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Second year Kin, thinking about Physiotherapy


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Hey everyone, so I'm a second year kin student at Brock, and ever since high school I was determined to do physiotherapy.
I am Canadian citizen who did the British curriculum abroad (gcse's and A-levels) and got accepted into various universities, however I settled at Brock due to financial reasons.
in first year and just turning 17 I promised to not party, restrict the amount of times I go out and legit had 0 social life, yet I had an average of almost 73% which was extremely demotivating for me, I had to repeat the anatomy class since I never did anatomy  (only did further Biology at school and didn't cover as much on the anatomy side) and it kinda boosted my average after repeating it. Fast forward to second year I was determined to do better, but it was more brutal than first year, I learned from a lot of my mistake in first year (there were tons)  but I barely improved in first semester, here I am in second semester and my grades are not looking any better. I suffer a lot from the difference in examination style I was used to (we did less multiple choices and more short/long answer in the British curriculum).
At this point I am really stressed out, my marks are not looking better even though I dedicated more time and better strategies in studying in second year, I meet up with my professors occasionally and almost all of them love me and expect a lot from me, yet I don't do that well. I do realize that only the last two years matter as much but I am afraid that I won't do any better and I'd be stuck with a kin degree, given I seriously dislike my program and how it is setup at my school.
my questions are as follow:
1. Did you do better off in 3rd and 4th year when compared to the first couple of years, did you find university easier to handle in the last couple of years.
2. Are my grades normal for someone coming to university at this age, I genuinely wanted to take a gap year but my parents refused.
3. what are some good strategies which had an effect on boosting your grades.
4. Is there a chance to improve my gpa or should I just pull out of the program and switch programs/careers at this point to save myself years wasted.

I am just stressing heavily over the high gpa cutoffs and me being younger than the average student, please be straight forward with me, give me a reality check and don't sugar coat it.
Thanks in advance for your honest replies.

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University can be a steep learning curve coming from any background. It sounds like you need to re-evaluate how you go about studying. In high school, I put little to no work in other than studying a day or two before the exam and came out with high 90s. University was a huge shock and I definitely took a hit in first year in terms of grades, and had to learn how to put the time and effort into learning, understanding, and applying the material. Many students find recall to be incredibly helpful for retaining information, cue-cards, post-its, and written notes can be used to quiz yourself repeatedly until the information flow is natural. to answer your questions:

1. I have performed better in 2nd, 3rd, and 4th year, not because the courses are easier but because I learned what works for me. Fourth year has been the busiest and most challenging year of my undergrad balancing honours courses and requirements on top of extracurriculars and applications, but I have my highest GPA to date.

2. Grades are not defined by age. I know people younger than me that are far more successful. It's about the time and energy you put into learning, and how you approach learning.

3. Memorization using cue cards or other modalities is the first step in courses. Especially in physiology and anatomy, there is often little application due to the high volume of content. In other courses that are application based, you still need to memorize the basic content before you can go about applying what you know. ALways build your foundation first.

4. You can always pull up your GPA. It's more about how much you want it, if you put in the work things will change. I haven't researched physio schools in depth but some of them only address your best two years of GPA. Other schools require written components in addition to GPA that allows you to paint yourself in a more favourable light and be evaluated holistically.

 

If this is truly your dream you shouldn't give up! Learning how you function in an academic environment now will only help you in the future, PT school isn't going to be easier than undergrad.

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Thanks for replying

2 hours ago, DentalExplorer said:

You can always pull up your GPA. It's more about how much you want it

when it comes to this, it is not like I don't wanna pull it up, and I have put in work it just doesn't seem to payoff

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Here's my take on improvement

  1. Proper life balance:
    • Trying to "brute force/shove" information into your brain is incredibly inefficient. Best analogy I've heard was that the brain is just like training a muscle. If you want to train it, you have to do it consistently over a long period of time in small bits.
    • Give yourself tons of brain breaks by volunteering/playing a sport/socializing; this way, you'll always be studying at peak performance!
  2. Finding a study strategy that suits you
    • I tried a bunch of things in first term; finally ended up settling on a pretty simple method. Review/rewrite notes after every lecture at the end of the day > a week before any examination, I'll compile a massive word doc in which I reword all my notes (this is not simply typing out notes; I'm actually slowly thinking of how I could connect concepts every step along the way) > 2/3 days before an exam, I'll get together with friends and tackle concepts we found challenging/point out as many small details that could be testable > day before an exam, I'll just take the day to reflect on everything
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On 4/20/2019 at 3:34 PM, AdwanJr said:

