Getting Bad Grades but tried hard

There's an obvious explanation for that. Maybe you don't want to hear it.

But for cereal, 20 hours of studying won't really help much in something like chem if all you're doing is memorizing shit. You need to actually understand the concepts, in which case it's best to actually be taught the concepts since learning them on your own can be difficult. Did you legitimately pay attention in class and keep up with all the homework from the beginning of the semester?

VinnieFThere's an obvious explanation for that. Maybe you don't want to hear it.

yea i know the teacher graded my test harder than me peers

so unfair

but really maybe i am just dumb

Ive read that it is characteristic of guys in the american education system to be wildly over-confident in their test taking abilities compared to their actual scores.

I always thought i was smart, had a 4.0 through highschool+ first semester but now that classes are actually getting difficult, seems like im reaching my limits.

But maybe this is what i need, maybe Med School isnt right for me. This is so selfish but I want to be able to ski, climb and hike alot in my 20s. But than the voices of my parents enter my mind, question what really matters.

Maybe skiing matters the most? who knows

Be honest with yourself about whether or not you actually give a shit about the material.

If there were no familial, peer, or financial pressures, would you still be taking that class?

If you don't enjoy the struggle in the process, you won't enjoy the end result

I considered med school but now I'm in grad school doing systems biology, or computational bio or biochem or some combination thereof.

If your chem is real chem i.e. lots of math, maybe you're just bad at math. Just practice math problems, do different problems over and over until it becomes natural.

VinnieFBut for cereal, 20 hours of studying won't really help much in something like chem if all you're doing is memorizing shit. You need to actually understand the concepts

^ yes, for any class. if you cram and learn all the material in a couple days prior to the exam, yea, maybe you'll get a good grade, but you'll retain none of it. it'll get worse and worse as you take later tests bc you'll have to relearn all the info from the initial tests.

.otto.yea i know the teacher graded my test harder than me peers

go in and talk to the teacher? #1 thing u can do to help yourself in a class, even if you can't change a grade.

what was the average test score? don't averages for chem tend to be very low?

K-Dot.Be honest with yourself about whether or not you actually give a shit about the material.

If there were no familial, peer, or financial pressures, would you still be taking that class?

If you don't enjoy the struggle in the process, you won't enjoy the end result

^ went into my my frosh year as an engineer, thought it was what I wanted to do for pretty much all of HS. got real with myself about what I enjoyed, explored a little, and settled on financial econ and econometrics. grades/gpa shot up, infinitely happier, much more motivated and driven.

take some other classes if u can and explore. no point in slaving away for something you don't love, no matter the payoff...

.otto.yea i know the teacher graded my test harder than me peers

wrong atitude/idea
It is chem so its tough to be unfair, If I was in your shoes, I would:
a)
talk/work with someone getting good grades; become their friend, ask people questions in class, learn how other people study/their routine, surround myself with other hard workers, offer to pay someone IN YOUR CLASS to tutor as they are already up to speed with it

if you are asking others lots of questions, give something back (neat notes, food, rides, jokes n giggles for shits)

step back from slacker friends

I didn't read your entire post: med school is a bitch, 65 is normal, chill

icedwrong atitude/idea
It is chem so its tough to be unfair, If I was in your shoes, I would:
a)
talk/work with someone getting good grades; become their friend, ask people questions in class, learn how other people study/their routine, surround myself with other hard workers, offer to pay someone IN YOUR CLASS to tutor as they are already up to speed with it

if you are asking others lots of questions, give something back (neat notes, food, rides, jokes n giggles for shits)

step back from slacker friends

meant that as a joke , but good advice all arourd

start an mlm and scam the shit out of your peers

Dude 20 hours is your reason. A 65% is pretty good if that's all you studied. The people who get good grades in actually difficult college classes study... A lot.

I've studied more than that for an immunology exam and got a 45%. It's no one's fault but your own. Put in a solid couple weeks of studying and see the difference.

IsitWinterYet17Dude 20 hours is your reason. A 65% is pretty good if that's all you studied. The people who get good grades in actually difficult college classes study... A lot.

I've studied more than that for an immunology exam and got a 45%. It's no one's fault but your own. Put in a solid couple weeks of studying and see the difference.

Yup. Cram studying doesn’t fly in college. Studying the material for an hour or two everyday is how you’ll ace tests.

If grades don’t motivate you, think about how nice it would be to actually know the information you’re dumping your precious time and money into.

IsitWinterYet17Dude 20 hours is your reason. A 65% is pretty good if that's all you studied. The people who get good grades in actually difficult college classes study... A lot.

I've studied more than that for an immunology exam and got a 45%. It's no one's fault but your own. Put in a solid couple weeks of studying and see the difference.

This. Spent the last two weeks studying for my environmental health exam....still probably only got a 70 but the class average is usually down near the 50s. Curves man. Studying for a prolonged time a little bit each day is how its done.

Getting good grades in high school is not difficult. In college it is. You have to put in consistent effort to understand the concepts and get good grades in those classes (real degrees anyway, as long as you show up in a lot of fuzzy classes you'll get an A). Sucks but it's worth it and really is a small portion of your life. Your friends are all going to be confused when they can't afford a ski pass because the only jobs they can find pay $26k a year to new graduates, so if you think you don't get to ski enough now....it can be WAY worse.

Dustin.Getting good grades in high school is not difficult. In college it is. You have to put in consistent effort to understand the concepts and get good grades in those classes (real degrees anyway, as long as you show up in a lot of fuzzy classes you'll get an A). Sucks but it's worth it and really is a small portion of your life. Your friends are all going to be confused when they can't afford a ski pass because the only jobs they can find pay $26k a year to new graduates, so if you think you don't get to ski enough now....it can be WAY worse.

i appreciate the response, my main choice right now is between med school or nursing program, with nursing I will be able to ski, and enjoy myself alot more. Im conflicted. I feel that im lazy if i choose the nursing route, but prideful if i choose the med school route.

.otto.i appreciate the response, my main choice right now is between med school or nursing program, with nursing I will be able to ski, and enjoy myself alot more. Im conflicted. I feel that im lazy if i choose the nursing route, but prideful if i choose the med school route.

Why not split the difference with a PA? Just one idea, I have a friend who did exactly that because she was on the fence and she loves it. I'd focus on the lifestyle you desire for the next 40 years. In addition, focus on a degree that qualifies you for as many of those lifestyle options as you can. Many people your age struggle after college because they borrowed WAY too much money qualifying for a job that neither is neither high paying (because anyone can do easy jobs, and easy jobs are associated with easy degrees) nor experience/skill building.

This almost always necessitates hard work because it is very easy to get into college, borrow money for college, and graduate college in 2018. Every other idiot with zero people skills has a BA these days. Get a degree that either directly qualifies you for a job that can finance your skiing addiction until your knee caps fall off, or one that can serve as a solid realistic backup for a skills based job you want to pursue.

Because news flash....if you ski....you are richer than almost everyone else on the planet, so you'll need a real job to keep it up. I think you've got the right attitude, you need to know it's normal to doubt yourself or feel overwhelmed sometimes. College is a lot of fun and you can both do well in class and have a lot of fun if you work on it.

Dude a solid 20 hours of studying is not enough to get good grade on the exam, especially if it's a few days before the exam. The thing with Chem is that it's going to be tough just memorizing instead of understanding and practicing the problems. I would suggest spending at least an hour every day practicing chem problems and understanding the concepts. You will have less stress by the time of the exam and the repetition will make you remember the concepts easily. It might sounds like a lot of work, but honestly an hour off your day for studying is not a long time.