<p>I’m at a very prestigious university myself. Struggling? Yes. Worth it though.</p>
<p>What I liked about your post is that you realise that low GPA could be problem and that is the first step toward working it out. It just proves that you are a mature and responsible person. Most people at your age would not not see it as a concern and therefore end up doing nothing about it or keep justifying it with adjustment, change of pace, change of style, away from home and so on. While all that is true, it is also true that getting/maitaining a good gpa is also a priority and you get that. Good luck to you and I am confident that you will figure out ways to improve by your next semester.</p>
<p>I read on another post that a similarly mature, self-aware student took a very difficult course (organic chemistry) during the summer. This way, they could focus all their time and energy on one challenging class instead of trying to juggle 3 or 4 classes while also getting used to living away from home. Do you have the option to take (or re-take) a particular class over the summer and have that grade be on your transcript?</p>
<p>My older son went to a deep safety (great school, but it was a safety for him). Guess what. He struggled mightily his freshman year. College is just plain harder than high school!</p>
<p>I would really like to know what IS an average GPA for a freshman at a top school, like the Ives, Stanford, MIT, etc. Engineering majors tend to have lower GPA’s according to common wisdom, and perhaps Princeton’s GPA’s could be a tad lower due to grade inflation. But what’s a good GPA for a liberal arts major taking mostly the required core courses freshman year? I had thought my D’s GPA was decent, but could have been a little higher, though I wasn’t sure since she’s also an athlete on a competitive team and I know the adjustment to the time demands has been tough for the freshmen. But then I saw a news release about a fellow athlete on her team with a liberal arts major, and his GPA is 3.975! Then I began to think D’s GPA was terrible!</p>
<p>Thanks everyone, I really appreciate the support!</p>
<p>TheGFG, I don’t think colleges like to talk about this because there really is such variability, and freshman GPA’s aren’t that good a predictor of future results. One of my brothers got an A, a B, a C and a D his first term - he’s a VP in the computer science field. I got 4 B’s and graduated magna cum laude. We both had gone to good prep schools. I thought it was easy to get B’s, but it took me a while to figure out how to step it up for an A. (And it also helped to choose a major that was more compatible with how I enjoyed spending my time.) I don’t know what the numbers are, personally I think no C’s is a good goal for that first year.</p>
<p>
freshman numbers are hard to find, but this is a great source for average gpa and the differential between STEM and liberal arts GPAs:
[National</a> Trends in Grade Inflation, American Colleges and Universities](<a href=“http://www.gradeinflation.com/]National”>http://www.gradeinflation.com/)</p>
<p>I agree that you should keep at it, because this may just be the cost of catching up with your classmates who had more rigorous preparation. Also, are you sure that your major/course selection isn’t part of the problem? If you’re in the wrong major, or if you are getting a bunch of requirements out of the way, you might find that the path is a lot smoother once you’re taking different kinds of classes. For example, if you don’t do well on exams, majors/courses that focus more on papers or projects might be a better academic fit.</p>
<p>It’s not about whether your school was a match or reach, it’s about managing the pace. When I went for my Masters degree I remember being overwhelmed by the relentless amount of reading. A kindly professor took me aside one day and told me that the secret to success isn’t reading it all but learning to assess what isn’t worth reading and then moving on. Heresy I know, but to this day I can judge within a few seconds whether a particular email is going to be valuable or is just being sent to promote the author’s cause.</p>
<p>Take a “How To Study” class this summer. You’ll be fine.</p>
<p>Look you also need to realize (unless you are pre med) college is not just about grades. Its about growing into adulthood – learning independence and self responsibility. Its about making connections with others; learning to respect/understand other viewpoints (And I don’t mean spending most of your time on alcoholic partying which is just immature and a plain waste of money.) Its about figuring out what you are truly interested in and what path you want to follow to find your future. As long as your are passing your classes and doing your best effort and growing on a personal basis you are achieving success.</p>
<p>Since you were home schooled, you may have many more hours of required courses than a kid with, say, AP or early college credits. Sometimes these can be the hardest courses to get a good grade in. As you get into specialized courses in your major, and if you’ve chosen that major well, you’ll find your strengths. </p>
<p>You will also learn a great deal about yourself as a student and where your best fit is. Look for areas that are much easier for you that they seem to be for your friends, whether in artistic presentation, staying organized, doing research, etc., or maybe a combination of things. These are the clues to a successful future path.</p>
<p>Struggling in college can happen even if you go to a match school. My daughter was definitely a match for the school she attends, but she still struggled in her freshman year. I think that the extra responsibility, and poor time management skills are the main reason. The good news is that these skills can be learned. Set specific, manageable goals. You will feel good about meeting the goals on time, your tasks and assignments will not seem as formidable, and as you become more confident, your academics will improve. Try and get into a study group…it can be socially and academically rewarding.
