Failing college and don't know how or what to do about it

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Robben
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14 May 2016, 8:52 pm

I have been a good student my entire life until now, I just don't understand how this is happening. From kindergarten to 7th grade I was a straight A student and after that I still only got As and Bs. I finished high school with a 3.4 GPA and was one of only 16 students in school history to average over 100% in the most difficult English IV class. I started going to college last summer and took anthropology and music. I got an A and a B-. Next semester I took engineering, writing, chemistry, and algebra. I got an F in all classes except engineering, which I got a B- in but would have been an A if I hadn't missed the final. Halfway through the semester a lot of things happened to me and I became extremely stressed, more stressed than I had ever been. When I found out I had grades lower than a B I lost motivation and wasn't able to bring them back up. I still feel like my efforts would have at least given me a D, I just don't get how the massive amount of work that I did do only got me an F. I took writing and algebra again this semester, but I had to withdraw as once again my grades were bad and it would be difficult to bring them back up. I ended up with one class which was history. I was certain I would get a B or better in this class. I only missed 5 out of ~40 lectures and did extremely well on the online work with 1240/1300 points. The only other grades in that class were for tests. I did do bad on two tests with a 56 and 64 but the rest were 80+. There were only 5 tests so it seemed to me that I would definitely be getting that B. I ended up with a D+ and I just don't get how those two grades would bring my grade down that low. I just got a letter in the mail saying I am suspended for summer due to my grades. Some of my classmates also go to this college and are passing with Cs, but they hardly even passed high school and I don't understand how they even got accepted to this college as their GPAs are <2.5. I just don't know what to do anymore. I feel like I am going to keep believing that I am passing the class and then get another failing grade at the end. I just want to transfer to a community college. I also don't know how to tell my mom. She thinks I am still getting As and Bs and I am really afraid to tell her. I don't know what she would do.



slenkar
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15 May 2016, 12:06 am

The professor's get together and talk about the students, do you think you may have done something to anger one of them?

You should ask one why you get a bad grade in a certain assignment or test ,they like to see signs of interest.



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15 May 2016, 12:37 am

Stop going to school whilst you are stressed. You cannot remember anything because the stress is distracting you. When you are distracted it means that you are unable to pay attention. Lack of being able to pay attention WILL affect your memory (information will not even enter your memory due to the distraction from being able to pay attention). Basically, you are not forgetting things, but rather, information never even got into your memory.

When you are ready you can resume self-learning from the FREE courses that are offered by MIT and other educational-institutions on-line where they even mail you your Diplomas/Certifications upon successful completion. I would strongly suggest you figure out how to become independent of a monetary system however. Learning how to create your own electric-generating devices, how to grow your own food (such as through simplified hydroponics systems), how to generate your own water and how to locate an unused plot of land to claim for yourself in order to build your own home on it to live independently of a grid-system.

You can learn a lot from You-Tube and Documentaries whilst they have not yet been suppressed...

Arlene Haas wrote:
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15 May 2016, 1:57 pm

Did you have some studying and time management problems?
Will they let you continue in the fall after suspending you for the summer?
Perhaps you should get help from the counseling office, like explain your stress and motivation problems to someone and see if you can get reinstated with a better plan for studying in future?
The best thing is to monitor your progress from the first day of the term, and try to get help at early on if you find you have trouble in some class.
Like get help from the TA for class material, before you get bad grades on tests.


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RoyalBlood
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24 May 2016, 3:53 pm

I think the first thing you must do is withdraw from school before addtional damge is done to your GPA. Then you need to sit down with some folks that can examine the sittion and identify what the problem areas are and develop a strategy to address them, In my case many years ago I had a basic chemistry class and the first test was designed to knock out students and it knocked me out. Upon review I found that to overcome the stress of doing the math problems relating to moles etc I had to over-learn them. I did hundreds of problems of each type required. Secondly I took chemistry (inorganic) : in summer school back to back as I found due to severe add I could not maintain focus for an entire semester. I ended up taking both semesters of organic and basic physics the same way. This allowed me to lear study skills that would work for me. I also did my English requirements and U.S. History same way in summer. My other subjects are my savant areas and I didnt need to study as I lived and breathed them. :D



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24 May 2016, 8:26 pm

I would suggest trying to reflect on these matters, look over what happened, take stock of the issues which occurred, and try to formulate ways to help deal with matters.
The syllabus of a class can be a good way to understand the weight of things on ones grade. I don't what the policy your college has on syllabuses (though at the university I attend the professors are all required to provide syllabuses to the students of their classes at the beginning of the semester). If they aren't provided it may be useful to try to find a way to request one.



