Why am I doing so bad?!

Colleges and Universities A-Z University of California - San Diego
1

<p>I'm a freshman and only have 3 classes, but I feel like I'm doing REALLY bad for my first quarter. I had two midterms so far and did poorly (D- on one and C- on the other) on both of them, even though I THOUGHT I did well on them...Though the C- was mainly because I made a terribly stupid mistake.</p>

<p>I go to all my lectures and take down notes. I go to all of the discussions. I do my homework and study for my midterms. And people said these classes were easy (Math 10C and Econ 3). I feel like I don't learn anything at ALL in my math class(the D- midterm); all my knowledge comes from my discussion and just learning from the book...the professor is just...ugh. He just writes things on the board that just seemed copied from the book, and it's not thoroughly explained. </p>

<p>Is it my fault for not studying enough and not having good school habits? Or are these classes supposed to be like this? I'm surrounded by students who seem to have a good grasp of the material or seem so far ahead of me...So stressed! I can handle my parents yelling at me, but I really just want to do well and be successful.</p>

<p>Advice...please D:</p>

2

<p>It could be the class, or you, or both.</p>

<p>Are they curved classes? It was hard for me at first to understand the grading scale in college is just different. The average is a C+/B- and anything above/below is adjusted accordingly, OR the grading scale is reduced (eg 80% is an A, 70 is a B, etc). Unless they’re not curved classes or you’re way behind the average, you’re fine. A lot of people have this “A on the final A in the class” mantra which is partially to mostly true as long as you’ve been scoring around the average on everything else. So work hard and you can still do okay!</p>

<p>Random study habit tips: Study in an environment that doesn’t distract you. You didn’t study 3 hours for a midterm if you were browsing facebook every 10 minutes. Do problems over and over again and understand the concept behind it, not just how the numbers go together. Ditch the solution manual. Never refer to it while you’re doing a problem because it’s different knowing how they got the answer and being able to get the answer on your own. Do more than the homework assigns.</p>

<p>In general, repetition is good. It’s possible to pull A’s out of cramming but if you’re already struggling with the material, procrastination is your worst enemy. If you can write out a study schedule (say, 1 hour a day per class) and stick to it, you’re golden :)</p>

3

<p>Badly. Why are you doing so badly. (:</p>

<p>Sent from my iPhone using CC</p>

4

<p>go momosky!!
i second what momo said.
but let’s add to that shall we :)</p>

<p>ok im going to be super duper frank because of your last statement:

</p>

<p>the first step to success is wanting to change things around. Now that we ahve it covered, we identify hte problem:

  1. Is it you? Like do you not understand math of Econ?
  2. Is it your study habits? do you like Momosky said, browse facebook every ten minutes the day before the midterm?
  3. Is it the homework that you not understand. Like you get the concepts, but have trouble applying it to hw</p>

<p>now that we have those three down, let’s change it.

  1. You don’t understand the concepts. The best thing for you to do is 3 things [minimum, feel free to expand and add HELPFUL stuff :slight_smile:
    a) Study on your own for 1-2 hours [the more the better] per subject each day. now after you read a chapteror a section, do a general summary of it. So in econ, you read section 1.1, then you do a “3 most important things, what i learned, questions, etc”; for math, write out the examples they give you.
    b) Tutoring is always available. I forgot the site, but it should be in your UCSD email somewhere. It’s a site for UCSD students only who offer tutoring services
    c) Go talk to your prof. during office hours and ask questions in class. who cares if it makes you “look stupid” by asking a weird question. The point is you want to understand the material, so just [BEEP] all those who stand in your way :smiley:
    To be successful in life, you need to take risks, in this case, asking questions. It might be hard, but once you get the hang of it, Parrrty!!</p>

<p>2) ok now maybe it’s your studying habits.
well you need to put in more time. What i believe is the ideal thing to do is study about a week in advance for midterms [and start about a month from the final] that way, you can slowly gain an overall concept of things before the final, and you wouldn’t have to stress yourself out the night before the the final.<br>
Now what are good study habits?
i find that talking to yourself is really important. I was just in the library studying for MMW midterm, and i was whispering to myself. I couldn’t care less who thought what about me. And i walked out of the MMW class, feeling like i did decently well. so talk to yourself. It might look/sound/feel weird, and a bunch of psychologist say that if you talk to yourself you are a sociopath , but they are idiots, so talk to yourself :slight_smile:
Also like Momo said, repetition, repeat / do the problems over until you get a firm understanding. For math, do the odd problems in the book so you can check it, and then try an even problem. this will let you know if you understand it or not. If you get the first problem wrong, do the odd problems again, and walk yourself through it.
I am doing this because of this, and so on so forth.
For econ, i can’t help you very much, except with saying review the main concepts and apply it to life. the human brain works wonders, and by applying something to something you are familiar with, you boost the “recalling”: feature of your brain :P</p>

<p>and finally if you are a no. 3:
3. Is it the homework that you not understand. Like you get the concepts, but have trouble applying it to hw
then talk to your TA, do the homework problems over and over again until you understand it. most teachers wont assign each and every problem, you you can go through and try the ones not assigned by yourself. if you don’t get it go to the prof or TA, they will surely help you :)</p>

<p>Oh and psychologically speaking, be positive and laugh and all that stuff, it works wonders as well ;D</p>

<p>if all else fails i could give a shot at explaining Math 10C [im in 20C so i think we are learning somewhat of the same stuff]]</p>

<p>wow i wrote a lot. this better help you :smiley:
**start studying for the final from NOW, it will honestly help you.</p>

<p>DISCLAIMER: I am a fellow freshman, so the advice you just read could change up your grades even more. I take no responsibility or credit for the A’s you will receive; it is your work, be bold, be proud, be strong!! :D</p>

