Hey guys,
So I just finished my first round of 1st year Enggineering midterms and things are pretty bad. I thought I did okay in chem and pretty good in Microeconomics but got a 55% and 75% in the midterms
Plus, I pretty much sucked at the physics midterm and the 1c03 tutorial test, though I did good in the 1p03 midterm(because it was open book).. Do you guys have any advice or info on this cuz I'm feeling pretty much in the dumps right now..

Pretty much all of us engineering students had to go through that, so it's not just you.
I know you just came from high school where you would get 90%s in just about every class and you could probably get a 90% in some test you never even studied for. But you know that now, you're competing with 800 other students who also had 88%+ averages in high school, so the competition is A LOT tougher. And to make matters worse, you have to take more courses in less time, learning more advanced material as well, so it's really a huge jump from high school.

That being said, it's normal for your grades to drop so much, but what you have to do now is continue doing what you're doing (if you think it's enough) for you to pass and get a decent GPA so you can get into your stream in 2nd year. Don't worry about getting high %s, remember you don't have to aim for a 90% anymore like in high school. Just endure it. Good luck and don't give up :O

75% is not bad for Micro. Its not good per se ... but not bad at all. In other courses 75% would be excellent for engineering. This isnt high school and the average is closer to 65% not 90%. Also 1st year chem is known to be incredibly hard. It IS the wakeup call midterm.

That being said you need to pick yourself, focus, and learn better study methods. What you are doing now is not working for you. First term is the easier term. Its virtually all review. Next term you will have to learn new concepts while moving just as fast if not faster. But you will adapt if you try. A huge number of people are in the same boat as you. You need to shed the lazy study habits you learned in high school and find something that works for you. I personally found summarizing the appropriate content from the textbook into notes very helpful for me because it forced me to write it down and more importantly summarize it (which makes you think differently about it). For other people this doesnt work at all and they prefer lectures and lecture notes. Also consider Youtube for those lectures you missed or concepts that went over your head.

You are not in a bad position right now. You just need to become more effective at studying. First year courses tend to have bigger final exam and lab components for exactly this reason.

55% for chem midterm is pretty balls. but if i remember correctly it was pretty bad for many people when i was in my first year too. i think it's because the school system doesn't prepare students well enough.

You need to stop playing League of Legends and start studying properly and often. Make sure you aim to get 100 on the midterms and study absolutely everything that's been covered in lectures and a little more in the textbooks.

The reason why you really want to aim for a 100 is because it's very easy to screw up in midterms because you weren't fast enough or you just got stuck on that one question that was worth as much as all the 20-25 multiple choices questions put together. You are going to screw up in midterms but if you go into them as if you have "mastered" the subject, you can get somewhere around an 80 even with a tough prof.

Keep trying your best and make sure you understand the materials that you got wrong on the midterm. Just remember that these materials will not go away, they will come back to haunt you on the exam. I actually failed both of my material midterms in first year but I made sure I understood everything I got wrong. Eventually, I managed to get an A on my exam and passed the course. So don't give up and keep working hard Good luck

Do the suggested work. I regret not doing the suggestion problems (especially math). You may think you passed the class and the content is relevant, but it will come back in some form later on (especially math concepts) and you will not have time to learn the old concepts and learn the new course content at the same time. You're in first year still, make the most of it and you'll find upper years just that bit less difficult.

@Sxefmachine - That's actually some real good advice, aiming for the 100, so I can at least get an 80. Thanks man! I'll definitely focus harder and cut down on the video games!

Thanks to all of you guys! I'll try harder and not lose hope. Stay awesome!

Plenty of people have been there. I did terribly on my first two midterms of university - 54 and 65. Being used to 90's, I was pretty disheartened. But I pulled up my socks, practiced a lot, figured out how to study better, and made it through with high 80's in both of those courses. It only gets easier for the rest of your undergrad. Don't forget, the bell curve is a nice little boost at the end.

Hey man don't worry, first year grades aren't everything. Let me tell you a story...

Back in 2006 I bombed that exact same chem midterm (30% or something ridiculously bad). I also bombed the physics, math, and econ midterms. In fact, I also failed or almost failed 6 of my 13 courses in first year eng. Twice from 2006-2008 I almost had to be reinstated into my program. Both times my CA dipped to the 3.9 range. I'm in my 20s now and make well into 6 figures as an software engineer and own a successful firm in the GTA.

First year eng, and second year depending on your program, are extremely difficult. Cut yourself some slack, take up your midterms with a TA/prof, and try to do better on the next set. A large part of first year eng is just powering through all the damn thing.

@kirchhoff Yet you still did a masters.... What was your avg in 3rd and 4th year?!

@justicebeaver Whoops, maybe I should change my profile from Masters to Alumni. Anyway, third year I was up to SA of ~7.5 and 4th year a SA of ~10.5. I finished my masters with a 12.0.

Originally Posted by kirchhoff

@justicebeaver Whoops, maybe I should change my profile from Masters to Alumni. Anyway, third year I was up to SA of ~7.5 and 4th year a SA of ~10.5. I finished my masters with a 12.0.

Did the courses get easier or did you just worked harder?

Originally Posted by justicebeaver

Did the courses get easier or did you just worked harder?

I probably got a bit better at learning, but the courses definitely got a lot easier in terms of workload.