Rough First Year - How To Recover?

meenymoe
Mon, 15 May 2017 04:43:33 +0000

I’m a freshman at a highly ranked national university. In many ways (socially, helping me choose a major) the university has been great. However, my grades this spring semester have been terrible. Some of the factors leading to this:

1. Minor/moderate depression: diagnosed near end of the semester, I've apparently had symptoms for several years but was always able to push through/dismiss it as "laziness" until now. I will be actively seeking treatment for this now that I know I have it (school services are free & confidential.)

2. Unsuitable classes. I signed up for engineering classes (calc 3, chem) because I was still considering it as a major. I realized later that this was not the major for me (public health is!) but it was too late to withdraw so I was stuck in classes that would not benefit me and that I have NO aptitude for. (For reference: in the two public health classes I've taken, I've gotten an A- in one and expect the same in the other.)

3. Ineffective study habits: I spent hours and hours doing practice problems and reading the textbook. This worked in HS, but not in my more conceptual classes and resulted in poor test scores.

I calculated and I will be lucky to emerge with a 2.0 GPA (academic probation is below 2.0 for my school). I already know I got a C+ in chem lab (1 cred) and a D in calculus (4 credits). I am planning on retaking the calculus class next semester (it will still be on my transcript, but only the new grade will fix my GPA) which, if I got an A this time, could raise my gpa to 2.8.

Does anyone have any tips/suggestions on how I can make next semester better/if it’s possible to recover from a slump this bad? I’m not pre-med or pre-law, but I would possibly like to go to graduate school to earn my MPH and I’m afraid these grades have eliminated that opportunity. Any words of advice, encouragement, or perhaps similar success stories would be welcome. Despite what my grades say, I do actually care a lot about school and these results have really taken a toll on my self esteem.

PS - my school does Satisfactory/Unsatisfactory grades first sem. (I passed all) so those can’t be viewed or factored into my gpa.

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