Freshman Year GPA Anxiety

[Saguti12]

Hi all, this is my first post on the site and I wanted to get some input on my worries. I'm a freshman at ASU's honors college and almost all of my professors have posted final grades. For context, I started first semester in Computer Science and transferred to Bio sciences 2nd semester. Freshman year classes were intro programming, engineering, honors classes, psych 101, advanced compositional English, college algebra, pre-calc, and general biology. I know I'm finishing the year with a 3.86 or a 3.9 cumulative GPA. Ironically, this has me worried because while I consider myself a good student I don't think I'm a perennial 3.9 student. Basically, I'm worried that future grades like a 3.7 or 3.8 will be held against me due to a downward GPA trend. I get that I might sound a bit silly, but I can't shake the feeling that I might be peaking freshman year since harder classes like chem are yet to come. Am I overreacting?

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[KnightDoc]

Hi all, this is my first post on the site and I wanted to get some input on my worries. I'm a freshman at ASU's honors college and almost all of my professors have posted final grades. For context, I started first semester in Computer Science and transferred to Bio sciences 2nd semester. Freshman year classes were intro programming, engineering, honors classes, psych 101, advanced compositional English, college algebra, pre-calc, and general biology. I know I'm finishing the year with a 3.86 or a 3.9 cumulative GPA. Ironically, this has me worried because while I consider myself a good student I don't think I'm a perennial 3.9 student. Basically, I'm worried that future grades like a 3.7 or 3.8 will be held against me due to a downward GPA trend. I get that I might sound a bit silly, but I can't shake the feeling that I might be peaking freshman year since harder classes like chem are yet to come. Am I overreacting?

Yes, you aren't just overreacting -- you are worrying about something that is unlikely to even happen!!! When people here talk about upward trends being good, they're talking about turning 2.5s or 3.0s into 3.4s or 3.5s by pulling close to 4.0s after getting their acts together. Going from a 3.9 to a 3.8 is not a downward trend that would create a problem for a med school application! Also, please be aware of the fact that many of us suffer from imposter syndrome, so you are not alone!

You should just take classes you enjoy and do your best. There is no reason to think your grades are going to go down as you progress. It doesn't happen to most of us. The material becomes more difficult at the same time you will become more proficient. You are at one of the best (according to your Dean, the "best"!) public honors colleges in the country and have a 3.9 after one year. You are doing great!!! Chill!

 

[EdgeTrimmer]

Hi all, this is my first post on the site and I wanted to get some input on my worries. I'm a freshman at ASU's honors college and almost all of my professors have posted final grades. For context, I started first semester in Computer Science and transferred to Bio sciences 2nd semester. Freshman year classes were intro programming, engineering, honors classes, psych 101, advanced compositional English, college algebra, pre-calc, and general biology. I know I'm finishing the year with a 3.86 or a 3.9 cumulative GPA. Ironically, this has me worried because while I consider myself a good student I don't think I'm a perennial 3.9 student. Basically, I'm worried that future grades like a 3.7 or 3.8 will be held against me due to a downward GPA trend. I get that I might sound a bit silly, but I can't shake the feeling that I might be peaking freshman year since harder classes like chem are yet to come. Am I overreacting?

Yes, you are being silly You did great first year compared to lot of students. Stay focused and you will be fine. If you are an engineering major 3.9+ may be tougher to achieve.

 

[deleted889094]

You're definitely worrying too much about this. If you're making over 3.5 consistently, you have absolutely nothing to worry about unless your heart is set on a T5 school.

 

[Saguti12]

Thank you all for your replies. I see now that I'm stressing too much about good news.

 

[TakotsuboOkazaki]

Gotta chill out and come to terms with the fact that your performance will fluctuate. Lucky for you that spread is tightly wrapped around a 3.9.