranked fifth with the higher ups having atleast 150 points difference from mine score. It's not great. The school is in a very poor and ghetto place.</p>
<p>So the fact to the matter is, I did very poorly. I went into my first semester naively. I thought I would be a A student, i fooled around although not as much as my room mate(who drinks and smokes). I am very ambitious but very lazy two words which contradict each other. So my courseload is like this
Calculus I
Classical Physics (calc based)
English Literature 20th century
My 101 class which introduces the school
Computer science 101 class
(I am computer science major, i have been programming for quite abit)</p>
<p>I recieved a D for Calculus I so far as the first released
I W from Physics
my 101 class is a p/f class and i passed
Comp Sci is not yet released but i predict alright grade
English yet to take final but overall i havent been consistent with homework</p>
<p>I never taken Calc before and I screwed up so bad, I wish i took Calc A b/c its not accelerated
I have never taken physics before so apparently classical = accelerated and I am feeling very upset
I didn't study very hard because procrastination is very surreal these days and I tried tho, i went to provided tutoring sessions, i fucked up so bad but i never touched drugs alchol or anything like that. But I did play games but most of all is been me practicing programing and breakdancing... :((((((((((((((((((((((((</p>
<p>I just don't know what to do.
My GPA is going to be shit and I was wondering if anyone else has experience something remotely similar or has advice for a situation like this. Thanks, CCer</p>
<p>Well… you gotta improve your habits, for sure. And if you need to take more math for your major, you may need to retake Calc – you gotta have that basic skillset to move forward. Here are a few ideas:
- Start going to the library every night. Take the stuff you need to dinner, and keep right on going. Don’t go back to the dorm, there are too many distractions and you may never get to studying if you do that. Also, you need to set a certain amount of time to work on the weekend, and do it. You know what needs to be done based on your assignments… and get out of your room to go study to the library or some other study space.
- Give yourself small rewards as you accomplish work. Finish a problem set? 15 minutes of internet surfing. Finish a draft of a paper? Coffee drink. Got a program to compile? 15 minute of gaming.
- Take advantage of professor’s office hours if you are struggling at all. Keep going to all tutoring sessions offered, too.
- If your school has a writing center, take advantage of it. Find out what their rules are for appointments (example: some schools might let you only come in 2 times for a given assignment, you need to make an appointment ahead of time, you need a first draft when you come in the first time, and the appointments have to be at least 3 days before the paper is due). That is just an example of what kinds of rules they might have. But those people can really help you with writing assignments – even thought you think you did okay in your English class, you can possibly get As if you get help from the writing center.
- Try to get at least 7 hours of sleep/night, and eat a fairly healthy diet. Try to work out or exercise a few times a week, too.
- College is hard, and you come from an academic background that isn’t the strongest. And you had 3 hard classes this semester (Calc, Physics, and CS). All time consuming. Choose your courses carefully next semester. Maybe 2 courses you need for your major (a CS course, and figure out what you need to do about your math requirements… maybe retake Calc). Then get 2 other courses that will apply for your general graduation requirements, but aren’t super difficult. Use Rate My Professor and talk to other students to try to figure out what to register for.</p>
<p>You may end up on academic probation after this semester. You have to do well next semester to be allowed to stay. Good luck!</p>
<p>Going into calculus based physics without ever having had any exposure to calculus wasn’t a good idea. I’m honestly surprised that it was even allowed. Calculus I is typically a prerequisite class for Physics I. </p>
<p>You need to set time to study, and actually stick to it. It’s easy to find distractions. That’s why it’s often better not to study where you play. For example, if you play video games at your computer desk, don’t study at your computer desk. If you are, it’s easy to taking a 15 minute gaming break that turns into 3 hours. Believe me - I know. Study groups are a very good thing because if several people are working on something together, you can work together to fill in the gaps. If person 1 gets concept A, but not concepts B or C, person 2 gets concept B, but not A or C, and person 3 gets concept C, but not A or B, collectively you have the knowledge of concepts A, B, and C and you can put your heads together to work through the problem and explain the concepts to one another. Keep in mind that you won’t have groups on exams, so it is still necessary to work through problems on your own. </p>
<p>You’re not totally dead yet.</p>
<p>What you need to do is retake calculus and make sure you get an A this time around.</p>
<p>You should take physics again too.</p>
<p>Do not take any higher level computer science course next semester</p>
<p>Take only enough gen eds to get your schedule up to full time status.</p>
<p>If you do this and get A’s in everything this time around then calculus could be changed to a B and you could be well above a 3.5 GPA</p>
<p>P.S. Classical doesn’t mean accelerated it means physics of objects on a relatively macroscopic scale. You should also never take a calc or physics class that is decelerated. There really is no accelerated math class for an engineering/computer science major.</p>