is it normal for 1st year college students to fail classes?

Question

Obviousley failing is horrible especially in college but I'm having problems with a math class and a humanities class. and i'm trying very hard in both but i'm failing. I take a health and eng class also but i'm doin ok in those. Any suggestions? comments?

Answer 1

OK, let me begin by saying I'm pretty smart. I got a full academic scholarship. But I took a five credit calculus class in my first semester, and I very quickly started failing out of the class. I had a professor who was from Thailand, and I had a very hard time understanding him. I was also used to high school, which was a cakewalk for me.

My solution to the problem: I withdrew from the class before mid-semester. At my college, you can withdraw from a class without penalty as long as it is before a certain date. (You still have to pay for the class, of course.) You should check with your college office of records and registration to see if this is an option.

After the rough start, I learned how to study--to really study. But I never took calculus again. I did graduate three years ago with a 3.88 GPA.

Good luck.

Answer 2

Yes, it's completely normal, even for good students.

I had a 4.23 in high school, took a bunch of APs, officers of all kinds of clubs, blahblah, your typical college-admitted student. First quarter at UCLA, I started out as a mechanical engineering major, took the required chemistry class, and what do you know? Fail the first midterm, fail the second midterm. Engineering students have a different policy: you can't drop a class after a certain number of weeks. I wasn't doing so hot in my other classes either (I had over 100% in my honors English classes in high school, and here I was getting crappy grades on my essays; I took a math class that was the equivalent of Calculus BC, wasn't even getting an A in that). It was so hard for me to adjust to the whole system, and I had to worry about a ton of other things on top of it all.

The good news is, you can definitely, definitely redeem yourself. Get help from TAs and professors before you seek out tutoring because they're the ones that know the class best. If you're still not doing so well, try to get the highest grades possible in your health and English classes. If your college lets you retake classes, then go for a retake in the math and humanities. It sounds kind of sneaky, but if you know you're not going to be happy with your final grade, aiming for a fail (in my case, anything lower than a C- lets you retake a class, although a C- is like the equivalent of a fail anyway) will let you retake it. The low grade might show up on your transcript, but the higher grade will be factored into your GPA, and people will be able to see that you at least redeemed yourself.

As for myself, after that first hellish quarter, I studied my @ss off. I have something like a 3.64 now, which isn't all that great, but I'm still working on it. (My grades went something like this as time passed: C-, B+, B+; B, A-, A-; Pass, A, A; A, A-.) You just have to figure out the resources you can use. Always go to TAs...they get paid to help you, and are usually good at it. Moral of the story: don't worry!

Answer 3

Obviously you should be studying on a regular basis, at least 2 to 4 hours a day.

If you're not passing math, you might have started out too high. Consider taking a math placement test or dropping your current course and taking a lower level to work up gradually.

If you're doing ok in English, great. Sometimes it helps to take a basic English course to learn about writing papers - and that knowledge can improve your performance in humanities classes.

If you're failing the humanities class, consider dropping it and taking it later.

A basic computer class is helpful to start with if you're not competent in Windows, Word, Excel, and all that, but these days new students usually are.

Check for resources such as a Reading/Writing Center or a Math Lab. They often have tutors who are paid by the school - and you can sign up for 20 or 30 minute sessions with them.

Make the Math lab and the Writing lab your new home.

Also, there are sometimes some basic classes in study habits and note-taking that are often helpful to new students.

Good luck!

Answer 4

It sounds to me as though you are taking classes that aren't at your level. The fact that you're in a university implies that you are a relatively intelligent person. Perhaps you should consider enrolling in the class below the level you're at. People have to take the right steps to learn, especially when it comes to math; if you skip those steps, you'll lag behind and not do as well as you might have.
It might also be the teacher; I have found that I'm VERY compatable with some teachers' style of teaching, and others just leave me lost in the dust. Make sure you find one that's right for you. Everyone learns differently; perhaps you could find a teacher that caters to your learning style. Good luck!

Answer 5

College is VERY different from highschool, so I think failing classes happens more than we'd like to think. Take advantage of free tutoring for the classes you are struggling in because college grades can follow you around for the rest of your life...

Answer 6

I would say that it is normal. I "fell in love" Freshman year to a guy that wasn't in college. So I pretty much failed everything second semester. In the end though I graduated with a 3.26. Now I am in Grad school with a 4.00. So, don't worry about it. Just don't give up!

Answer 7

Yes. It's normal. You're not used to the study time, and college is hard work. Your college should have labs and tutors. I suggest that you use them. Go to a counselor or check with student services. You can get help for free. Go get it.

Answer 8

Depends did you behaved well in school?( obvious you dedícate to punch people like my cousin from califorrnia don't expect goals ) ( his a boxer) Have you have a goal defines. Are you serious?for example I intetionaly want to be this. You have history of sexual abuse? Obvious your abuse as a child you'll walk " cojo" . Sinverguenza? Like este you know... I'm gonna tell you something many people that achieve know their goals at a very young age or have a specialized life or the truth mega virgin o sea lust is cancelation of strength. All this counts in childhood

Answer 9

yes pretty much everyone I knew did poorly in their first year so don't feel too bad... simply because it is not like highschool. It takes time management skills to plan when to study for each subject and to be able to hand in assigments on time. Also it is hard to motivate yourself so you gotta force yourself sometimes. If you feel these courses are too much to handle, I suggest dropping one of them before the volantary withdrawal date (usually after or before the mid-terms). Do what you can handle and take it easy, it takes time to adjust. Most people I know had low GPA's because of their first year.

Answer 10

it happens, i think everyone in college fails a class eventually, but there are alot of things you can do to prevent that... i don't know which college you attend, but at my university, they offer FREE math tutors, and Supplemental Instruction study sessions, which is basically a big study group and it helps out alot, just check out the resources your college offers, and take advantage of them! good luck with everything!