Intelligent students failing at Uni

[mysterious]

*I meant failing

My cousin never recieved anything worse than a B in her GCSE and A-levels. She had a private education. But at uni (she went to LSE) she would get less than 50% on her coursework. I know another girl who went to Brunel university. She also got mainly A's and B's for her GCSE's and A-levels, yet she failed her first year.

I'll admit, I'm not as intelligent. I left school with 4 GCSE's at grade C. At 19, I decided to get back into education and did an Access course to get into University. Now I'm 21 and have just completed my first year of uni. Everyone says I did well, and I put a lot of effort into getting those grades which is why I'm so dissapointed. I'm not happy with the results but they are average so I passed.

It just seems a little strange because I'd get average results like my cousin, and sometimes better. I thought she would be getting way more than 80%. Also thought it was weird that the girl who goes to Brunel failed her first year while I pulled through into the next. So I was wondering, does each uni expect certain results from their students? For instance, if I was in LSE and got 50% and failed, does that I mean I can be at XXX and get away with 50%? I'm kinda doubting that I really deserved to be in the second year.

My uni is ranked 49 in the times university guide so I doubt it's as good.

[Nexus]

Sounds like they got caught up in the social network of college (friends, events, parties) or was not being challenged intellectually and was bored.

[Doli]

Are there any outside factors to think about like work/money/etc...?

[mysterious]

Are there any outside factors to think about like work/money/etc...?

No, not really. They were lucky because their parents were there for all of that.

[FaRSightxc2]

Yeah, its the social side and lack of 'structure' that means you don't achieve. If every student acheieved their potential there would be a hell of a lot more 1st's and even more 2:1's.

Everything just gets in the way. I am capable of a 1st. I have thus far achieved 2:2 and I will be hard pressed to pull it up to a 2:1 this year, my final year.

- FaRSightxc2

[neowin_hipster]

Social schmocial. Grades are bull**** and hopefully you've started to realize that. Too many kids in high school and university can get straight A's without understanding a damn thing. What do grades actually represent? Well what do tests and assignments represent? What are we actually measuring here? There's a reason employers ask you about what you've actually done... they could care less about your grades.

[mysterious]

Yeah, I guess you are right about the social aspect. They lived in the halls whilst I was studying from home.

[leesmithg]

Don't like to slag off the examinations of modern day kids, however, G.C.S.E. A is now the same as a d at c.s.e. A-Level C is the same as not quite an E when I did my courses.

This government wants you to believe that you all have the chance of university, there are some kids that just don't have the ambition to do it.

It's a hard task, first year is easy enough, when the second year comes along thats when it gets tough.

I will not encourage my children to goto university as I don't want them in debt and they can get a good diploma for 2 years at college and then make the decisions for themselves.

If you can't do the time then don't do the crime if you catch my drift.

[+Nik Louch Subscriber²]

It's often been said that kids who go to private shools may get better results while still at school, but fail abysmally in the university system.

[_bobcat_ Veteran]

I don't care what anyone says, A levels ARE hard work! But the government's attempt to get 50% of people through uni is pure BS in my opinion.

However, during the A-level and GCSE years, you are taught how to pass the exams and spoon fed by your teachers. They do everything they can to get you through because of the school ratings.

When it comes to uni, you are on your own and you have to get yourself through. The staff there couldn't care less. The skills needed to succeed are different - you have to organise yourself, do your own research and organise your own revision.

[Fred Derf Veteran]

Often high school students are looked after by teachers and parents. This doesn't happen at university and, as already stated, there are a lot of new distractions.

Also the key to high school is to not think but instead to blindly regurgitate whatever the teacher wants to hear. The odd time you get a professor that actually wants you to think independently.

Quite often the students who get A's in high school are actually not that intelligent, they are just good at playing the game and getting the marks. University can be a real challenge for them.

Of course, undergraduate University is become more and more like an extension of high school so it isn't as pronounced as it once was. Still, you may find some leftover professors that remember what it used to be like.

