The thing that jumps out at me is you got accepted to a UC. It’s not that it’s not important to stay on top of material no matter which UC, but with exception of UCB and Merced, other UCs operate on quarter system. A 10 week quarter goes by in a heartbeat and staying on top of material from the start becomes more critical. So if on a quarter system, you cant “get a hold of things a little too late.”