I just finished my first year at Emory University and had a lot of trouble adjusting to college life here. I’m ending the year with a 3.0 GPA and it feels horrible. I came in as a pre-med student and my GPA tanked because of gen chem and a psychobiology course that I didn’t do well in. I studied so much more than I ever did in high school but science and math courses just aren’t my strength; I took my psych class with a notoriously tough professor who gives out only 2 multiple multiple-choice exams that determine your grade in the class. I found that political science and humanities courses were a lot more interesting and better suited to what I enjoy and I’ve declared as a political science major. The courses I signed up for next semester are mostly political science and history courses which I am super pumped for, a big change from thinking about the biology and chemistry courses that I was dreading this year. I talked to my RA about my struggles with my grades and she said that it was awesome that I finally figured out what I’m passionate about early on in college even if my GPA plummeted. Do any of you have studying tips or have gone through a similar struggle in bringing up a low first-year GPA? I’ve even dedicated this summer to getting a head-up on a stats class I’m taking next semester and German because I’m so scared of getting anything less than an A and not being able to raise my GPA.
Was the psychobiology a pre-med BCMP class? If not, why didn’t you drop it (or W) once you knew it has a notoriously tough professor with only 2 exams? Pre-med BCMP courses are known as weed-out courses in all colleges, and you’re competing against some really talented kids at Emory for those very few A’s.
If you’re still thinking pre-med, take only 1 BCMP class per semester and see how you perform.
In the large lecture intro classes, the professor is by far the most important thing. The best source is to students who have recently had the classes, ratemyprofessor.com can also be helpful.
GO TO CLASS, BUY THE BOOK, READ THE CHAPTERS, AND DO THE HOMEWORK!
Go to Professor’s office hours early in the semester and Ask this question: “I know this is a really difficult class-- what are some of the common mistakes students make and how can I avoid them?”
If you have problems with the homework, go to Prof’s office hours. If they have any “help sessions” or “study sessions” or “recitations” or any thing extra, go to them.
Form a study group with other kids in your dorm/class.
Don’t do the minimum…for STEM classes do extra problems. You can buy books that just have problems for calculus or physics or whatever. Watch videos on line about the topic you are studying.
Go to the writing center if you need help with papers/math center for math problems (if they have them)
If things still are not going well, get a tutor.
Read this book: How to Become a Straight-A Student: The Unconventional Strategies Real College Students Use to Score High While Studying Less by Cal Newport. It helps you with things like time management and how to figure out what to write about for a paper, etc.
If you feel you need to withdraw from a class, talk to your advisor as to which one might be the best …you may do better when you have less classes to focus on. But some classes may be pre-reqs and will mess your sequence of classes up.
For tests that you didn’t do well on, can you evaluate what went wrong? Did you never read that topic? Did you not do the homework for it? Do you kind of remember it but forgot what to do? Then next time change the way you study…there may be a study skill center at your college.
How much time outside of class do you spend studying/doing homework? It is generally expected that for each hour in class, you spend 2-3 outside doing homework. Treat this like a full time job.
At first, don’t spend too much time other things rather than school work. (sports, partying, rushing fraternities/sororities, video gaming etc etc)
If you run into any social/health/family troubles (you are sick, your parents are sick, someone died, broke up with boy/girlfriend, suddenly depressed/anxiety etcetc) then immediately go to the counseling center and talk to them. Talk to the dean of students about coordinating your classes…e.g. sometimes you can take a medical withdrawal. Or you could withdraw from a particular class to free up tim for the others. Sometimes you can take an incomplete if you are doing well and mostly finished the semester and suddenly get pneumonia/in a car accident (happened to me)…you can heal and take the final first thing the next semester. But talk to your adviser about that too.
At the beginning of the semester, read the syllabus for each class. It tells you what you will be doing and when tests/HW/papers are due. Put all of that in your calendar. The professor may remind you of things, but it is all there for you to see so take initiative and look at it.
Make sure you understand how to use your online class system…Login to it, read what there is for your classes, know how to upload assignments (if that is what the prof wants).
If you get an assignment…make sure to read the instructions and do all the tasks on the assignment. Look at the rubric and make sure you have covered everything.
If you are not sure what to do, go EARLY to the professors office hours…not the day before the assignment is due.
You might think that this is all completely obvious, but I have read many stories on this and other websites where people did not do the above and then are asking for help on academic appeal letters.
You have recognized that science and math are not your strengths, re-evaluated your major, and plotted a new course. Bravo! Many kids would continue down that pre-med path despite the warning signs, continuing to struggle, with no hope of getting into med school. Talk about a spirit-crushing experience.
A 3.0 with all that freshman year can bring, turmoil- and temptation-wise, is not that bad. I am assuming you are concerned about your ending GPA because of grad school? Even if the only motivator is that you want better grades, it will take time to climb well above the 3.0. It will take patience and a dedication to changing up what you have traditionally considered “trying your hardest”. @bopper 's excellent and oft-quoted list of college success “to-do’s” is what you need to do. I will expound on O) as it is the most BASIC of tips and yet still somewhat of a mystery to many supposedly smart students:
go to class: that means missing ZERO or no more than a couple of lectures (and then making it a priority to catch up immediately on those lectures via recorded lectures or get notes from friends). I am constantly astounded by kids who are shocked they are getting C's when they sleep through classes or wait until the end of semester/quarter to go back through lectures they missed earlier.
buy the book(s): buy, rent, borrow. I don't care if you don't like it and would rather learn the subject online from some other source. If the teacher is teaching from the book, you better have it, because that's probably what you're going to be tested on (along with lectures).
read the book(s): read, make notes, re-read, re-write your notes. Do the assigned reading by the time it's due (or before). Lecture will mean a bit more if the material isn't brand new.
do the homework: blowing off the homework is just cheating yourself out of points and a structured way to study. Kind of tough (wasting his/her time, at minimum) to approach a professor about something you are struggling with if it's clear you haven't bothered to attempt the assignment.
Good luck - the fact that the subject matter is of much more interest will motivate you to put more time into it, so be positive.
The premed classes are killers especially if science is not your strong suit. Now that you have found your area of interest and aptitude you will likely see your GPA rise significantly over the next three years. Just continue to work hard and success should come.
You need to relax about getting all A grades. You are setting yourself up for a ton of pressure and demoralization if you get a B,which is likely. My kid got a B, she still made Deans list. Have realistic expectations, or you will be disappointed din yourself. Who needs that? You are at Emory, be proud, but don’t freak out if you get less than an A,