Question:
University: is it normal to feel stupid?
anonymous
15 years ago
I'm a second year physics undergrad. Throughout high school I was very smart, and I never got a grade below 90%. In my first year of university, I only took 4 courses per term, and they were general courses like biology, English, math, chemistry, and physics. I managed to maintain a GPA of 7.0/9.0 (A- average). This year, however, I'm taking 5 classes at a time, and they are all physics/math courses. I love physics and I try very hard in all of my classes. I always keep up with the work and I study very hard for tests. My midterm marks this term, however, have not been that good. On one I got 52% (although the class average was 48%), another I got around 74%, another I got 93%, and another, 60% (class average of 55%). Despite that high mark in computer science, I'm not used to doing this poorly in school, and I'm terrified that I'm not smart enough to do a physics degree. I would love to get a PhD one day and become a professor, but seeing my marks lately has made me severely depressed. I know it's only going to get harder, and I am extremely scared about my future. Has anyone else been through what I'm experiencing?
Four answers:
?
15 years ago
Hah. That's a university's duty, isn't it? To make you feel stupid.

But they do that for a reason; while in university, you learn so much more than when in high school. And I'm not talking about the actual subjects. You learn how to manage your time better, to utilize credible resources, how to research, and how to study, study, study like crazy. Its completely different from high school for most people! (I'm the odd one out, don't ask). But, at the end, if you can scrape a high GPA for your major, then you won't be feeling stupid anymore. You'll feel like you achieved something.



... Alright, I'm finished with the corny lecture.

Point is, many science majors and ESPECIALLY Physics are very lucrative and require tons of hard work. There will be times, trust me on this, when you want to pull your hair out and give up completely. And even after trying so freaking hard, your GPA will still be low. But thats what the uni experience is all about! Yet, its more likely that, if you study properly, that your GPA will boost to the average you expect it to be. So don't give in yet, and keep striving for that high average! If you can do it in high school, with some extra effort, you can do well in university too.



Keep at it!

Whenever you get a bad mark, put that behind you and strive to get a better one on the next assignment.

Good luck!! :)
S
15 years ago
I think its very normal to feel that way. I have felt that way a bunch of times since I have been in college (im a senior now). I think you should get a tutor. I have had to get one for a few classes for math and science because I'm just not good in it and it has helped ALOT. Im taking a biology class right now. The first exam without a tutor I failed with a 61%. I got a tutor and the next exam I did so much better (I got a 88%).



I actually think college gets easier in a way as you go along because you get used to the course load and how hard some of the classes can be. Don't worry you will be able to improve if you put the effort in and seek some extra help. Your first year you did well, you still have a little time to improve before the semester ends and you have 2 1/2 more years to get your grades up even higher before going to the next level. Sometimes people even have to retake a class to get a better grade (I have had to). My first year I had like a 2.3/4.0 gpa (and I felt stupid). Now I have a 3.1/4.0 and should raise it a little more before graduating.



So dont let this semester get you down. Make sure you pass these classes by getting a tutor and meeting with your teacher, take some easy electives to boost your GPA, and you should be fine as long as you put the work into it.

I hope I helped and good luck!
Bent Snowman
15 years ago
You are a second year student and still thinking about high school? Usually the college humbling process happens your first year. By second year, all of us knew we were idiots. High school was easy mode, right? Who cares about it, it has no place in discussion here. College is hard, high school never was (even with IB/AP).



Developing competency and ability takes time. You may start getting better at it at some point, keep studying, and do not give up too early on if this is what you want to do. No one starts out good at this, at least I have never met someone who has, this is what education means.



What country are you in? (The GPA measure is strange to me).



By the way, you saying you "study very hard" for exams only means *you* think you study hard. To be frank, your definition of studying hard might be flat out lazy to others (believe it). Part of college is learning how to learn, and part of it is learning how to work is figuring out how much work you really have to put forth. It can take awhile to discern out how much you really do have to work to get a high grade in most any course. The difference between a C and a B student is huge, the difference between a B and an A student is even larger, a fact that may B students underestimate.



At the moment you are doing about average compared to everyone else (as much as we can glean from only knowing limited statistics). If you want, try and get better, but getting depressed or terrified of it is not productive. Comparing absolute grades is silly as well, exams at some point start to become educational exercises, where it is not expected that students could ever get anywhere near 100%, mostly exams get too difficult to score relatively high at all. What matters as a measure is how you do compared to others mostly. That is who you are competing against. So goes the quotation from a student on a class evaluation form: "the class was very educational, everything that wasn't covered in lecture was on the exams" lol.



Sure I can relate, I used to score average in classes. In fact, I still do sometimes, it depends on the exam, how much time I have, how hard the course is, how my competency is developing, how much work I have put forth into it, etc. I also often get the high score on exams, or well above average. Sometimes I even get below average, it happens. Judging yourself based on exams should be done delicately, there are a lot of factors. Nonetheless, I started out having all sorts of trouble keeping up, understanding things, and training my intuition and problem solving ability, but I eventually got it down good enough to where I would not say I am horrible at it, and so can you. I know it is hard right now, it always will be, but you will figure things out if you stick with it hopefully. Based on you getting average scores in physics, you are at least capable enough to get a bachelors degree. How about holding off on judging your ultimate capabilities until later on in your undergraduate life? You would be surprised how much you will change in a few years in regards to adeptness, resourcefulness, understanding, and even how much better of a student you can become. Just wait and see, if a PhD is in your future, you can figure that out then. It is a little early to be thinking about quitting if you are scoring decently enough like you are. Maybe you can get better someday, who knows.



Best of luck, this is only going to get harder (unbelievably harder), so you will have to take it all in stride. Good news, you are not in this alone, you and your fellow students all have to go through this. Have fun getting an education and with the important lesson of humility. High school fooled us all, no way were we all geniuses. It should have been evident back then, but it sure was not for me and everyone I know.
?
15 years ago
Physics in college is harder; the education system is different and the fact that is hard to find that some one can't really help you is another problem, honestly its normal to feel that way but know that you will get the hang of it and get better as you progress


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