<p>So after tanking a prelim, it looks like even with good luck, my GPA for this first semester will be a 3.5… This is so depressing to me. If I get even more unlucky, it could go as low as 3.2.-3.3. I’m just in disbelief. Any chance I can recover from this? /:</p>
<p>I think the average is like a 3.3 or something, but still… I don’t understand how to get a 3.7-3.8.</p>
<p>… welcome to the Big Leagues.</p>
<p>First of all, don’t be too concerned with first semester Freshman year. It’s a big adjustment. Almost everyone recognizes this (and it’s why many schools specifically recommend taking a lighter load first semester).</p>
<p>Now … in all likiehood, you’re up against tougher competition than you were in High School – let’s face it, every person in every one of your classes was good enough to get into an Ivy League school. So, if the average is 3.3 this is not a GPA to be ashamed of. </p>
<p>… but – see how it goes in a semester or two. Plus – all the usual advice, make use of office hours, get extra help, be prepared to study more than in HS, etc.</p>
<p>Good luck!!</p>
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this. It has nothing to do with luck.</p>
<p>I was in the same boat. It’s cliche and lame, but Cal Newport’s stuff helped me a lot. He’s pretty credible too - straight As at Dartmouth, MIT PhD. GO read his blog and maybe get his book.</p>
<p>I’m a bit concerned about my GPA too (more so because i’m doing pre med) but look at it this way, if you get a 3.4, then fix your mistakes, work harder, and get a 3.8+ next semester and you’re at at least a 3.6. Then do the same next semester and you’re GPA will be even higher and keep it consistent.</p>
<p>First semester is usually the toughest. You could take classes at schools like Harvard, Yale, Brown…,where they inflate grades, in the summer to bring up your GPA. :)</p>
<p>I’d say a 3.5 is a solid first semester. you’ve not dug yourself in a hole, but of course there’s room for improvement. just remember that this is just 1/8th of your Cornell career, and for a lot of career trajectories, your GPA isn’t huge deal as long as it’s not noticeably low.</p>
<p>^^
Those schools sound like much happier places to me right about now. I wish we were like them.</p>
<p>^
So 3.5, or even 3.3, is not a big hole at all, right? I can still get it to a 3.7 eventually.</p>
<p>Unless you’re going to graduate school of some sort including med school, etc. a 3.5 GPA is not bad for first semester. You could technically still get above 4.0 over all 4 years if you get tons of A pluses.</p>
<p>I’m trying to get into banking and business school. /:</p>
<p>I was thinking a 3.7 would be a strong start. Maybe even a 3.6 at lowest. A 3.5 is just… Wow, I’ve fallen off pretty hard. And 3.5 is optimistic at this point. It could potentially be a 3.3.</p>
<p>My older kid was an A to A+ math student while in high school, but she found Cornell’s math/econ courses were at a different level. To get better than the median score she had to know beyond what was taught in class. I received many “I think I failed the prelim” phone calls from her. She struggled the first 2 years, but her grades improved over time. She is in banking and doing well.</p>
<p>Our younger one is a freshman now. She never misses a class and she goes to office hours. Our nephew is also at Cornell. Last weekend after having lunch with us on Sun, he was going to stats office hour.</p>
<p>When we went to the opening convocation in the football stadium when my D was a freshman, the student speakers all said that at some point every student questions whether they “belong” at Cornell, they will think it is too hard, everyone is smarter than they are, etc. You are experiencing “temporary failure”(in your eyes)…how you react to it says alot more about you (and is more predictive of future success) than if you had a 4.0.</p>
<p>I just don’t think I can be an Econ major anymore. My quantitative skills are completely subpar.</p>
<p>A 3.5 is nothing to be ashamed of, nor will it keep you out of banking. Although if your dreams are something like Goldman then yes, you probably won’t get that job right after graduation. However, there is still PLENTY of time to get your GPA up to a level such that even Goldman would have to take a look at you.</p>
<p>You should approach this semester as an opportunity to have an honest assessment of your abilities and appreciate what you’ve learned about yourself. If you were at a grade-inflated school you might feel better about yourself, but you also wouldn’t have the realistic assessment of your skills and abilities.</p>
<p>If you’re feeling pressure to improve your quantitative abilities, now is the time to improve them! If your abilities were “completely subar” then you wouldn’t have a chance at a 3.5, but rather you would be in the C-F range. Now you know you have brighter peers. But it doesn’t have to stay like that…no reason you can’t take steps to become one of the “bright ones” by Cornell standards.</p>
<p>^^ Welcome to the unfair world of the “curve”. There is talk about ending it. It seems that Cornell administration is starting to recognize the problem of very smart students who enter Cornell and then get bad grades. They do not all of a sudden become bad students. The kids who by rights should be getting a B, are getting Cminus due to the curve. Many colleges have done away with the curve. Its time for Cornell to get on that.</p>
<p>I would also say that you stand a lot to gain from the experience. If you do what it takes to improve your quantitative abilities and get A’s in Econ classes, I’m sure you’ll reflect back on this semester and appreciate what it taught you. A chance to learn/grow as a person is fantastic. Had your grade been inflated, you may feel better now, but then how much would you really be gaining from a Cornell education? Would you really have the same drive to push yourself as a person to succeed? If the curves had been such that you had gotten A’s, you may feel better now, but all that would do is reflect that Cornell has confirmed your current abilities. Instead, you now know you have a ways to go to grow as a student and from this, take actions to improve.</p>
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<p>…have you met with professors, tried to form study groups with classmates, gone to the “Center for Learning Strategies”?? In other words have you done everything that you can do? Sounds like you are working hard, but perhaps by accessing resources you could work harder. You sound like a kid who is heartbroken to realize that they are never going to be a pro athlete… maybe you aren’t going to go to the top banking school in the world but don’t let what you may not be able to do stop you from doing what you can do…in summary…suck it up.</p>
<p>There are hundreds of courses at Cornell. Try to see which courses may interest you, and gather every bit of information about which subjects/ courses have lenient grading. Hint: many courses in PAM, Hotel, ILR, Soc, or any major with “studies” in it. (ex Asian Studies, etc)</p>
<p>If your GPA truly bothers you, just take easier courses. Problem solved.</p>