Messed up Badly

[weekz]

So guys I messed up terribly this first semester. Can't say how badly because people I know are on here.
Was an honest to god shock too. I admit in the beginning of the year I wasn't on my A game but I tried to pull it back by mid way through the semester.
The numbers were rising as time passed but didn't rise enough. The Fam is dissappointed. These upcoming holiday gatherings are gonna be awkward
and knowing my mom (a jamaican lady) she gonna embarrass me in front of everybody.....oh man oh man..

This next semester I got a lot of ground to cover.
Any tips that would be useful?

 

[jayhood23]

Focus

 

[Gill Baka Esq. LLC.]

speaking from personal experience:

time mangagment
focus like another poster said
doing readings, assignments well ahead of time
and taking the time to visit your professors or ta's...let them clarify things for you...it's their job.

 

[sir charles]

Distributed study is your best bet. (Spacing effect)

Basically if you study at your desk, then study the same thing outside, and then in the library your brain will recognize that the information is true everywhere, and not just at your desk. I forgot the percentage but the test rates for people with distributed study were high.

Eating peppermint while testing increases your scores, same goes with smelling chocolate.

Mnemonics also help when studying, they aide memory so it is easily encoded into long term memory instead of staying in the short term memory to only be forgotten later.

Note taking in class helps greatly, but don't write word for word. Writing it down in your own words makes you work and makes it easier to remember.

 

[frshstunna]

find a joint that not only gives u the yambs...but can help u with your work as well...

 

[af1 1982]

So guys I messed up terribly this first semester. Can't say how badly because people I know are on here.
Was an honest to god shock too. I admit in the beginning of the year I wasn't on my A game but I tried to pull it back by mid way through the semester.
The numbers were rising as time passed but didn't rise enough. The Fam is dissappointed. These upcoming holiday gatherings are gonna be awkward
and knowing my mom (a jamaican lady) she gonna embarrass me in front of everybody.....oh man oh man..
This next semester I got a lot of ground to cover.
Any tips that would be useful?

Never study in the place you live. Go to a computer lab or library

Study with friends

If you're not doing a couple of hours of school work a night, you're not doing enough

Leave yourself an incentive at the end of each night to get your work done (watching TV/movie, having a drink, smoking bud, fap, etc)

 

[pythagoras]

Take this as a lesson learned. You have to get the right mind-set and just do it man. Don't let it phase you, you can always bring your grades up but you first have to get serious about getting them grades up. Stop bs-ing and get it together. 

 

[moonman818]

As long as you go to class and do all your work, you will pass your classes.

You don't even have to get A's on everything... just go to class and do your work...

Undergraduate studies are simple as hell.

 

[gridebounca11]

Focus homie. Self discipline is one of the most essential skills you can ever teach yourself.

For me, I can never focus when Im at home at my computer desk. my mind wanders entirely too much.

i do my best work in libraries. i can do scholarly work all day in the right setting.

just train yourself. nothing anyone says is going to make you put in work but yourself.

 

[cobra kai]

when you study. TURN WIFI OFF.

 

[lil dre 08]

What helped me was not typing my notes but writing them i figured i could not type the answers on exam so writing the answers was the only way to go. Study during any free time that you may have, this comes down to time management, I know you have many other things you could be doing but take 15 min during passing time to do a quick review. Read assigned chapters and study for a couple hours a day. if you do not understand something then ask the professor after class, meet with the professor and T.A.s and don't wait too late.

These are things that worked for me and may not work for you. You have many semesters left so shape up, I'm assuming this is you are a freshman and many don't do too hot their first semester but do well their next and future semesters to come so find what works for you and remember most of this is all about managing your time well.

 

[stillin729]

the first semester is always a person's toughest

you know what to do now but make sure you do it or you won't be back for your sophomore year

 

[Y4BBZY]

