HELP I think I failed my first university midterm

[Guest Transparent]

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[cnb88]

HELP I think I failed my first university midterm.

I literally panicked during the mid-term. It was my first university mid-term, I had no idea what the **** I was doing. I didn't get to complete all the questions because I ran out of time and neither did I get to check over my work for the questions I did complete. I studied my ass off for this midterm. There goes my first year GPA

 

Find out your mark first (and average/standard deviation if you go to a school that grades on a curve).

 

If in fact you did fail, drop it like a hot potato (make sure you do it properly so a W shows up!).

 

And don't worry... It happens to everyone For the next midterm, relax, take a deep breath and just do it. No worries!

[ArchEnemy]

HELP I think I failed my first university midterm.

I literally panicked during the mid-term. It was my first university mid-term, I had no idea what the **** I was doing. I didn't get to complete all the questions because I ran out of time and neither did I get to check over my work for the questions I did complete. I studied my ass off for this midterm. There goes my first year GPA

 

1 midterm won't destroy your GPA. Do some mock tests before entering the midterms in the future, it really helps with the blanking out. Best of luck!

[Leon]

Where do you plan to apply and what's your current courseload?

[McMarauder]

HELP I think I failed my first university midterm.

I literally panicked during the mid-term. It was my first university mid-term, I had no idea what the **** I was doing. I didn't get to complete all the questions because I ran out of time and neither did I get to check over my work for the questions I did complete. I studied my ass off for this midterm. There goes my first year GPA

 

that's exactly what happened to me when I wrote my first university midterm. it was chemistry. I panicked and forgot how to do something simple things like calculating limiting reagent. I failed the test with a 44%, but managed to finish the course with a 72.

 

just wait until the mark comes out and then decide what to do. Deciding factors would include the class average, and how much the midterm is worth.

[PhoenixFlare500]

Did your classmates also do badly because they ran out of time? If so your prof might decide to curve the marks, if they so desire (even in this case some profs wouldn't care). I'd ask around, see what the other students thought. Also if you're lucky, you might be able to talk to your prof and convince them to make the midterm weighed less for your final grade, making your final exam more important. That depends on your prof being extra nice though.

 

I like ArchEnemy's strategy of finding practice tests, often teachers don't like making new questions so if you can actually get your hand on old tests and practice off of those it could be quite helpful.

 

While you're asking people how they did on the test you could also ask around to see if anyone's interested in making a study group, those can help you keep on track (or pull you off track depending on the group and how much fun you have), and then you can offer each other your understanding of course material to supplement holes you might have.

 

In the meantime I recommend you think back on how you studied for this test, and your other courses for that matter. I've known people that have put tons of time into studying for some tests and haven't done well because they don't study efficiently, or the style they've been using just hasn't worked for them. On a related note, think about how much time you spent on each question on that test, or each individual mark. In my experience, profs like to allot about a minute to a minute and a half per mark, so you'll have to get used to spreading your time out well e.g. only spending one minute per MCQ, ten minutes for an essay question, etc, get used to working under that time pressure. Obviously you'd want to know how many total points there are for the test and how much time you have to write the test. Now there are profs that will give you insanely long tests that most students have trouble completing in time, but then there's the ones that are extra well-prepared so they screw up the possibility of curving. In those cases, I guess you're out of luck and you gotta learn to think quickly.

[pingu]

Same thing happened to me when I was in first-year, and everything worked out in the end.

 

It seems like a huge deal now, but I assure you it isn't in the grand scheme of things.

 

One test mark won't make or break your first-year GPA. It won't even make or break your final mark in the course.

 

Everybody makes mistakes sometimes. You're only human.

[Curi0user]

Same thing happened to me but mid-test I got my groove back.

 

What I find helps is to make the actual test-taking moment as calm as possible. Breathing is good, but it makes you focus on the fact that you're breathing BECAUSE you're so scared so it doesnt work with me. What I do is use earplugs, to completely drown the rest of the world out and enter my own. It's much calmer there. And then I'll pick up a hot tea or something to sip on during the test. I pretty much make my environment as comfortable as possible -- as if I were at home. It helped me ENORMOUSLY.

[Cerena]

1 midterm won't destroy your GPA. Do some mock tests before entering the midterms in the future, it really helps with the blanking out. Best of luck!

 

Nope, it won't hurt your GPA as long as you continually strive to do well and are able to do so. Something that can most definitely be achieved.

 

And, for the record, I've even failed tests and still wound up within the A range plenty of times before (bloody calculus I - prof failed half the class on that midterm!). You just have to work your ass off in the future

 

Also, sometimes profs do things to curve up marks, like Phoenix mentioned.

 

So I know it's difficult (I'm an anxiety extraordinaire), but really try to stay positive because it's only just begun. Lots of obstacles to face in the future, and you have to stay driven.

 

People have even failed the MCAT before and have retaken it. And that's a test that really determines your future with med schools.

 

Chin up! And fight, fight, fight! You can still kick ass in the class! Get your game face on and open a can of academic whoop-ass! (After you practice breathing exercises during the test, of course )

[future_doc]

Chin up! And fight, fight, fight! You can still kick ass in the class! Get your game face on and open a can of academic whoop-ass! (After you practice breathing exercises during the test, of course )

 

I love your style Cerena and your powers of expression!

 

Of course, you are entirely correct in all you say. Who has not falllen down? I have for sure. And success is so much sweeter when you have tasted defeat! It's all about persistence and remaining motivated no matter what. To be all win is impossible and we are not perfect, things happen in life, and we must lose on the road to winning.

[charmer08]

Yes, I go to York. The midterm was for chemistry and it was very difficult. I studied all the questions in the back of the textbook and they didn't even relate to the type of questions proposed on the midterm.