Hey everyone, so I'm a second year kin student at Brock, and ever since high school I was determined to do physiotherapy.
I am Canadian citizen who did the British curriculum abroad (gcse's and A-levels) and got accepted into various universities, however I settled at Brock due to financial reasons.
in first year and just turning 17 I promised to not party, restrict the amount of times I go out and legit had 0 social life, yet I had an average of almost 73% which was extremely demotivating for me, I had to repeat the anatomy class since I never did anatomy  (only did further Biology at school and didn't cover as much on the anatomy side) and it kinda boosted my average after repeating it. Fast forward to second year I was determined to do better, but it was more brutal than first year, I learned from a lot of my mistake in first year (there were tons)  but I barely improved in first semester, here I am in second semester and my grades are not looking any better. I suffer a lot from the difference in examination style I was used to (we did less multiple choices and more short/long answer in the British curriculum).
At this point I am really stressed out, my marks are not looking better even though I dedicated more time and better strategies in studying in second year, I meet up with my professors occasionally and almost all of them love me and expect a lot from me, yet I don't do that well. I do realize that only the last two years matter as much but I am afraid that I won't do any better and I'd be stuck with a kin degree, given I seriously dislike my program and how it is setup at my school.
my questions are as follow:
1. Did you do better off in 3rd and 4th year when compared to the first couple of years, did you find university easier to handle in the last couple of years.
2. Are my grades normal for someone coming to university at this age, I genuinely wanted to take a gap year but my parents refused.
3. what are some good strategies which had an effect on boosting your grades.
4. Is there a chance to improve my gpa or should I just pull out of the program and switch programs/careers at this point to save myself years wasted.

I am just stressing heavily over the high gpa cutoffs and me being younger than the average student, please be straight forward with me, give me a reality check and don't sugar coat it.
Thanks in advance for your honest replies.

The adjustment period at the beginning of university is brutal. I had a very high average in high school and when I went into my first year of university (straight into kin like you) that average dropped to a 68 and it was SO discouraging but it happens to the best of us! In contrast I just finished my last semester of kinesiology with an 88 average. Everyone is different but in my experience grades do seem to improve as you go through the degree program. So to answer your questions:

1. Grades got way higher in third year. First was terrible, second was ok, third and fourth were great. It takes a while to learn what works for you and developing good study habits can take time! Once you find your groove you’ll be laughing. 

2. From what I saw in myself and my friends your grades are totally normal. My buddies and I all finished our first year with 60s and everyone (all graduating) is typically getting mid 70s - 90s now. 

3. This is very subjective as different things work for different people. I made an effort to get to know the profs (sounds like you’re already doing this) and I used all the labs as a way to improve my understanding. That hands on experience can be valuable! When in lectures I focused on that the prof was saying and not what was on the slide so that way when I went to study there were two sets of notes - slides and anything the prof said. This worked the best. I also found making cue cards worked well when it came close to exams. This was very effective for me but what’s important is finding what’s best for you and your learning style! This comes with time. 

4. DONT GIVE UP!! In first and second year I would have never imagined I’d get the grades I get now. University is a huge learning curve and it takes lots of patience and set backs to find your way. Kinesiology is a wonderful field and if physio is what you want then don’t give up on your goals! Also don’t worry about your GPA too much, it seems like grad schools look at the past 60 credit hours (can anyone confirm this?) so don’t worry too much about your first year grades, easier said than done I know. You have plenty of time yet. And be too hard on yourself and let yourself go out and have fun once in a while. The social aspect is superrrrr valuable in getting some of the inievitable uni stress out.

Hope this is helpful. Best of luck with it!! 

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On 4/20/2019 at 1:04 PM, AdwanJr said:

Hey everyone, so I'm a second year kin student at Brock, and ever since high school I was determined to do physiotherapy.
I am Canadian citizen who did the British curriculum abroad (gcse's and A-levels) and got accepted into various universities, however I settled at Brock due to financial reasons.
in first year and just turning 17 I promised to not party, restrict the amount of times I go out and legit had 0 social life, yet I had an average of almost 73% which was extremely demotivating for me, I had to repeat the anatomy class since I never did anatomy  (only did further Biology at school and didn't cover as much on the anatomy side) and it kinda boosted my average after repeating it. Fast forward to second year I was determined to do better, but it was more brutal than first year, I learned from a lot of my mistake in first year (there were tons)  but I barely improved in first semester, here I am in second semester and my grades are not looking any better. I suffer a lot from the difference in examination style I was used to (we did less multiple choices and more short/long answer in the British curriculum).
At this point I am really stressed out, my marks are not looking better even though I dedicated more time and better strategies in studying in second year, I meet up with my professors occasionally and almost all of them love me and expect a lot from me, yet I don't do that well. I do realize that only the last two years matter as much but I am afraid that I won't do any better and I'd be stuck with a kin degree, given I seriously dislike my program and how it is setup at my school.
my questions are as follow:
1. Did you do better off in 3rd and 4th year when compared to the first couple of years, did you find university easier to handle in the last couple of years.
2. Are my grades normal for someone coming to university at this age, I genuinely wanted to take a gap year but my parents refused.
3. what are some good strategies which had an effect on boosting your grades.
4. Is there a chance to improve my gpa or should I just pull out of the program and switch programs/careers at this point to save myself years wasted.

I am just stressing heavily over the high gpa cutoffs and me being younger than the average student, please be straight forward with me, give me a reality check and don't sugar coat it.
Thanks in advance for your honest replies.

I was in the same boat. 3-5th year were my best. I slowed down and really evaluated every class and the strategy I needed to use in order to succeed. All classes are not the same, some require a practical approach and some require a memorization approach. Also, seems like your program might not suit you. I'm not sure if it is possible for you, but I'm a strong believer in if you like what you study, you will succeed. Perhaps you can talk to some current PT students, I know a bunch that do not come from a science/kin background so perhaps you can transfer in a program that better suits you? In my case, I transferred schools for my 3rd year (stayed in the same city and still completed a kin degree). And that was the difference maker, I clicked better with my profs, smaller class sizes and make connections which made it easier going to school everyday. Hope this helps! 

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