SO UPSET!!!!! please read!!!!?

Question

I'm in tears right now very upset can't even think straight!!!!
I am a freshman at college. This semester I worked harder then i EVER have in my entire life!!! never went to any parties the entire semester because I felt I needed to focus on my grades hell, I never even had much of a social life.

Well, I took my first final today and did TERRIBLE!!!!!
I got a 69%

My grades for my classes have pretty much been posted
A = freshman seminar class
B = English composition
B/C = Intro. to music literature
C = Psychology
C = Intro. to criminal justice

I'm so upset with myself right now!!!
AND I'm transferring and with those kinds of grades I'm never going to get into another University!!

I honestly just want to quit!!!!
Maybe I'm just not smart enough for college!!!
HELP!!!

Answer 1

Many colleges have free counseling for students, and the insurance of many parents oftentimes covers such treatment anyway.

The questioner should get some professional help, and work to overcome her religious intolerance and scapegoating.

Answer 2

I'm going to have to tell it to you straight: college doesn't get easier as you go along. I'd also argue that you took a fairly normal course load; most students take five courses a semester. By the time you get to your junior year, the classes are going to get a lot harder.

The good news is, I don't think you should quit and I do think you're probably smart enough. Obviously, something happened this semester that wasn't right. If you put in the work, as you say you did, then your study habits aren't the issue. Perhaps, however, it is the way you study. There are ways to study that are much more effective than others. Usually, there is an academic support center at most schools, so you should find out if your school has one and discuss study techniques with a counselor there. Everyone uses different study techniques, but there are ways to study that will be much better than others.

We're you in contact with your professors often during the semester? That's something that you must keep up on. Keeping in close contact with your professors by attending their office hours and sending them emails can make the difference between an A or a B or a B and a C. Professors often nudge you in the right direction as to what material to study for tests and what to examine when writing papers if you go to their office hours. It's their way of helping those who show that they really care about their grades.

Are you transferring because you were unhappy this semester? Sometimes transferring is right, but often times students will find that they transfer to have a better life but find that everything is still the same. Sometimes its not the university, its just the student. Perhaps if you find out what will help you achieve higher grades and allow you more social time, you'll be happier (at any college).

Certainly meet with a counselor or adviser at your school. You should also find out if your university (or new college, wherever you're going) has a tutoring room. You might need some help to maintain high grades.

Don't worry too much, however. A lot of students don't do so well their first semester in college. It's different from high school. Even with the grades you have now, you can still pull them up enough to graduate in 4 years with a cumulative GPA of 3.5 or better. Just remember, you need to figure out what you can do to perform better (whether its different studying or different types of classes, tutoring, etc.) now because classes are going to become more difficult.

Hope that helps!

Answer 3

Calm down. You're doing fine. And if you know you need to study, and you pass all of your classes, and you put school first, you ARE smart enough for college.
Grades are no sign of intellegence. It depends on the teacher's grading style, how much work you put into the class, any biases the teacher has, and many other factors what grade you get. And don't compare your grades with your friends. My high school was full of overachievers, so I felt really stupid when I "only" had a 3.5...but most of the people with 4.0s and higher didn't do as well as I did on the ACT and SAT.
Those are decent grades. You should pass all the classes with those grades. Most transfer students only need a 2.5 cumulative to get into a decent school when they switch schools. Which translates to about half B's and half C's. You're doing fine. Even University of California will take a transfer student with a GPA lower than a 3.0, and next semster, once you're more used to it, you can get better grades to bring your cumulative up. It's VERY COMMON to have a bad first semester. I was shocked when my grades came back after my first semster....I had a 3.7.....was really suprised it was that high. My bad semester is happening at an unusual time, but it's happening for sure! But I know that one bad semester won't ruin my future, or yours either. Trust me, bad semesters happen to all of us!