[leesmithg]

It's often been said that kids who go to private shools may get better results while still at school, but fail abysmally in the university system.

True, it's a myth that they get better taught, they have teachers that no how to coach the fewer children

they have in their class, good exam technique and having a good idea what will be on the exam papers.

Also children from the so called better schools get offered better university places at the so called better university of their choice.

It's the problem with education in this country, your face fits, you come from the right family you have a big head start.

My example will be a mate that went for medicine, he got A, B, D. A chemistry, B biology D maths.

He had to do his Maths again, he got an A on resit.

However a student in the same year achieved B, C and E, she got into medicine first go as her father was already a GP.

What can one say, it's bad.

[User6060]

i've found that just because you can memorize and spit back what the teacher wants in high school doesn't mean in university you'll get an A for reciting the textbook.

[Chadwick]

ill tell you from a first hand point of view, right now im on academic suspension because my gpa is .03 under average that you need after the first year. Most schools let you slide the 1st semester but not mine so when I ****ed up it screwed me.

the problem is not the drinking/social stuff for me. The problem was that I totally hated what I was learning, it had no appeal to me, which meant that when I had a choice between playing halo or studying i'd play halo. I was never a good studier so its hard enough when i am focused, but when the material is something im not interested in thats like being asked to eat something you hate and like it.

im switching majors and currently building a portfolio via a community college until i return in the spring, so in the end its gonna work out great, it just took learning the hard way to realize that you really need to know what you want to do before you jump into something like that.

[TokyoKiller]

It's known that even if you're the most intelligent student, if you can't cope with the University environment it will affect your grades.

[Samboini]

Being a 3rd year materials engineering student I can guarantee you it is the hardest thing I have ever had to commit myself too. I average around 65% which puts me online for a 2.1 degree which is a a mid-high standard. Anything over 70% yields a 1st classification degree but that is much harder. I can honestly say I put a lot of work in during the semester and at exam times I spend no less than 100 hours a week in the library! No i'm not even a geek before everyone jumps in at me! I like to have my fair share of pub-crawls/benders/****-ups call it what you want, but I would say never judge anyone's degree if you have never experienced the difficulty of advanced education.

However there are some degrees that just don't warrant much respect from myself, media studies etc. I find it completely pointless and laugh at anyone who studies the such. No i'm not arrogant but I feel university should be reserved for 'proper' subjects such as engineering/medicine/teaching. Others such as english/history are not easy, but they don't line you up for much of a job when you graduate. I should know, many friends who took such courses and achieved high grades still struggle to hop on the career ladder, whereas I already have a place reserved for me next year at the UK's leading construction company due to my degrees relevance to the outside world.

[Munkyman]

If everyone achieved there potential then everyone would be getting straight A's.

[_bobcat_ Veteran]

They wouldn't, someone's potential is related to what that individual is capable of. Not everyone is capable of straight A's.

[zivan56]

I found I did better when I started Univ than I did in highschool. However, I have friends that were A students in highschool, but are barely able to maintain a GPA in order not to get kicked out.

[h3xis]

However there are some degrees that just don't warrant much respect from myself, media studies etc. I find it completely pointless and laugh at anyone who studies the such. No i'm not arrogant but I feel university should be reserved for 'proper' subjects such as engineering/medicine/teaching. Others such as english/history are not easy, but they don't line you up for much of a job when you graduate. I should know, many friends who took such courses and achieved high grades still struggle to hop on the career ladder, whereas I already have a place reserved for me next year at the UK's leading construction company due to my degrees relevance to the outside world.

I know what you mean and I feel the same way. Where I go to uni, it's a HUGE agriculture and engineering school. I'm in engineering myself, however it does have a college of humanities and social sciences. What a f****** joke. I'm not saying everyone who goes into this stuff is like this but from what I've seen all these people ever do is sit outside and yap on their cell phones and whine about writing papers and reading. Pu-lease. All engineers here feel the same way about it and they get no sympathy from us.

