- Joined
- Jul 18, 2006
- Messages
- 58
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- Points
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- Location
- Southern California for now.
- Pre-Medical
For the past year, I have been struggling with mediocre grades. I can't seem to get very many A's, mostly I get B's, often missing an A by, say, 5-10 points out of 1000. Unfortunately, my university does NOT give + or - grades, so if you miss an A, you get a B; there are NO B+ or A- grades here for that matter. While this helps those who consistently get minus grades, it does no good for those of us who keep getting what would be plus grades elsewhere. 😡
My main problem seems to be that I can't remember anything on tests, but only after the test, as I am walking out of the room, do I recall information or finally understand how to solve a problem or answer a question. This pattern has been consistent and no amount of counseling or practicing has helped remedy this problem. Interestingly, my professors quickly realize this, for nearly every one has told me, "You obviously know more than your test scores show." Last week, my quant chem professor said these words, echoing those said by my ochem professor and physics professors in the prior semesters. I corrected one of my dismal tests in front of the quant prof without any help at all. He was also impressed by the fact that I was able to explain the material to another student, but apologized with, "You obviously know the material; however, I can't give you a grade based on what you know, only on how you do on tests, quizzes, and in the lab." 🙁
Lab, however, is a different story. I do very well in lab, and routinely get the high grades, sometimes the highest grades, in the class. For quant, I aced all the labs but two.
So my problem is recall under a test situation. Is this test anxiety? I thought so, so I started making practice tests to take. They have helped a bit, but not substantially. Any ideas? I am wit's end on this. I have exhausted all the resources here -- pyschologists, student learning center, tutors, etc.
BTW, I'm not sure whether or not I should be posting this here or in the MD-PhD forum since I'm both an (much) older student and I am intending to apply dual degree. Although, with my GPA, I doubt any MD-PhD program would take me. 😕
My main problem seems to be that I can't remember anything on tests, but only after the test, as I am walking out of the room, do I recall information or finally understand how to solve a problem or answer a question. This pattern has been consistent and no amount of counseling or practicing has helped remedy this problem. Interestingly, my professors quickly realize this, for nearly every one has told me, "You obviously know more than your test scores show." Last week, my quant chem professor said these words, echoing those said by my ochem professor and physics professors in the prior semesters. I corrected one of my dismal tests in front of the quant prof without any help at all. He was also impressed by the fact that I was able to explain the material to another student, but apologized with, "You obviously know the material; however, I can't give you a grade based on what you know, only on how you do on tests, quizzes, and in the lab." 🙁
Lab, however, is a different story. I do very well in lab, and routinely get the high grades, sometimes the highest grades, in the class. For quant, I aced all the labs but two.
So my problem is recall under a test situation. Is this test anxiety? I thought so, so I started making practice tests to take. They have helped a bit, but not substantially. Any ideas? I am wit's end on this. I have exhausted all the resources here -- pyschologists, student learning center, tutors, etc.
BTW, I'm not sure whether or not I should be posting this here or in the MD-PhD forum since I'm both an (much) older student and I am intending to apply dual degree. Although, with my GPA, I doubt any MD-PhD program would take me. 😕
