Poor first semester results

Buckle down and try even harder next semester. Meet with your professors to see how you can improve. I didn't meet with my professors during the first semester, and when i did the next semester, it really helped me to improve my grades.

My first year of college was horrible academically (~3.0). I was able to turn it around currently averaging between 3.7-4.0 for the following semesters. There is hope and remember that it doesn’t only take intelligence to get good grades, you have to learn how to “play the game”. From my experience their are about three “tricks” that will help you improve

1. Learn how to properly study. Unfortunately most students do not know how to study efficiently and effectively, even if they had excellent grades in high-school. There are numerous articles online that go into detail about these techniques.

2. Don’t be afraid to ask questions. It is fine to do this through email, but way more effective if you do it in office hours as it allows your professor/TA to build a more personal connection. Obviously you should be asking questions about concepts, but more importantly ask for specifics on test and exams. Not only does this show you are involved in the class (bonus points) but most of the time professors are more than happy to give some “extra information” for those that take the time.

3. Carefully select your professor and TA. The difficulty of a class is largely determined not by the content but by the graders and professor. Most schools have tools for you to view past class averages by professor. In addition, websites such at ratemyproffesor allow you to read up on all kinds of information on a professors class. Study these before enrolling in classes, and remember that sometimes it is better to wait a semester or two in order to take it with a specific person.

Also note that if you have a TA who you feel is a especially harsh grader or bias, talk to your professor about it and see if you can make a change. Hope this helps, good luck.