Unhappy with "good" grades?

[lzbthcox]

Is anyone else unhappy with the grades they get in class? I stress about EVERY little thing. I just started college this semester and I'm 25 with two kids. I had a really hard time getting back into learning mode. I study a lot for each of my classes and do ALL assignments. When I get a grade back, I'm never happy with it. I got an 88 from a really hard english teacher on a paper that I busted my butt on for a week and I was really upset. I got a 78 on a chem test. 🙁 The girl next to me could see my reaction and she said, "oh at least it's a high C"... I don't want B's and C's!! The teacher will probably curve due to the low grades, but I'm so nervous about my GPA, that even an A isn't good enough. I got a 92 on my first comm speech and was upset because I did the best I thought I possibly could. I know it sounds dumb and that I need to relax. I just feel like I really have to prove myself or I'll never get into dental school.

Anyone else going through this kind of anxiety? Or has been through it? How did you cope?
Liz

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[cheezer]

Is anyone else unhappy with the grades they get in class? I stress about EVERY little thing. I just started college this semester and I'm 25 with two kids. I had a really hard time getting back into learning mode. I study a lot for each of my classes and do ALL assignments. When I get a grade back, I'm never happy with it. I got an 88 from a really hard english teacher on a paper that I busted my butt on for a week and I was really upset. I got a 78 on a chem test. 🙁 The girl next to me could see my reaction and she said, "oh at least it's a high C"... I don't want B's and C's!! The teacher will probably curve due to the low grades, but I'm so nervous about my GPA, that even an A isn't good enough. I got a 92 on my first comm speech and was upset because I did the best I thought I possibly could. I know it sounds dumb and that I need to relax. I just feel like I really have to prove myself or I'll never get into dental school.

Anyone else going through this kind of anxiety? Or has been through it? How did you cope?
Liz

yes. going through it right now.

how do i cope? by learning not to stress so much, especially on test day and when a bad grade arrives, figuring out what went wrong in terms of knowledge/test taking deficiencies, or psychological impediments. get to know the professors so you get an idea of what they're like. make friends with other students because sometimes they have lots of old tests they'll give to you. the key is styling your efforts to the professor's tastes and that you must constantly adapt during the course of a semester.

and relax. to say an A isn't good enough is ridiculous. i have far too many classes and too many tests to stress about a test i took a week ago and got an A-/B+ on.

 

[Empi]

I'm bad about the grades as well.

I got an 86 on my Micro test and I couldn't eat the rest of the day.

I got a 91 in Organic but it's a low A.

And on it goes. It's pathological, I'm trying to get a grip.

 

[postbacker]

Obsession with getting As is the worst part of the process...and as someone noted above, when you finally get an "A" on a test, then analyzing it and determining it is "only" a "low A" and feeling paranoid about it...I only hope that I will look back at these days from the perspective of med school and laugh at how silly I was...

I tell myself that a B++ to A- average in the pre reqs will suffice, but that is hardly comforting when the bullets are flying all around you...

I try to figure out which classes I can earn an A in, then which ones I can earn an A- in, and so on as the semester wears on...I aim for a B+ or better in all classes, and I know the world will not end with a couple of Bs, but it is still a draining process...and I always aim for having more As than Bs, with or without minuses and plusses...it is interesting because I have had better success in some classes than I otherwise thought I would, and the ones I feared the most (Chem, Organic and Physics) have not been so bad, but the ones I felt most comfortable about going in (Biol) have been tougher than I imagined, at least grades-wise...

 

[madscientist50]

Trust me on this one folks, get a hold of that anxiousness right now, because once you get to the next level you will lose your mind and go completely off the deep end if you can't handle a B or C in undergrad. It happens, learn from the mistakes you made, talk to your profs, improve and move on. If you dwell on a "poor" grade you will never be in the right mental state to improve and get the grades you want.

It took me until grad school to learn that lesson and I am glad I learned it before med school.

Just my 2 cents worth on this topic.

Good Luck.

 

[Faze2]

Definately have the same problems myself. I think it is even magnified in my case because I am in the unfortunate position of having a poor undergraduate GPA, so to me anything less than perfection, an A, can sometimes make me think that I failed what I have set out to do. So far in my post bac I ave gotten either A's or A-'s in my classes, except for one B+.👎 That B+ made me feel aweful for a while. I honestly looked at it as bad as a D or an F. But as some of the other posters said, you cannot do that, or you will never be in right mental state to do well in the future. I just try to do the best I can, and not stress myself out. But it is tough sometimes, especially when you have something to prove. But just keep pounding away guys, and we'll get there.

For some reason, i feel like I will be less stressed in med school because I will have that realief that I finally made it, or at least made it part way. Believe me I know that it is not all "down hill" from there, perhaps even the opposite, but I have always felt like when I am actually in somewhere, some of the stress will go away and I will really be able to focus on just doing well. For example, I do not think I will stress about residency so much when in med school the way I stress about med school now that I am in post bac. And the impression I get from a lot of med students I speak with is just that. Whether their reason is the same as above, or just that fact that they are so busy that they do not have time to even think about residency until their 3rd or 4th year, I guess varies from person to person.