My own copy and pasta from a similar thread

1) First get of NT, FB, Youtube, any websites that distracts you.
2) Get rid of your TV in your room.
3) Get yourself a single dorm room close to the library if you are on campus --> set up study hours
4) Set up an appointment with your academic adviser ASAP
5) Buy yourself a damb calender notebook with the days having one hour increments so you fit all the stuff you have to due for that particular day like study from 5-7pm, do homework 7-9pm, gym 9-10pm, wake up 8 - every little thing map that ***** out so you can keep track of the time.
6) Get a dang tutor and use the office hours for stuff you don't get.
7) Do the work/paper one week in advance so you have time for the writing center (assuming you guys have one) and professor/classmates to give you their feedback
8. Read/study the information before the class lecture
9) Record the damb lecture and take good notes
10) Taking notes on your laptop but get distracted by the internet, turn off the damb internet or use the old fashion pen and paper
11) Sit in the front of the class, harder to sleep when you are sitting in the front of the class
12) Throw the depressing attitude out the door, that attitude will bring you no where
13) Count your freaking blessings dude, not everyone can go to college so you better stop being depressed and keep grinding it out until you gave it your all

Note 12 & 13 might not apply to you

 

[tsamshox]

It happens. Just gotta focus more next semester and stop bull***** around.

 

[bawayfrombless]

in my 3.5 years ive now earned 70 credits....
should be 30 per year for those that dont know)
but it took me two years to realize it boils down to time. put the time in and it's w.o a its doubt bound to pay off.
financials are ****** but recently I've really put my head down and gone at **** full force.


attend class and try your best to be interactive bro, good luck to you
feel free to pm with w.e i cant try my best to help

 

[bawayfrombless]

oh and the beginning of the semester (aka time ur able to slack) doesn't exist.

course guideline lectures take a day, for some reason i grew the mentality of the first couple weeks id be able to make up for grade wise...

its hard to change habits, but the only thing thats got me in full gear is i finally know what i want to do. im looking at school as a competition now. and imma bust ***

 

[weekz]

Thanks guys. Will put into effect. No more BS.

 

[younglorious973]

it's actually not that hard bro.. but it does take some resolve and practice.
I used to be on your position but i changed some things up and now have a cummulative GPA of 3.7
anyway here's what you gotta do:

1) form relationships with the teachers... this is HUGE because once you form these relationships you will realize that they will be looking at your performance.. I use this for motivation so show them that i'm not a joke... but in addition to this, you also get some perks.. i can't tell you how many times i've gone to office hours in order to just ask questions etc only to get told not to study certain things or make sure i focus in on certain things more intensely.
2) do not hang out with losers.. if your clique is not motivated to be successful, you will have a VERY hard time taking on that attitude all alone... if you hang with sheep, you'll be one before long... hang with people who are inspirational and keep you motivated. I'm not saying lose all your friends if they fall into the former category of people, but limit your exposure to them or tell em you gotta do you.. its college, you don't have time for feelings.
3) set up a schedule and stick to it... how i do it is i make sure I do work Sunday, Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, and Thursday... Friday and Saturday I do what i want: chill, party, earn some dough etc..
4) cut down on burning buds (if you do), fapping, and dranking... those three things are very addictive and have effects on your mood and motivation... you gotta keep your $h*t together if you wanna make strides in college, you should leave very little room for things that take away from your motivation/mood to study cause it's hard enough to keep that up by yourself without putting things in your path that directly hinder it.
5) execute! vision without execution is hallucination !! this education you are paying for is NOT FREE... so make sure you earn those grades!

GOOD LUCK my dude... you'll be fine!
just remember: things are never as bad as they seem when you're low
and at the same time, things are never as good as you think they are when you're high...

 

[degenerate423]

I had a pretty bad semester last spring too.  I cut out the partying and spent more time in the computer lab doing homework.  See if your school does grade replacement, so you can retroactively drop the classes you didn't do well in and take them again...

 

[ronin]

I got put on academic probation after my first semester. It was a hard major but still. Anyway, I dropped it, majored in something else and graduated Cum Laude. Degree didn't do **** for my job opportunities but that was right before the recession.

 

[Gill Baka Esq. LLC.]

A lot of great advice posted here. OP another note from my personal experiences, especially after my first semester of grad school is to not beat yourself up too badly about it. Take it as something that happened already and something you mean to correct. If you begin by just going super hard, your gonna burn yourself out.


Don't start from the beginning of next semester, start now. You know what classes you'll have...do some preemptive research on each class, possibly look at the textbooks for the courses early and go to barnes and noble and get yourself oriented to the material in the book.

In the mean time keep reading, learning something new along with enjoying the break. Keep your brain primed for the new semester so it doesn't feel like an avalanche of new information.

Act like a big cat jumping onto it's prey rather than a small cat pouncing on the ball of yarn.

I see you with that Guyanese flag in the avy