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Managed to bomb two classes this semester...
Ein
CaliforniaRegistered User regular
CaliforniaRegistered User regular
Hey guys.
I'll keep this relatively short.
I had back surgery at the beginning of this semester. It wasn't really a big thing, it just made me miss the first few weeks of school, and caused me some subsequent difficulty afterwards in attending class sometimes because of physical therapy and pain management.
Long story short, I seem to have totally bombed two of my classes. I usually run B's and A's, but I have 3 B's and two D's. I don't know what to do about those D's - one is in my major, political science, and one is in my minor, history.
I realize schools all have different policies and stuff, but I hope to apply to law school eventually and I know this will completely devastate my GPA. I don't know what I should do - I am emailing the professors, but I think they have already left for winter break as I haven't yet gotten any response back from them for the past few days.
The back surgery thing made classes a bit harder, but it overall didn't have much to do with that - the classes were just flat-out hard, some of the hardest I've had in my three years at college. What makes it worse was that one of them was a 100 level course, which is simply ridiculous as it's supposed to be easy but amounted to the most difficult class I've ever had to take.
What should I do? I can't find anything at my college site (rutgers) about retaking classes to try and bring the grade up, or anything.
And in addition: how should I break this to my folks? It's going to basically ruin Christmas. They have meltdowns when I get C's.
I'll keep this relatively short.
I had back surgery at the beginning of this semester. It wasn't really a big thing, it just made me miss the first few weeks of school, and caused me some subsequent difficulty afterwards in attending class sometimes because of physical therapy and pain management.
Long story short, I seem to have totally bombed two of my classes. I usually run B's and A's, but I have 3 B's and two D's. I don't know what to do about those D's - one is in my major, political science, and one is in my minor, history.
I realize schools all have different policies and stuff, but I hope to apply to law school eventually and I know this will completely devastate my GPA. I don't know what I should do - I am emailing the professors, but I think they have already left for winter break as I haven't yet gotten any response back from them for the past few days.
The back surgery thing made classes a bit harder, but it overall didn't have much to do with that - the classes were just flat-out hard, some of the hardest I've had in my three years at college. What makes it worse was that one of them was a 100 level course, which is simply ridiculous as it's supposed to be easy but amounted to the most difficult class I've ever had to take.
What should I do? I can't find anything at my college site (rutgers) about retaking classes to try and bring the grade up, or anything.
And in addition: how should I break this to my folks? It's going to basically ruin Christmas. They have meltdowns when I get C's.
Ein on
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Granted that's from the engineering school, but it looks like it's just a copy/paste of the official stance. If nothing else that should give you a place to start.
First, relax. A few botched courses aren't going to ruin your chances at finding a great law school. I actually failed two courses in my first semester, and was on academic probation two more times subsequently, and I still got into both Columbia and Boalt Hall (but oddly, not NYU). Most schools are going to care FAR more about your LSAT than your GPA. True story.
What I CAN tell you about "grading up," is that regardless of your college's policy, I believe that the LSDAS itself (or maybe just some law schools) computes BOTH grades in your final GPA. My GPA on my LSDAS was a couple points lower than it was on my straight college transcripts, anyway.
Next, why tell your parents at all? If you're at college, why are you still showing them your grades? You're clearly a responsible fella...they've got to recognize that.
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My LSAT's at 159. I don't know if I'm going to take it again in Feb. or not to try and bring it up. My GPA's at a 3.25, as well... all that said, I don't think my LSAT is exactly sterling enough to get me into a decent law school.
I'd love not to tell them and go on my way, but they are paying for my schooling and I am nagged every single day as to what my grades are. Until today, I didn't know, as they weren't up, but now I don't know what to do.
My experience has been that there really isn't much you can do short of working your ass off second semester. Do you still have time to make up for the low grades?
And with the parents, best thing to do is tell them about the Ds right away (assuming you have to tell them, that is). Then for the next few days/weeks/months don't let them ever see you doing anything they don't like to see you doing. When something like this happened to me, I stayed far, far away from the computer for months when my parents were around. And show themthat you're making an effort whenever possible. Study visibly and often.
Edit: 159 is a respectable enough score, but not great. If you can retake the LSAT, think you know where you went wrong last time, and think you can fix it, then do it. Aside from the fact that it's a godawful 6+ hours, there's no reason not to.
Well, I found something else and it applies to the Newark Campus.
http://www.rutgers-newark.rutgers.edu/dsanwk/Freshmen/wymk_policies.html
I think you should tell your parents, only because you know they're going to ask. You're an adult and while they may be disappointed, that's about all they can be. I know how you feel, but it's better to get out in the open rather than lie.
I am not suggesting a game of brinksmanship where education is concerned, but do you really think that their desire to see your grades is so strong that they'd end your education over a refusal to disclose them? If so, that would seem to indicate that they care more about controlling you than they do about your actual education.