[Fred Derf Veteran]

They'll realize how hard life can be like when they apply for a job with a degree in humanities and social sciences.

[KHaKi-]

Often high school students are looked after by teachers and parents. This doesn't happen at university and, as already stated, there are a lot of new distractions.

Also the key to high school is to not think but instead to blindly regurgitate whatever the teacher wants to hear. The odd time you get a professor that actually wants you to think independently.

Quite often the students who get A's in high school are actually not that intelligent, they are just good at playing the game and getting the marks. University can be a real challenge for them.

Of course, undergraduate University is become more and more like an extension of high school so it isn't as pronounced as it once was. Still, you may find some leftover professors that remember what it used to be like.

(Y) totally agree, this kid everyone called a "genius" at my highschool failed out of Purdue his freshman year. :rofl:

[Jowood]

My theory is that how well you do in college is entirely based on the habits you form and quality of education that you receive in high school.

I am extremely upset at the college admissions system. There is no high school ranking, so some of the best and brightest with so-so sat scores get left behind in the whole mess.

[virtualmadden]

Being a smart kid who could easily get a A- or B+ if I applied myself, I think it matters a lot about the goals of the program your in. I started in Micro/Molec Bio at a top tier Univ and had a GPA that ranged from a 2.0-2.7 my first two years. I transfered to a Univ that was smaller but still 25k students and ended up getting a 3.0-3.5 for my final two years. Of course being diagnosed with ADD and mild anxiety didn't help. Anyway, what I found was that most kids can cruise through high school because the work load is moderate and teachers are getting paid to teach. At a university on the other hand, you meet a lot of teachers who are being paid to research and make the school look better. The philosophy is to impart information out of a text book and those that get it, get it or those that don't, pick a new focus. On the other hand, the second school I attended, the teachers had much longer office hours and strongly focused on the students being able to apply the information instead of repeating it. The ability to work through to the answer was the goal, which is great for when you go out into the real world. So work ethic and dedication plays a large roll in a college education, but unless the teacher's goal is can get their students to apply the information, it means little less than words on a page and that's where people fail.

I got out in four years with a degree in Micro/Molec Bio and a Chem minor. I might go back for a some more Math or Comp Sci, but I haven't decided.

[AJerman]

To be completely honest I think most school is just BS. High school is just day care for big kids. Nothing you learn in high school is really all that hard. That said, I've always had trouble doing things that are useless and ended up dropping out of high school. Later I got caught by the bug that "school is important" again and took an ACT test and got automatic admission to school (again, easy, for me at least) and off I went to a well known university. My first semester was over the summer and I did very well because I didn't know anyone and didn't have anything better to do but all my work. After that I joined a fraternity and became much more social and my grades went down the drain again. Why? Not because I couldn't do it, rather the opposite. It wasn't challenging enough for me to bother.

After 2 years of this I decided to stop wasting my time and just go get a job. A few months later I now have a job getting paid what most college graduates would be more than happy to make. Granted it's not as much as I'd like to be making for my entire life, I am working from the ground up using experience rather than a piece of paper that says I know what I'm doing.

And you know what else? I know more about what I'm doing than any college graduate would. I'm a computer programmer and write a web app in ASP.NET using C#. Very few schools actually offer classes in newer .NET languages. So what would that piece of paper done for me? Nothing other than say I spent 4 years and wasted money to learn a language that I don't plan to use.

Anyway, if you asked me I would never recommend people take my path in life. I knew that I could be successful, so I did it. Not everyone can or is in a field that allows them to be so lucky. Also, I think that the social life in college is EXTREMELY important. I wouldn't give up a second that I spent in college even if it's a couple tens of thousands of dollars of debt for no degree.

I would however like to take some classes that I know nothing about and never plan to use for work someday just to broaden my knowledge of interesting subjects. Maybe in another year or two when I'm a little more settled down I will take some late classes after work in some interesting history classes or things like that.