Which college would you be able to go if you left after the 1st semester? I feel like I'm going to leave (i go to a different service academy) because my grades are suffering so much right now. Will I ever build it back up? I was thinking community college for 1 semester.
Crazardo,
FWIW, there are A LOT of college freshmen in the same boat (pardon the pun) as you right now. A LOT. Like, the majority of you - all of you, nationwide.
I advise about 60 undergraduates at any one time (I'm now a college professor). I'm at a school not unlike USxA: highly-selective, strong STEM focus, some awesome, many good, and a handful of terrible profs. Here are the differences between the freshmen who successfully navigate that shocking first semester and the ones who don't.
1. The successful ones recognize when they're in trouble and GET HELP by whatever means necessary. Let me define a couple of terms: "trouble" = any exam or quiz grade ≥2 letter grades lower than you're used to getting or any time you find yourself thinking "but I studied and studied and I have NO idea why I did so bad on that exam!" "Help" means tutoring from a reputable source - a tutoring center, not your best friend or random guy down the hall on your floor. Reputable sources also include your professors. Also in this category are students who
really believe that they are capable of learning - not the ones who think that some stuff is just too hard, that they'll never be smart enough to learn ___. (If you are saying that, I have bad news for you: you're RIGHT!)
2. The successful ones know how to ask questions. UNsuccessful freshmen (well, any student) come to my office hours and start out by saying "I just don't understand" or "I'm not getting it" or, worse, "You didn't tell me this was important." The successful ones show up and say, "I don't understand how you got Y from X" and "I'm not getting how to synthesize R & S to get T." Have specific questions. Write them down. This requires that you keep some kind of log while you are studying, working problems, etc. I have one student who uses those little flag Post-its: red for "clueless, need to ask," yellow for "think so, review again" and green for "solid."
3. UNsuccessful students have what we call "rainbow textbooks." They highlight the heck out of them and think they've learned something. Successful students read a little bit at a time. They ask themselves questions while reading (What's the main point? Do I understand this? Could I explain it to someone else? Do I get the connection between this and what we did in class today?). Successful students read figure captions. They can interpret figures in their own words. They read and do problems to learn, not to make a good grade - and, the good grades come
because they are more committed to learning for mastery.
4. Successful students really manage their time well. They read a little every day. They do some problems every day. They set aside time to study every class, every day, just like they set aside time for their classes, fun, sports, and socializing. They work without distractions -
very important. They silence their phones and stay off Facebook. They plan ahead for projects and papers and work on them a little every day. They don't blow stuff off - not just rarely,
ever. Like, for real. They recognize the need to blow off steam and to play on their floor's ultimate frisbee IM team, but they recognize that all these things are possible, and remain possible,
only because they are students here. That is the ultimate and most important purpose of successful students. And you know, it's funny - I can tell who the good planners are, because when finals week rolls around, they're stressed, sure - but they're confident, they get some sleep, they're not sick, they're wearing clean clothes (not their pajamas!) they smile, and they walk out of my final exam saying things like "That was a good exam, I really learned something there."
You
can build your grades back up. It is not a matter of your smarts; it is a matter of you taking action now, and every day, every single day in the future. Find and use resources for help. Make a realistic plan and stick to it. If you're overcommitted (HA! At a service academy?!?) pull out of an EC. If you aren't spending every spare 15 minutes in the library or a cozy and quiet nook studying or working on something, you're wasting precious time.