But I feel for you. I faced the same situation with my folks.
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I lived in North Jersey until I graduated high school, at which point I applied and got accepted to Rutgers. The main reason I chose Rutgers was proximity - I have a girlfriend that I have been with for nearly four and a half years now, and I hope to be with her in the indefinite future. I probably would have gone out-of-state had it not been for her - currently, I come home on the weekends to see her, hang out, that sort of thing.
I was hoping to get into a law school around here. NYU seems to be far out of reach, but I've been looking into places like Seton Hall or Rutgers Law for the same reason - I don't want to leave her behind.
It may seem like 'Well, you're an adult, there's nothing they can do but be dissapointed' but my parents are relatively.. controlling? I guess. They've both been through college and university and both graduated at the very very very top of their classes, so they expect me to poop gold bricks and be a sterling example of academic success.
They also hold the reins to my education, since they're paying for it.
What I'm trying to say, essentially, is that they can do more than simply be dissapointed in me - one major thing I picture them doing is denying me the ability to come home over the weekends to visit my girlfriend. Her mother has specifically said she won't let me stay there if this ever happens because she doesn't want any conflict with my parents.
That's just an example.
I don't have a law specialty I am aiming for yet.
Not telling them my grades wouldn't go over well. They'd just keep asking, and since they've always known what my grades were previously, they'd basically conclude that I am failing out of college or something to that extent. My folks don't have a problem with not talking to me when they're upset. Even during the semester, I can't have a single conversation with my father without it lapsing into my grades.
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Trust me, it could be worse. My fourth term in school? Yeah, 3 F's, a DNW (Did Not Write, because I overslept the exam), and an A-. The A- was in the one elective course I was taking that term. I had to tell my parents too, it wasn't fun, but the alternative was a long campaign of deceit. Just man up and tell them. Since your average is important to your future plans, have your plan for how you're going to fix it in your back pocket, so to speak, because you know it's going to be their follow-up question.
I know this doesn't help now, but in the future, it's always easier to handle something like this earlier. You said the grades weren't posted until recently, but in my experience you usually know when you're going to get a bad grade. The best thing to do would be to talk to the professors and ask if they can disregard any homework assigments/tests during those first few weeks, so they don't affect your grades (assuming that's what dragging them down). You may still be able to do that, professors are usually pretty understanding (but again, the earlier the better).
As for telling your parents, I think they'll understand, especially given that you missed the first few weeks of classes. My parents actually sound a lot like yours, and even though I had good grades in college, I almost didn't pass my last quarter because I got really lazy. They were mad for about 5 minutes, until they realized that it didn't matter, since my overall GPA was fine (like yours is), and everyone has one bad quarter, right?
Honestly, I thought I was doing a lot better than I seem to have. The last grade I got in the history class that I pulled a D in was an A+ on a paper that made up 25% of my grade in that class, so I was optimistic, and the other class I got a D in I had absolutey no warning. I got B's on the first two exams, which were 50% of my grade, and the last 50% was from a paper I had to write and the final, both of which he did not have graded when I last asked him about them on Tuesday, so I got kind've blindsided by that.
My overall GPA at the moment with this semester factored in is a 3.0, which isn't quite.. fine, in terms of law school application. They'd also definitely not buy the surgery excuse from me because I missed the first few weeks of classes - they forced me to go back to school while I was still healing after my surgery (about two and a half weeks after the start of school) so I wouldn't miss any more classes, and I spent the first few weeks walking around feeling like my spine was trying to kill me.
My folks keep nagging me, so I just fed them the fact that I got B's in the other three classes so far and I have them under the impression grading isn't done on the other subjects yet. I've tried to make it clear to them throughout the semester that the classes were rather difficult, but as they're super-academic this tends to bounce right off.
You're not being judged by a couple of bombed classes. You're being judged by your performance as a whole. Your references will come in to play here too. Professors being genuine when they say they think you can hack it, go a long way.
Just remember to send in the documentation. Notes from doctors, rehab records, etc. The more this documentation shows that it was really really required in order to heal up, the better your case.
I'm no law school, but I do work at a world respected department at a well respected university.
All I can say is, I feel for you. My parents sound a lot like yours, so I know where you're coming from. What I learned was that you have to make yourself happy first, and try not to worry too much about what makes other people happy. What it really comes down to, is are you happy with the semester? If you hold yourself to high standards, and you worked hard this semester, but the absence plus the tough workload were too much, then who cares? Sure your parents might be mad, and since they're paying for your school you should try to make them happy, but you can't let someone else make you feel like crap about something you don't feel like crap about. Just break the news to your parents, but explain that you got a little behind, and you were taking some tough classes, but you'll definitely work harder next semester.
Anyway, sorry for the rambling, but good luck.