CC to University Transfer, first semester. call past/current transfers

[leonardoson]

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Hey Everyone,

Just curious what everyone's experience is transferring from a community college to a university. I'm underway with my first term at a university after spending a couple halftime years. CC gpa was 3.8. After a month at my current school I can't help but think how much crap I have to do on a daily basis with homework and all. I just feel like my GPA is going to plummet and my dreams will be smashed. Just completed a calc-physics exam and am just in worry mode right now. Has any other transfer student had these beginning struggles? will they go away? I know I'm being a neurotic pre-med.

Thanks

 

[altblue]

Not going to dance around it, the competition at a 4-year-school is greater than a community college. But if you can work harder and work smarter, you can get through it. Talk to upperclassmen or your Professor to figure out how to improve things if you can. Don't cram, memorize efficiently, and choose your classes carefullycarefully. It was a hard transition for me and a lot of my friends too but we got through it, and you can too. 🙂

Seek out your academic adviser or school psych counsellor. They can really help if you're feeling overwhelmed (like many of us do come exam time)

it's a hard transition for a lot us, particularly if you transfer to a highly ranked school. Just learn how to respond to it and get through it. You got this 🙂

 

[leonardoson]

Thanks for the response. I guess I need to change up study habits. I Studied my ass off this pass weekend and that usually equates to good grades. Guess I need to improve my study habits.

 

[leonardoson]

Although I have yet to see test results

 

[altblue]

Although I have yet to see test results

Yeah, wait to get those back and then really reevaluate things. It's always good ask questions like "am I distracted when I study" or "do I go to office hours enough" though

 

[Derpz]

Study moar...go to review sessions etc...CC 4.0 -> state school 4.0 -> Stanford 3.7 it got real after that 2nd transfer...I also got a little lazier

just keep grinding away and you'll be fine...live the material, watch Khan academy a couple nights a week and you'll be golden

 

[leonardoson]

Yea, That's what bothered me. I understand the in's and out's of X(t), V(t), and A(t) graphs. all their relationships. Derivatives of them, what those meant. Did a bunch of kinematics problems. Get to the test and I had to use an excel modeling worksheet which I didn't study for. Then on the last part of a kinematics problem my numbers weren't making sense which flustered me for the rest of the test.I'll Take this as a learning experience and adjust.

 

[DocMcMommy]

I think I got lucky and went to a tougher CC because so far my experience has been much smoother/easier than I expected. In particular, I've noticed that lab worksheets and reports are less stringent. My CC lab reports were nightmares and tear inducing. The lab manuals were very dense and required a lot of critical thinking to interpret. The lab manuals at my new school are much clearer, easier to follow, and really hold your hand and walk you through the content. The grading even seems less strict. At my cc we were marked off for any and everything!!! Here, they seem less strict and their rubrics are very simple. The rubric was so simple that I went completely overboard for my last report including everything and then some, because I just assumed there was more to it.

There are also a million more resources on my university's campus. Here there are tutors, office hours, SI sessions, more students actively searching for study groups, an extra learning center for the sciences... One of my science teachers even holds her own study group type sessions every week. And almost every instructor hands out practice exams, which was not the case at my CC.

 

[MrLogan13]

It all depends on how good your CC was and how well you prepared yourself. I went to a CC in California and transferred to a UC. I also went to graduate school after completing my undergrad. I felt my CC prepared me very well for higher education, and I never had to adjust any of of study habits. Even now, two months into medical school, I haven't had to make too many adjustments.

You need to figure out what works for you. Studying harder isn't necessarily what you need, you need to find something that works for you and improve your efficiency. I find doing a lot of applied problems helps tremendously because instead of just remembering minutiae, you actually know how things work and can solve problems better even if you don't know every little detail. Utilize your school's resources.

 

[themoonman2]

I transferred from a great CC to a great 4-year and definitely struggled at first. I agree with @MrLogan13 that you just need to find what works for you. For me, the biggest change was going from semesters to quarters but making new friends and finding activities to participate in were close behind. In the end, I switched my study method and was able to significantly raise my GPA because of it. Don't be afraid to try something new if what you're doing isn't working! You'll be just fine- that school wouldn't have admitted you if they didn't know that you are a strong student.

 

[leonardoson]

Thanks for the responses. This was a knee jerk reaction to a day full of tests. I may just have to lower my ego and ask for some more help, and clarify what's going to be on exams more. Maybe actually utilize the tutors. I think me just getting used to the work load will help out a lot as well.

 

[leonardoson]

The funny thing is I got a 91 on that physics exam. Yay for contributing neuroticism of SDN

 

[virtuos locust]

I can only speak about my California CC since I haven't yet transferred but then again I can only say great things about it. Some of the classes Ive taken here have been taught at a university level; such was evident just by examining the duration and difficulty of some exams that were administered by some professors. Most professors wouldn't hold your hand and were very harsh on grading. I remember taking an Anatomy class here where the professor would have 3-hour long exams (5 in one semester) with as many as 300-400 questions all involving a variety of topics and techniques such as identifying histological tissue(s) on microscopes, identifying structures on actual cadavers, and partaking in dissections of cats. The extent of the material which we were tested on and had to learn was immense but I truly took an appreciation for efficient studying because of this. Needless to say, out of 30 students about 18 dropped the class. I felt classes like those prepared me for the rigor of upper div. courses and probably will prepare me for the challenges that await me at the university level.