 

[postbacker]

Definately have the same problems myself. I think it is even magnified in my case because I am in the unfortunate position of having a poor undergraduate GPA, so to me anything less than perfection, an A, can sometimes make me think that I failed what I have set out to do. So far in my post bac I ave gotten either A's or A-'s in my classes, except for one B+.👎 That B+ made me feel aweful for a while. I honestly looked at it as bad as a D or an F. But as some of the other posters said, you cannot do that, or you will never be in right mental state to do well in the future. I just try to do the best I can, and not stress myself out. But it is tough sometimes, especially when you have something to prove. But just keep pounding away guys, and we'll get there.

For some reason, i feel like I will be less stressed in med school because I will have that realief that I finally made it, or at least made it part way. Believe me I know that it is not all "down hill" from there, perhaps even the opposite, but I have always felt like when I am actually in somewhere, some of the stress will go away and I will really be able to focus on just doing well. For example, I do not think I will stress about residency so much when in med school the way I stress about med school now that I am in post bac. And the impression I get from a lot of med students I speak with is just that. Whether their reason is the same as above, or just that fact that they are so busy that they do not have time to even think about residency until their 3rd or 4th year, I guess varies from person to person.

I feel exactly the same, because I am not going into medicine with predetermined plans for the most competitive residences (derm, ortho, etc)...not to say I won't want to do them, but I feel much more wide open about the possibilities than it seems many of the young gunner types on the pre-allo forum do...don't get me wrong - I am fiercely competitive and I actually expect to do very well in med school, but I don't see myself obsessing over grades in med school...

Applying to med school will make any person a little crazy...

 

[QofQuimica]

For some reason, i feel like I will be less stressed in med school because I will have that realief that I finally made it, or at least made it part way. Believe me I know that it is not all "down hill" from there, perhaps even the opposite, but I have always felt like when I am actually in somewhere, some of the stress will go away and I will really be able to focus on just doing well. For example, I do not think I will stress about residency so much when in med school the way I stress about med school now that I am in post bac. And the impression I get from a lot of med students I speak with is just that. Whether their reason is the same as above, or just that fact that they are so busy that they do not have time to even think about residency until their 3rd or 4th year, I guess varies from person to person.

I'm sorry to say that this is probably not true, at least not in my experience. Already, many people in my class are starting to stress about Step 1, which we won't even be taking until around June. (I'm a second year.) Many of the fourth years that I know are definitely stressing about residency applications. Even most of the people who want to go into less popular specialties still have pretty strong preferences about *where* they go. If you want to get into a popular program located in a popular geographical place, it's still highly competitive even if you pick the least competitive specialty. You know how all the premeds around you are total type A personalities? So are almost all of the med students I've ever met (including myself 😳 ), and the talent pool in med school is a lot deeper than it is in college. Only a few pressures in my previous life even begin to compare to the pressure I am feeling as a second year med student. It's about on par with the god-awful year I took my quals in grad school.

OP, my advice is to focus on the present and try not to dwell on the past. Concentrate on learning as much as you can in your classes and being the best student you can be. If you aren't doing as well on your tests as you think you should be, make an appointment with your prof or talk to some upperclassmen who took that class so that you can get some pointers and tweak your study habits. One particular test grade won't usually make or break you as long as you do well overall. to you. 🙂

 

[lzbthcox]

Thank you all for your replies. Helps me to realize I'm not alone in the anxiety area. For the most part, the kids I'm in class with, don't seem to care about their grades. It helps to know I'm not alone. I'll try to relax a little bit, but I know I won't just because I won't be happy unless I get into and out of dental school. 🙄

 

[Empi]

You've sort of touched upon one of my fears, I do the work I need to do as an undergrad and get good grades, but I worry I won't be able to cut it in med school with nothing but the genuses that were in my undergrad classes.

 

[QofQuimica]

You've sort of touched upon one of my fears, I do the work I need to do as an undergrad and get good grades, but I worry I won't be able to cut it in med school with nothing but the genuses that were in my undergrad classes.

Everyone in your class will worry about it. The people who brag and claim they never study are the ones who are worrying about it the most. Seriously.

 

[AdamB]

tell me about it. I just got my grade back on a bio test in a class of 124 students. I got a 92 (class average was 72)and only 5 people in the class did better than me and I am frustrated as hell about it. It seems like if I am not averaging a 95% or better then I start to get uncomfortable because I don't have enough "cushion" in case I "bomb" a test and by bombing I mean making less than an 85%. Looking at it objectively... my thoguht process is COMPLETELY IRRATIONAL!

What I find funny is that I stress out about not making a high enough A and the 18 year old pre med undergrad sitting next to me is ecstatic with her 73 because she beat the class average. Needless to say everyone looks at me strange when they see the look of disappointment in my face with an A.

The really interesting thing is that when we, as non trads, realize their is virtually no room for error, we surprise ourselves with how well we do once we look back on the whole process rationally. This tends to frustrate me even more for screwing around too much during my UG years. If only I had....

 

[lzbthcox]

I figure up my grades a lot. "OK.. if I fail this test... average would be.." Yeah, I know weird, but it's funny because I never cared in high school. I just did whatever hit me. I usually couldn't be bothered with studying or homework and I pulled off A's. Now.. I have trouble recalling information that I saw 30 minutes ago. I stress about all the information running out of my head. I stare at my chem papers thinking.. "I know I should know this. I know I KNOW this! What in the hell am I supposed to do with this?!" Sooo frustrating. I have been out of school quite a while. My mom says she went through it when she went back to school. I just keep thinking, "I can't really be this stupid. Can I?" lol

I'm hoping it will get better next semester. 😛

 

[cheezer]

it will get better. i went through a similar thing my first semester back