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24 May 2016, 8:32 pm

Robben wrote:
I just want to transfer to a community college. I also don't know how to tell my mom. She thinks I am still getting As and Bs and I am really afraid to tell her. I don't know what she would do.


For the aspect of trying to tackle communicating with her, I could offer the following possibilities. Try to mentally practice what you intend to say, try to keep yourself mentally calm as much as that is practicable, and try to get up enough nerve to start talking and beyond the point of retreat (as it may be that the hardest hardle may be starting to tell her; though I wouldn't know for sure).



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24 May 2016, 8:34 pm

Here's a hint from the business world. No one gives a s**t about your GPA. Pass with a D so you can put the college on your resume when you graduate.



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24 Jun 2016, 12:05 pm

Taking chemistry, algebra and the engineering class in one semester is a lot on your plate, stress-wise. Could you try taking a reduced amount of classes and see how it goes? You probably need to retake the courses, but not all together. Your uni's major/department will want to see a decent gpa so you can be admitted into the program.



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01 Aug 2016, 11:52 pm

Robben wrote:
I have been a good student my entire life until now, I just don't understand how this is happening. From kindergarten to 7th grade I was a straight A student and after that I still only got As and Bs. I finished high school with a 3.4 GPA and was one of only 16 students in school history to average over 100% in the most difficult English IV class. I started going to college last summer and took anthropology and music. I got an A and a B-. Next semester I took engineering, writing, chemistry, and algebra. I got an F in all classes except engineering, which I got a B- in but would have been an A if I hadn't missed the final. Halfway through the semester a lot of things happened to me and I became extremely stressed, more stressed than I had ever been. When I found out I had grades lower than a B I lost motivation and wasn't able to bring them back up. I still feel like my efforts would have at least given me a D, I just don't get how the massive amount of work that I did do only got me an F. I took writing and algebra again this semester, but I had to withdraw as once again my grades were bad and it would be difficult to bring them back up. I ended up with one class which was history. I was certain I would get a B or better in this class. I only missed 5 out of ~40 lectures and did extremely well on the online work with 1240/1300 points. The only other grades in that class were for tests. I did do bad on two tests with a 56 and 64 but the rest were 80+. There were only 5 tests so it seemed to me that I would definitely be getting that B. I ended up with a D+ and I just don't get how those two grades would bring my grade down that low. I just got a letter in the mail saying I am suspended for summer due to my grades. Some of my classmates also go to this college and are passing with Cs, but they hardly even passed high school and I don't understand how they even got accepted to this college as their GPAs are <2.5. I just don't know what to do anymore. I feel like I am going to keep believing that I am passing the class and then get another failing grade at the end. I just want to transfer to a community college. I also don't know how to tell my mom. She thinks I am still getting As and Bs and I am really afraid to tell her. I don't know what she would do.


I don't know the initial cause of your bad grades....common causes are....

1. Difficulty adjusting to the new environment.
2. The program is not right for you.
3. The field of study is not something you are as interested in as you thought.
4. You are unsure you are on the right path in life.
5. Time management issues.
6. Anxiety.
7. Reality not meeting expectations.

Perhaps you should talk with a psychological counselor to help you to determine the crux of your issue.

However I can tell you one thing. You, being someone who has previously always done well, and who thinks anything less than a B is a bad grade, have set yourself up to take perceived failure a lot harder than your friends, who have always struggled.

I always had a difficult time with math in elementary school so when I got C's in college level math, it was nothing new to me. In most cases, I was happy I learned enough to advance to the next course. Because of this, I completed a degree in mathematics, and found that I was actually a lot better at higher mathematics than elementary mathematics, while a lot of people who had thought they were math whizzes because they did well in elementary school mathematics, dropped out once the notion they were good at math was challenged.

It helps to go into courses with some humility and uncertainty of how well you will do. The first math class I ever got an A in, I spent the whole quarter reminding myself I was not good at math, and had to spend a lot of time with it, and ask questions when they arose. I even told the professor to explain things to me like I was stupid. I ended up getting the highest grade possible in the class. There are other classes I put the same amount of effort into and got a C, but was happy because I knew the grade was a reflection of my actual abilities in that subject. And then of course there are classes I would have done better in had some circumstances been different.

