Failed First Semester

OP,
I'm a prof. It would shock and disgust a lot of people here if they knew how much academic advice I dole out every semester.

I'm just saying I've seen a lot of situations and talked with a ton of kids in your situation.

I've read a lot of "you can do it if you work hard!" and "you're not cut out for it -- change majors!" in this thread.

Here are the first two questions I would ask you, and I think it can determine what you do from here.

1. Why were you pursuing engineering?
Answer A: Because I know it leads to good, solid careers, and I'm a smart person who should be able to handle the classes. (Related: "my parents really wanted me to do this.")
Answer B: Because I really loved math and science in high school.

If answer A is true, you *might* be in a situation where your own unique skill set and your own truest passions don't fit engineering. Something to think about, leading to...

2. Did you enjoy your engineering classes this term?
Answer A: No, it was kind of a chore.
Answer B: Yes, I found myself asking questions that the prof didn't cover and looking at extra homework problems in the book that weren't assigned.
Answer C: I was in between those somewhere. Sometimes it was interesting, but not so interesting that I wanted to spend so much time on it.

So let's take the two questions together:
B&B: give engineering another try no doubt.
B&C: may well be worth another try
A&B: may well be worth another try

A&A: I would seriously recommend a change.
A&C: You should *think* about a change -- what else interests you?
B&A: ditto

 

Good advice! ^^^

 

1 more question.
How many hours did you take?

There is a possibility you bit off more than you could chew.
I recall . . several issues going to college
[I really needed a guide rather than testing it on my own]
1. Taking 8 am classes - I DID IT IN HIGH SCHOOL . . SO COLLEGE SHOULD BE NO PROB, RIGHT??? Wrong!!!!!
2. Taking 15+ hours - I'M NOT IN CLASS ALL DAY EVERY DAY . . NOT EVEN 8 HOURS A DAY . . I CAN HANDLE THIS, RIGHT???? Wrong!!!
3. Too Advance Classes - I TOOK CALCULUS IN HIGH SCHOOL . . .CANNOT BE TOO DIFFERENT HERE . . RIGHT ????? Wrong!!!

Rocket River
I ambled through . . but alot of mistakes on the way

Rocket River

 

Cool! You can do it. I think RocketRiver makes some good points to consider too. If your parents will support your decision, maybe you could start with a smaller course load. Get Calc out of the way during the summer, etc.

Best wishes to you.

 

This is probably obvious/dumb advice but I turned my college career around by constantly telling myself "this is most important moment in my life, this is the most important exam in my life" constantly whenever I started to even feel I was falling back in material or studying for an exam. Take each semester at a time, try not think overall even though that is important but it will only throw you off.

 

I didn't read all the responses in the thread, so this may have been covered.

First of all, if you are wondering to yourself if you didn't study hard enough, then you didn't. If you had spent every available minute for studying, then this would not be one of the possible reasons for poor grades. Some people can make good grades with relatively little study time. I always had to put in a great deal of study time to make my grades.

Secondly, decide you are going to make an A in every class, and do whatever it takes to get that grade.

Thirdly, you may want to consider taking fewer hours than a full load. I had some semesters where I only took 12 hrs because the classes were difficult.

Finally, treat your school work as if it were a job. Plan on putting in 8 or 9 hours of day, even if you don't have much to do. I always liked to get way ahead in my studies.

Good luck.

 

apollo33, sorry to hear about your semester.

I had a friend in very similar shoes. He chose electrical engineering since math and science were his passion yet he failed one of his semesters. As a result, his parents pretty much disowned him (Asian), and he was on his on for a while working various jobs like serving tables to pay for tuition and such.

Seeing how hard life was for those without a college degree, he worked his butt off and graduated with a solid GPA. He went on to work for somewhere like IBM or GE, and is now a consultant at one of the top consulting firms in the world.

Hopefully his success should encourage you to give it another shot.

 

i answered A&A and i have a 3.48 in electrical engineering (nothing to brag about i know) , some people can do it, some people cant, thats all that it boils down to. most of my friends from freshman year are gone, but the people who i though of as "smart" are still around.

 

Its tough out there man, i think alot of people have been in your same position. You may honestly not be ready for college. It is a huge commitment to go to college and isnt something to take lightly. Make sure you realize that you go to college to get a better job and to help open doors and oppourtunities for yourself. This may be a crossroads in your life that you need to think long and hard about. Going to college or not going to college, could change your life drastically, good luck my friend.

 

I did pretty bad last semester and I really need to do better (I start my 2nd sophomore semester next week). A lot of it has to do with the fact that I have been an undeclared major and have taken all required cores that are of no interest to me at all.

Anyway, to the people who get straight A's, what's your usual study method? Do you go over your notes in class every day, read the book every day, etc? I know it varies class to class but I'm always clueless as to how to study when it's not clear what is going to be on the test. It's still something I need to learn because I hardly studied at all in HS and did great.

