Can somebody tell me...

MidwestParent
Fri, 08 Jan 2010 10:20:00 +0000

My D’s experience is similar to what you describe. She attended our rural hs (the only one in town) which offers 2 AP courses - Sr English and Psychology. She was the only NMF in her graduating class with ACT/SAT both in the 99%tile. STILL when she started at her highly ranked university, she was floored at the difficulty AND the incredible minds of the other students. My D is now a Jr - a double science and language major. Here are some things she has learned along the way -


D got a couple of Bs her freshman year in science classes - the first of her life. She didn’t realize just how bad her hs science classes were. In hindsight, she realizes she should have taken advantage of summer and January programs the university offered. She was a newby freshman when taking general chemistry and didn’t take them. She DID take them for organic chemistry and received A’s both semesters.
Before leaving for school D suffered a “crisis of confidence” - the same thing you describe. Can I do well at this school? One of the last things she said was, “You know I’m not above getting a tutor!” Sadly, she was so overwhelmed freshman year that she didn’t follow her own advice. After that, D and 3 friends got tutors for classes they knew were going to be difficult and it made all the difference in the world. Also going through the tutoring with friends helped a lot.
D learned you cannot go through college anonymously. Go into professors’ office hours often! Get to know them! Go to any and all extra review and help sessions they offer.
As others have said, being a lifelong reader helps immensely. D has had no trouble with language classes or those requiring a lot of reading and writing.
When taking a type of class you have never taken before, make sure you are very clear on what is expected. Example: D had never taken a philosophy class, so had no idea that philosophy papers are written a certain way (at least this professor had a very specific way he wanted them written). When she wrote her first paper, she wrote the way she had always written other papers and received a much lower grade than expected. Afterwards, she met with the professor/TA and got very clear instructions on what was expected in future papers. It never occurred to her to ask before writing. Now she always asks exactly how the professor expects that paper to be written.
D has a work ethic beyond compare. She said that is the one thing she had on many of her peers. They just didn’t work as hard as she did. But, she did sacrifice a lot by working that hard - she didn’t party (no interest anyway), probably didn’t make as many friends as she could have, etc.
I have a very wise friend who has three daughters about 10-15 years older than mine. Her Ds attended Duke, Rice, and Northwestern. She has always said, “Our kids are just as smart as the other kids who attend those universities, they just haven’t had the same opportunities. It takes them AT LEAST their freshman year to catch up and feel like they are running with the pack”. She was exactly right. If they are willing to work hard and ask for help, they catch up and do just fine!


Good luck to you!!