Also, don't let your poor performance at one school make you think you are not cut out for what you are studying. Different schools have different teaching and learning environments, different class lengths, different types of faculty with different teaching philosophies, etc. There is no shame in quitting a program if you think you might do better elsewhere. Also be aware that you want to quit the program while you can still transfer to a different school. Schools have credit limits and GPA requirements for transfer students.



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02 Aug 2016, 7:57 am

You can't graduate with a D average; you must have at least a C (2.0 GPA) in order to graduate--sometimes higher.

Most companies don't care about your GPA with which you graduated in; but some "elite" companies are starting to care about it.

I believe your failing grades have more to do with stress than with your intelligence.

Maybe community college is the answer. There's no shame in it, and you accumulate credits like you do in "regular" college.

I have a nephew who totally failed college, then went to community college, then went to "regular" college, and graduated from "regular college" last year.

You can succeed, sir. Maybe going to community college might be the answer.



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02 Aug 2016, 8:40 am

I nearly dropped out during my sophomore year. As far as grades were concerned, grades K through 12 were a breeze. All I had to do was show up, turn in my homework, get my next assignment, complete it, and repeat the process.

My freshman year was a little more difficult. Adjusting to the noise and social pressures of dorm life took a lot of effort, but I still maintained better than a 3-point GPA. Suddenly, my second year became a real struggle - I actually had to work to keep my grades up!

I was later to find out that this is very common among people for whom primary school was "a breeze". The first 13 years of public-school "diploma mills" do not prepare students for the pressure of having to compete with other brilliant minds for good grades. For the first time, every other student in the classes I took was at least as intelligent as I, and the competitive drive seemed to be instinctive with them.

I stopped socializing, signed out of every extra-curricular activity I was in, and focused solely on my studies. No dates, no games, no movies, no pub-crawls (except after exams) ... it was classroom, cafeteria, dorm room, and library only, with occasional bouts of laundry, grocery shopping, and medical exams.

I graduated with an upper-mid three-point GPA, and went on to graduate school. By that time, most of the competition had either graduated, transferred, or dropped out.

Study hard, turn in your assignments, stay out of trouble, and forget about having a social life.

Good luck!

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02 Aug 2016, 11:19 am

Robben wrote:
I have been a good student my entire life until now, I just don't understand how this is happening. From kindergarten to 7th grade I was a straight A student and after that I still only got As and Bs. I finished high school with a 3.4 GPA and was one of only 16 students in school history to average over 100% in the most difficult English IV class. I started going to college last summer and took anthropology and music. I got an A and a B-. Next semester I took engineering, writing, chemistry, and algebra. I got an F in all classes except engineering, which I got a B- in but would have been an A if I hadn't missed the final. Halfway through the semester a lot of things happened to me and I became extremely stressed, more stressed than I had ever been. When I found out I had grades lower than a B I lost motivation and wasn't able to bring them back up. I still feel like my efforts would have at least given me a D, I just don't get how the massive amount of work that I did do only got me an F. I took writing and algebra again this semester, but I had to withdraw as once again my grades were bad and it would be difficult to bring them back up. I ended up with one class which was history. I was certain I would get a B or better in this class. I only missed 5 out of ~40 lectures and did extremely well on the online work with 1240/1300 points. The only other grades in that class were for tests. I did do bad on two tests with a 56 and 64 but the rest were 80+. There were only 5 tests so it seemed to me that I would definitely be getting that B. I ended up with a D+ and I just don't get how those two grades would bring my grade down that low. I just got a letter in the mail saying I am suspended for summer due to my grades. Some of my classmates also go to this college and are passing with Cs, but they hardly even passed high school and I don't understand how they even got accepted to this college as their GPAs are <2.5. I just don't know what to do anymore. I feel like I am going to keep believing that I am passing the class and then get another failing grade at the end. I just want to transfer to a community college. I also don't know how to tell my mom. She thinks I am still getting As and Bs and I am really afraid to tell her. I don't know what she would do.


You should tell her. These things will come out eventually, and best to tell her up front. She probably will be angry and upset, but you should try and tell her anyway. Try and talk to the teachers and see what happened. If its a matter of the classes being too hard or confusing try to seek help from tutors etc.

Does your college have an office of disability services? If so I would contact them and try to get help.

Don't worry about this. My older brother is NT, and always got good grades in high school, but had a really really tough time in college, so much so that he had to leave and switch schools. Just keep trying and keep looking for help!

Also, have a social life but if grades are a concern curtail extensivly. Just hang out with a few people until you "get it together"