5

<p>@Hatshepsut: LOL. Give me a break! I typed this up at 2 am :P</p>

<p>@momosky: The classes were curved, and my score was like…16% below the average(for Math)…but I forgot the standard devation. Math 10C is like the only class I’m really worried about passing atm. Hoping to get at least a B in Econ, which I think I can pull off ._. Thanks for the advice though, really. I’m going to start studying daily for classes so I can fully absorb the information. I don’t get sidetracked when I’m actually focused, but I admit, I did cram for the midterms D:</p>

<p>@spatel23: Ahhhhh, appreciate that thorough post! The problem is that I do understand the material we go over, but the tests and quizzes in math are completely irrelevant to what we go over and are centered around concepts rather than plug and chug (a mistake I will now learn from for sure…). My midterms (I have both econ and math on Wednesday EFFF) are coming up so I’m gonna start studying today! Okay, I’m motivated now. No more slacking. Studying today and over the weekend! :D</p>

6

<p>I had one of those moments first quarter freshman year too. I got a D on a French exam and thought I wasn’t intelligent enough for UCSD, was freaking out, etc. I promise you it gets better! You will refine your studying over the quarters and get into the “swing” of college classes. Keep studying and try not to stress too much :slight_smile: (I used to hate it when people told me that, but things really do work out)</p>

7

<p>I agree with UCSanDiego as I have had the same experience. It was hard to adjust in my first quarter (I’m a transfer though) so I didn’t do so well, but I haven’t gotten anything less than an A- after that. I swear I totally thought that I wasn’t smart enough for UCSD, but things really do get better! Good luck :)</p>

8

<p>A kid might have been one of the smartest kids in his high school class. But now he goes off to college, where everyone admitted to that school is at approximately at the same intelligence level as him. Suddenly, he is no longer a star. He is an also ran.</p>

<p>Like a kid who was the star of his high school footballl team, but finds that when he gets on the LSU team, that everyone is as good as he is, or better.</p>

9

<p>Adjusting to college is harder than you might expect. The first quarter, there’s a lot more going on in your head than just the step-up in academic rigor. You are getting used to living away from home, dealing with how to manage time when there are more distracting fun things to do than you were tempted by in high school. Not to mention, you’re meeting many many new people, learning the campus, and figuring out how to do every simple little thing like getting your laundry done in a new place. You are probably managing a food budget for the first time, possibly having more freedom than you are used to, and even figuring out how to get yourself to go to bed at a reasonable time. This is not to disagree with all the good points made above, it’s just another variable that hasn’t been mentioned and can interfere with learning. But it gets better after you adjust and you may retain the information better when your brain is not full of all the other new things happening at the same time. Also, some people have a hard time with the idea of not getting an A. You may think “try for an A, accept a B”, but truthfully, sometimes “try for a B and get it” is more successful because it causes less anxiety. Good luck, you are not alone and the fact that you are even asking the question means you will almost certainly succeed.</p>

10

<p>Everyone is passing around some really good advice here. I want to add that in college you really have to learn how to manage and accomplish things on your own, and that may be where your problem lies. Don’t expect your professors to tell you everything you need to know. You will have more than one professor/TA in your time who really does not know how to lecture or otherwise assist your learning. That’s kind of awful considering that’s what you’re paying for, but it’s what all of us students face so you know you’re not alone. People who rely on lecture material alone are the ones who pad out the bottom half of the class… if you want better, you have to study on your own time, on your own terms. It’s up to you what you learn and to what extent you learn it. You decide what to remember, which concepts to focus on, to what extent you understand them, etc. Obviously, your standards should be informed by the professor’s expectations, but I think what often happens isn’t that people don’t invest time and prepare, but that they don’t prepare the right things, to the necessary extent. So a crucial skill for you to develop right now is how to study the right things, the right way. Another way of thinking of this isn’t as a low point in your life but as a challenge to yourself to become more independent and learn how to do things the smart way. It will hugely benefit you for the rest of your life if you learn how to be successful by self-reliance. </p>

<p>I’d also like to echo what a couple people already said earlier. You’ve got to start small, so accept that your grades this quarter may not be so ideal but that you have plenty of other chances to raise your GPA, and that one off-quarter in freshman year isn’t the end of all good things to come. Sometimes you do your best when you give yourself motivational stress to improve what you have rather than to achieve perfection or something out of reach. So start by setting some realistic, healthy goals and work your way up. Also have faith things will get better. They usually do. Just look at all the people who’ve posted so far who were able to adjust to UCSD and improve their grades. So don’t over-stress; challenge yourself, and stay positive. Good luck!</p>

11

<p>Thank you for all the feedback and advice. I really took it to heart and studied my butt off for my midterms, and changed my work and school habits; I am happy to say I did very well on both of the exams! :slight_smile: I think I have developed more of a “can do” attitude and hopefully it carries on beyond university (and this quarter :P). Once again, I really appreciate everyone’s responses; I know they will be very helpful to any student who stumbles upon this and is feeling as hopeless as I did.</p>

12

<p>I didn’t start doing well in school until I really began to eat **** at the end of freshman year. Now I’m at a top program in graduate school. Sometimes you need to get a kick in the rear to get motivated to do well.</p>

13

<p>^ what if the kick in your rear didn’t happen for 4 quarters and shows on your transcript? ):</p>

14

<p>I had a 2.7 after my first 4 quarters. I graduated with a 3.65 and cum laude. You can always improve.</p>

15

<p>Thanks for coming back to let people know. Congrats and continued good luck to you.</p>

16

<p>Thanks. I still tend to post more here than I do on the board of my current program, mainly because this forum caters more to undergrads than graduate students. I also know a lot more about UCSD than I do my program since I’ve only been here 8 weeks so far, and have 4.66 more years to go or so.</p>