 

It's been a while, but my biggest objective was simply to get to the library and stay there doing whatever was assigned on the syllabus for that night as well as bits of the future material to be discussed in lecture.

I also made sure to go to office hours twice a week for even the simplest of questions. That way I'd learn more about the professor, the way they thought, and I'd anticipate the kinds of questions they'd ask on exams. In addition, I'd ask for samples of old exams or ask them review questions for upcoming midterms.

Don't forget to cross-reference the exams which you've done against the material you studied (notes, textbook). Detect a pattern for what you studied and how much of it was actually on the test. One class of mine had the professor lifting questions from the end-of-the-chapter bullet points.

And, I took notes on good ol' fashion paper with a pencil. In today's classes, you'll see more laptops and netbooks, with almost all the students on either Facebook or something distracting. Sit in the first three rows, and force yourself to listen to what the prof says, think about it, and then write down in your own words what you gleamed. Too often, I'd see people just copying what the lecturer said and then the day before the exam, try to decipher what the lines they wrote/typed actually meant.

Lastly, for studying, socializing, and 8 hours of sleep, you can pick only two. This one semester, I had an 8AM lecture on Fridays, but I never once skipped them despite how hungover and exhausted I was. Understand the consequences and live with them.

 

I've had friends who went through similar experiences, and they won't through community college in the same city (or in their home city), and made it back to the university with a different degree.

I agree with the poster above. Talk to your advisers or councilors and they can tell you your options.

A quote I always tell myself in the face of difficulty:

Adversity is the foundation of virtue. -Japanese Proverb

 

I'm really depressed right now.

OP, I am much worse than you are. After seeing this thread, I couldn't help myself but read this. Then I realised you are so much better than me.

I am a Rookie so I can't create a thread. But my situation right now is 10 times worse than yours.

Don't mean to high jack your thread. But I want to let you know there is at least someone like me who is 10 times worse than you are.

Anyways, since I can't start a thread, can someone tell me. I've failed heaps more than the OP. Should I work? Should I change schools and study ?

 

My parents are extremely disappointed in me. My dad has given up hope on me. He used to be angry at me alot about this but now he doesn't even seem to care. I'm so lost.

 

Keep your head up, man.

Avoid dwelling on past mistakes, as it will only drag you deeper in to the hole. Take a semester off, allow yourself to rejuvenate both mentally and physically, and return to school with a renewed focus.

You're still very young, seize the opportunity.

 

For sure I have seen this dozens of times too, especially in pre-med and in engineering-related programs. It's education purely as a means to an end, and that's fine as long as someone knows what they're doing: entering a career they may not enjoy very much, but for which they'll be compensated well.

I'm more of a end-in-itself education guy, and an end-in-itself career guy, but that doesn't always work, clearly.

 

How to get an A without putting in that much effort:

1) Pay attention in class. Sit at the front and ask intelligent sounding questions.

2) Goto your professor's office hours. Leave a good impression on the professor, become friends if possible.

3) Get some old exams and HW and study those.

 

I understand exactly what you're going through. My freshman year of college I almost completely bombed my first semester and totally bombed my second. After first semester, I was shocked to find my grades were really low and I was put on academic probation. I realized it was because I wasn't trying that hard I was spending a lot of time goofing off. Not partying; just watching TV, playing video games, doing anything other than what I was supposed to do. My parents were shocked at my grades after the first semester. I used to disappointing my dad but my mom is a different story: I'd never let her down before. She was very disappointed in me and that hurt. She was afraid that I would end up some kind of thug criminal. As if those are the only two choices in life: college graduate or thug criminal.

So when I went back my second semester, I went back with renewed focus and effort. I also went back with a little bit tougher course load because I wanted to really catch up from last semester. I was barely struggling to get by. Over time, the course load started to become very stressful for me. I was close to losing it. Then came the moment that ruined/saved my academic career. I was in calculus class*trying to pay attention when these two guys behind me started talking, being really, really obnoxious. I was able to ignore it until they said something really rude about a girl who was a friend of mine. I stood up in the middle of the lecture and shouted for them to shut the eff up. We exchanged some words, and I ended up punching one of them in the face. The other grabbed me and we tussled a bit until campus security was called. After I had a chance to cool down, I realized what I had done and that I would have to call my mom and tell her. I mean, really: I got in one little fight and my mom got scared and said "You're moving with your auntie and uncle in Bel-air". I whistled for a cab and when it came near the license plate said "fresh" and had a dice in the mirror. If anything I could say that this cab was rare, but I thought nah, forget it, yo homes to Bel-air! I pulled up to a house about seven or eight and I yelled to the cabby "Yo, homes smell you later!" Looked at my kingdom I was finally there to sit on my throne as the prince of Bel-air.

 

This is sort of a mini-hijacking in and of itself, but try posting on Ask Metafilter. You'll find the replies there pretty helpful. I've gone there for everything from depression to awful semesters in school to general loneliness/isolation.

Keep fighting though man. It can't be much worse than being a 6th year college student