Best of luck for next year!</p>
<p>^I agree. This may have nothing to do with being in a “reach” school. It’s simply college which is different from either a high school or homeschooling environment. Many people have trouble adjusting to college. Just hang in there and work hard!</p>
<p>Just hang in there. The transition to college is rough.</p>
<p>You have to adjust your study habits. I had a 3.5 GPA during my freshman year using the same practices I had employed during high school. By the end of my sophomore year however, my GPA had plummeted to 2.89. Uninspiring intermediate macro/microeconomics classes did not help…more than anything however, was my reluctance to audit my study skills.</p>
<p>YOU HAVE TO READ. I can’t speak for you, but most college students gloss over the material they are given and don’t really read/study until it gets close to test time. I learned that it is best (usually) to read the chapters as they are given…read your textbook like a novel and perhaps write down an outline of each chapter with all the concepts and key topics. When test time rolls around, if the class is currently on chapter 8 you will still have a working memory of the more important aspects of chapter 3. Moreso than high school, college is where you learn what kind of “learner” you are. Some people have a knack for listening to the professor and retaining all of the information (unfortunately most professors only cover a fraction of what’s on an exam/quiz or they cover everything and move very, very fast). Others are quite visual and it helps to have flash cards or to write things down on paper.</p>
<p>The best way to study is to use the approach I learned while taking Calculus I, Calculus II, Matricies and Vectors, Statistics, Quantitative Methods in Finance and Investment Management…practice. Each professor in those classes said the same thing…you have to practice. In a history/humanties class…you have to read…reading often improves your writing and speaking ability. These sorts of classes can only be conquered by keeping up with required reading and perhaps reading ahead when possible. In math classes, simply open the book and work problems until you are blue in the face.</p>
<p>Many do struggle their first year, even at a match or safety school.
Hang in there, work hard!</p>
<p>wow, i’m on the other end of the spectrum here. I was lazy in high school, and had a low gpa, so I was forced into a average school. Right now, I’m bored out of my mind in these classes. The classes feel easier than in high school, and I feel like I’m wasting my time. Can’t wait to transfer in 1 year.</p>
<p>jgn2011: So you had a similar experience to mines with the sophomore year slam. Trust me, you’ll be fine and able to get back on your feet. If you were like me, your courseload(and subsequent difficulty) increased dramatically. I’m not sure if I agree on the working problems until blue lol, at least not book problems (and in many cases, SI isn’t even sufficient for some profs. SI problems give a “taste” of the exam difficulty without the context), but then again, I’m a STEM major (at a school that has a surprising amount of profs. w/untraditional teaching and testing methods considering the amount of boring “I only want an A, screw learning” pre-meds). I remember taking freshmen orgo. with a notoriously tough prof. (Awesome though, and has actually managed to get harder since I took it due to the talent of his class increasing quite a bit) and the book problems, no matter how many times you do them, were inadequate compared to the exams which consisted of mostly application/out of the box problem types. His class was more about learning to be creative and learn on your own. Essentially, it would suffice to actually spend time reading primary sources (research papers) on topics that are to be covered the exam (as problems generally come from them). Even in gen. physics and chem, where it is normally about problems/problem types, you have profs, that try to take the emphasis off of the mathematics and integrate a lot of conceptual understanding. Given that, one must read a lot along with doing problems. Just doing problems after say reading the chapters twice, will not suffice as it often leads to complacency in the sense that people think they have successfully mastered and memorized problem types. And then the test is much tougher because it sneaks in tricks that require a really deep conceptually understanding and some problems straight up ask you to explain a really complex phenomenon with no calculation. </p>
<p>Basically, you need to figure out the testing style of the profs. you have. This unfortunately may lead to first exam learning curve, but the study habits should adjust accordingly.<br>
Overall, it sucks to have a lower GPA at a top school especially, a private one, where the average is so high (except in STEM majors, but at some, say Ivies, those are strangely high). I kind of understand the pressure of many students, especially pre-profs., to put learning aside and only pursue the easiest classes and professors that allow them to fulfill requirements and keep a self-inflated GPA. Grad. and prof. schools aren’t going to care about the quality or rigor differences across courses w/in a school. Though it would be cool if they had a list of notorious profs. for certain key courses, especially from the top 20s, they don’t have time for such an analysis. An example that could have benefitted from this, is the orgo. class I mentioned which used to be labelled 100 level even though it is harder than the predominantly sophomore enrolled 200 level sequence. This past year, lucky for pre-meds and those for whom it may be important, it was labelled 221/222-Z )</p>
<p>Lunga: Good luck finding/attending a place that will challenge you.</p>
<p>My son had the opposite experience. He applied to ten reach schools and got accepted at three of them. He chose Rice and just finished his freshman year with a 3.9 GPA.</p>