<p>I was sick for the first month of school. My academic advisor presented the idea of a medical leave early on in the year, but I was confident I could catch up. unfortunately, I was wrong. I ended up failing one of my classes (would have been at least a B, but my TA didn’t accept my final electronically even though I was sick). my other class was a D, that I completely deserved because it was mainly a lecture class, and missing so many lectures at the beginning of the semester really screwed me up. My other class (U Writing) hasn’t posted a grade yet but I think it will be at least a B- based on my grades, and my other very confusing classes should average out to a C based on my papers. Putting my GPA at this semester as a 1.4. I’m literally so depressed that I’ve been physically sick since I saw the F, I never got anything below a B in high school. Again, being so sick at the beginning of the semester really f’ed me up and I didn’t quite get better. There were also other circumstances involving my mom at the beginning of this month that really screwed me over (some problems with the law, she ended up leaving for a different state and still hasn’t come back). On top of all this, I’m really poor and I’m so scared my financial aid won’t cover me anymore. So in conclusion: *** am I going to do? my advisor wants to talk to my mom, I’m not sure how to break the news to her and I’m not even sure she’ll come home. Has anybody ever done this poorly at Columbia? I feel like I’m the stupidest one there. What are the repercussions? I’m confident I’ll do very well next semester, I’m not lazy, I love to work and I love to learn, exactly why I came to Columbia. But really what I’m looking for is a Columbia student who has been in this situation and will give it to me straight. Or tell me it’ll be all right at least :/</p>
<p>my other very confusing philosophy class* i’m sorry</p>
<p>You’ll probably be put on academic probation, which just means they could suspend you if you have another terribly semester. I think it’s too late to take a medical leave for the spring semester, and if you’re feeling better, you should be able to bounce back. It’s only one semester, so as long as you do well from now on, there shouldn’t be any lasting repercussions. Obviously, I’d advise you to only take 4 classes in the Spring and meet with your academic advisor frequently (maybe set up a time for weekly sessions with your advisor and with someone in the writing center). </p>
<p>Above all, don’t worry so much, especially if you have lots of external things that are giving you stress. Just be honest with your academic advisor, plan out your classes for next semester (LitHum, FroSci or UW, language if you need it or an elective if you don’t, and another elective), go to all your classes (even if it’s a lecture where they don’t take attendance), and focus on your academics. Remember that we have a 24-hour library, so if it’s 3 am and you can’t sleep because you’re worried about an assignment, you can always go to 209 (it’s usually empty then, which is nice) and bang it out.</p>
<p>I know how you feel. My second semester GPA was…well, let’s just say under 2.0. 1.4 is certainly not the lowest anyone has ever scored, and it’s probably not even the lowest anyone scored this semester. More importantly, having a low grade doesn’t mean you’re not intelligent. You certainly sound like an intelligent person who had some issues with academic management, so you should be fine next semester. Even if it takes you a little while to adjust, remember that you have 8 semesters to prove yourself at Columbia, so 1 or 2 bad semesters won’t matter that much.</p>
<p>Now I’m starting to worry about the workload in Columbia…</p>
<p>I wouldn’t worry about the workload. It can be heavy, but it’s definitely doable. The key is to manage your time well. I could probably have gotten all A’s if I studied in the library every afternoon, but that’s not what I chose to do. And the OP obviously had extenuating circumstances. Generally speaking, it’s easy to get a B in most (non-hard sciences) classes and possible to get an A. You really have to work (or rather, not hand in work) to get a D.</p>
<p>Ohh Thanks for the advice, pwoods! But how about students in SEAS? Since their schedules would probably be mostly science classes…is the workload still manageable without having to pull frequent all-nighters?</p>
<p>I am in SEAS and worked VERY hard for my Bs. And by very hard, I mean harder than I ever did in Highschool by far. The engineering classes cannot be ********ted or brushed off-- you have to know the material inside and out. I learned the hard way. It is possible to get an A, but like pwoods said, it depends if you want to put in the effort.</p>
<p>I’m still waiting…</p>
<p>I’ve only gotten grades for 1 class and 1 lab.</p>