Answer 4

thats not really that bad for your first semester

to put into perspective - i got a 0.9 gpa my first semester and graduated with a 3.71 - also, are you sure they have pretty much been posted? because things change after professors apply the curve.

you have to understand that college requires a lot more studying than high school did. Also, you have to learn how to take a college test - you need to figure out where the test material came from after the first test of a semester - then only focus on that for the next test. - obviously you can't do this for every class because some profs use everything - but it helps for the ones that don't

Answer 5

First of all, I'm sorry things didn't work out as well for you as you might have hoped, but realize that you aren't in desperate trouble. I've seen students whose first-semester grades were a .33! Yours are a 2.7 which, while not stellar, is well above passing level. You won't be on academic probation, and you aren't at risk of flunking out. This can be fixed.

Secondly, know that the first semester of freshman year is hard on many people. This is a big transition, and many of the coping skills you developed in high school may not work as well for you in college. You need to be able to adapt to something new which works.

Thirdly, your attitude has been great. You could have blown off the whole semester and spent it drinking. You know you can avoid that to get to what you want. That is a definite positive.

I would strongly suggest a couple of things. First, if your college has a learning center of some sort (and most do), go there. Tell them that you need help with study skills. Bring with you some of your exams, papers, etc. on which you had trouble. Explain what you said here - that you worked yourself almost to death, and this was the result. My guess is that you worked harder than you needed to, but that your focus was wrong. They should be able to help you with this.

Also, I would go to my professors at the beginning of the next semester and let them know that you are a serious student who really wants to do well in their classes, and ask them for any advice. Some will be unhelpful and just tell you to read the syllabus, but others may work with you. Be careful not to say things like, "I intend to get an A in your class," which might be seen as a threat, but rather, "I really want to do well in your class." Some of my colleagues and I were just talking about that distinction yesterday. The first group we really resent, because it sounds like they are telling us how to grade. The second we love, because they just want to know how to direct their efforts.

You got into college. You got an A in one of your classes, which means excellent, and a B, which means good, in at least one more. That means you are definitely smart enough for college. You just have to learn how to do college; it is not, and should not just be, high school on steroids.

Answer 6

Oh I don't think you should quit at all and I'll tell you why specifically. You can write. Is that important? It is overwhelmingly important. That you got a good grade in English and that your question is well composed signals me that you are someone who is much better than average at one of if not the most important university skills. That you did less well in social science courses suggests to me that perhaps you want to focus and declare a major in the humanities not the social sciences. English? History? Think of this as a semester in which you have discovered your own strengths and weaknesses and move on, up and ahead from there.
Good luck.

Answer 7

Oh first Baby Girl you need to Breath. And Second you shouldn't drop out of college if your as smart as you say you are wouldn't be thinking that trust me. Now as for your grades there not bad for a freshman. College is overwhelming your freshman year. Maybe you need extra help or learn a better way to study to take information into your mind. Try flash cards or taping your classes so you can play them back to your self. Studies show if you relax and play the tape while your sleeping your mind tends to soak up the information better.

Answer 8

Don't quit only quitters quit and you are not a quiter, it looks to me like you are carrying a B average that's very good keep up the hard work you can do it, one bad final is not the end you may have jest had a bad day, jest remember anything worth having will take work, so keep working at it, in the long run you will be glad that you stuck with it, if you quit now, for the rest of your life you will regret it, so dry those tears and get back to studying.

Answer 9

BREATHE!
Okay. First of all, you're taking a lot of classes! I only take 2-3, and you're taking FIVE.
Second of all, you're a freshman. Most people don't do as well freshman year. Even if you think you've adjusted well, even if you've studied all the time, there's still a lot of additional stress because you're away from home in a new place--and you also have to get used to your academic system/expectations.

Answer 10

You shouldn't be sorry in the least bit. Your diary is where you should be able to express yourself HOWEVER you desire. Just because you write something in there doesn't mean you do or don't mean it. You're just expressing yourself. I also write in a diary. It's sort of a spur of the moment thing where I write down my exact feelings at that moment. It's not intended to hurt the feelings of other people, hence it should not be read by anyone else. Bottom line is that your mom shouldn't have read the diary. Don't be sorry because of how you felt.

Answer 11

Take a deep breath. You have done better in your first semester of college than a lot of people do. It looks like you were taking a fairly heavy load. So much of adjusting to college has nothing to do with academics--living away from home is a big one. Don't be too hard on yourself! You CAN do it!