 

GOOD news though, had my biology midterm this morning and I am pretty sure I aced it! I finished all of the questions, reviewed them over, and still finished early!

 

Thanks everyone for your generous advice. I'm going to sit tight and hope the professor bell curves the marks up for the chemistry midterm!!

 

They don't bell curve until the end of the course. I failed the 2nd midterm in CHEM1000 too but still ended up doing well in the course... its only 10% so I wouldn't worry too much about one test. Even if you get 30% on the exam (which tends to be the average for the first test), you're only losing 7% of the final mark. Just learn from your mistakes.

[Curi0user]

They don't bell curve until the end of the course. I failed the 2nd midterm in CHEM1000 too but still ended up doing well in the course... its only 10% so I wouldn't worry too much about one test. Even if you get 30% on the exam (which tends to be the average for the first test), you're only losing 7% of the final mark. Just learn from your mistakes.

 

They didn't bell curve last year and I dunno who she/he is with, but Hempstead said no bell curving in his class.

[apache]

dont worry, 200 exams later you'll be suffering from test apathy rather than test anxiety, lol ... you'll be fine

 

HELP I think I failed my first university midterm.

I literally panicked during the mid-term. It was my first university mid-term, I had no idea what the **** I was doing. I didn't get to complete all the questions because I ran out of time and neither did I get to check over my work for the questions I did complete. I studied my ass off for this midterm. There goes my first year GPA

[xkittens]

They don't bell curve until the end of the course. I failed the 2nd midterm in CHEM1000 too but still ended up doing well in the course... its only 10% so I wouldn't worry too much about one test. Even if you get 30% on the exam (which tends to be the average for the first test), you're only losing 7% of the final mark. Just learn from your mistakes.

 

hah! Unfortunately for us they're not bell-curving this year..... or hempstead's a liar and they do actually bell curve.

[charmer08]

hah! Unfortunately for us they're not bell-curving this year..... or hempstead's a liar and they do actually bell curve.

 

There is usually a bell curve at the end of the course in all sections. Hempstead was the course director back when I was taking the course too. I don't think they can have a D+ class average... it needs to be a C.

[IamIDP]

There is usually a bell curve at the end of the course in all sections. Hempstead was the course director back when I was taking the course too. I don't think they can have a D+ class average... it needs to be a C.

 

Here is the truth:

 

There are no bell curves, instead they shift the grading format by about 3%.

Ex. If you got an 87% = A+.

 

I finished off with an A+ in Chem1000 last year and I did fairly bad on the first test. Don't worry if you messed up on the first test, the shift in the marks will make up for it.

[medhopeful64]

HELP I think I failed my first university midterm.

I literally panicked during the mid-term. It was my first university mid-term, I had no idea what the **** I was doing. I didn't get to complete all the questions because I ran out of time and neither did I get to check over my work for the questions I did complete. I studied my ass off for this midterm. There goes my first year GPA

 

 

Like others have said, don't worry too much, especially if it was only worth 10% of your final grade. If you blank out again during an exam, BREATHE. Just take a few moments to close your eyes, give yourself a pep talk, and start with the easiest questions to boost your confidence.

 

I got a 52% on my first university midterm, but got an 81 in the course. As long as you learn from your mistakes, you can make come back strong.

 

Good luck!

[Guest Transparent]

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[Cnussey]

Hempstead (the course director and also professor for section C) said on the first day of class, "There will be no bell curving for this course."

 

I don't get it. Do they actually bell curve or not? I've been getting different responses from everyone.

 

I don't get the point of shifting the grades by 3% either. What was the class average for last year's chem courses anyways? Even if they were around 30%, a 3% increase won't really do much. I thought all courses should at least have a C average (65%) ?

 

Depends on the course--some profs teach courses that have low-grade expectancies and some profs prefer the normal distribution to remain as is. I have a prof that is always bell-curving exams and I have many that won't touch it.

[charmer08]

Hempstead (the course director and also professor for section C) said on the first day of class, "There will be no bell curving for this course."

 

I don't get it. Do they actually bell curve or not? I've been getting different responses from everyone.

 

I don't get the point of shifting the grades by 3% either. What was the class average for last year's chem courses anyways? Even if they were around 30%, a 3% increase won't really do much. I thought all courses should at least have a C average (65%) ?

 

Nope, the class average for first year courses needs to be atleast a C but a C+ average is possible too.

 

For chem, there is a 20% bonus (labs)... theres also people who drop the class... so the final average isn't a 30%... its usually a D+ which gets bell curved to a C. I've heard of/seen a bell curve in 2 sections (Pietro and Hempstead) when I took the course... and in Hastie Section a couple years ago. So I'm assuming its quite common.

[McMarauder]

I don't get it. Do they actually bell curve or not? I've been getting different responses from everyone.

 

"bell curving" is just one method in which marks are adjusted to form a normal distribution. As one of my undergraduate professors said "we don't bell curve, we add marks". So just because your mark won't be curved, doesn't mean it won't be adjusted by another method (linear adjustment probably).

[vdincale]

I also had profs who would just add marks to an exam or assignment for everyone rather then "bull curving". I always thought it was much better.

[IamIDP]

Hempstead (the course director and also professor for section C) said on the first day of class, "There will be no bell curving for this course."

 

I don't get it. Do they actually bell curve or not? I've been getting different responses from everyone.

 

I don't get the point of shifting the grades by 3% either. What was the class average for last year's chem courses anyways? Even if they were around 30%, a 3% increase won't really do much. I thought all courses should at least have a C average (65%) ?

 

The class averages go up after the first test. And this year they are giving free 5% bonus marks from online questions so be happy with that as that wasn't there last year.

 

Regardless, they won't bell curve. They will just shift the marks up by ~3%. How do I know this? My chem prof. told me last year (I'm not going to give the person's name).