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There were no real tragedies in my life during high school, although I did have plenty of personal problems in my first two years there. I graduated with a 2.883 GPA, or in the 43rd percentile of my class. There were times when teachers - even I - wondered if I'd graduate at all. Nevertheless, I decided to get my act together in the middle of 11th grade, and improved my GPA from about a 2.7 the 2nd quarter of my junior year to a 3.4 the last, and then went on to achieve a 3.7 the 1st quarter of my senior year.
My college years were marked by two tragedies: the death of my father soon after I began my freshman year and my brain cancer diagnosis at the beginning of my senior year, which took me out of school for about five or six weeks. Remarkably if I may say, I succeeded in college, graduating summa *** laude. My GPA for the first three years was approaching 3.9; my GPA at graduation was 3.81, and I graduated on time. I thrived in the college atmosphere, while the high school learning environment stifled me, especially with the "busy work" and dreaded "notebook checks".
It benefited me that a lot of my professors did not care about deadlines, and were quite disorganized themselves. One professor, whom I developed a particular affection for, did not complete half the things on his syllabus and arrived late when his department head was there to audit the class. I turned in one of the major papers of the semester a few days late (granted, everyone did), without copies of my peer-edited rough draft or their evaluation sheets. I wrote a little thing on the back of my paper saying they were both satisfactory, that I lost them while cleaning my car, and that I'll be back on Tuesday - sorry, I'll be away on a road trip on Monday. I got an "A", because the paper was, not to boast, quite good.
I had a convivial relationship with the professors in college that few other students had and would raise my hand all the time (few other students volunteered anything in class; they were mostly nursing and healthcare students who had to be there to get their generals done). A prominent exception would be the Theology professor, who held my conservative Catholic ideals in vehement contempt.
There were no real tragedies in my life during high school, although I did have plenty of personal problems in my first two years there. I graduated with a 2.883 GPA, or in the 43rd percentile of my class. There were times when teachers - even I - wondered if I'd graduate at all. Nevertheless, I decided to get my act together in the middle of 11th grade, and improved my GPA from about a 2.7 the 2nd quarter of my junior year to a 3.4 the last, and then went on to achieve a 3.7 the 1st quarter of my senior year.
My college years were marked by two tragedies: the death of my father soon after I began my freshman year and my brain cancer diagnosis at the beginning of my senior year, which took me out of school for about five or six weeks. Remarkably if I may say, I succeeded in college, graduating summa *** laude. My GPA for the first three years was approaching 3.9; my GPA at graduation was 3.81, and I graduated on time. I thrived in the college atmosphere, while the high school learning environment stifled me, especially with the "busy work" and dreaded "notebook checks".
It benefited me that a lot of my professors did not care about deadlines, and were quite disorganized themselves. One professor, whom I developed a particular affection for, did not complete half the things on his syllabus and arrived late when his department head was there to audit the class. I turned in one of the major papers of the semester a few days late (granted, everyone did), without copies of my peer-edited rough draft or their evaluation sheets. I wrote a little thing on the back of my paper saying they were both satisfactory, that I lost them while cleaning my car, and that I'll be back on Tuesday - sorry, I'll be away on a road trip on Monday. I got an "A", because the paper was, not to boast, quite good.
I had a convivial relationship with the professors in college that few other students had and would raise my hand all the time (few other students volunteered anything in class; they were mostly nursing and healthcare students who had to be there to get their generals done). A prominent exception would be the Theology professor, who held my conservative Catholic ideals in vehement contempt.
Congratulations.
Sorry to hear about your condition.
High School I did below-avg to "alright". I really didn't care that much to be honest, I was too stuck in the typical High School mode where I was more concerned about social elements, dating and looking a certain a way that education came last. I literally used to NEVER study at home, if I had a test then I would either study at lunch break or do a cram session 5 minutes before class started (or sometimes even in the period/class right before the test). I really wasn't happy in High School, a lot of the teachers were just bad and some disliked me for no reason, I just needed to get out of that environment.
When I graduated and hit college, that was my time to shine. I did exceptionally well. I went to Community College and graduated in just three semesters with an Associates Degree, my cumulative GPA was 3.7. I was a whole different person! Since it was Community College, there was less of a social aspect so I didn't get too caught up into things like that (most people just went to their 1hr 15min class and went home/work so they didn't give a crap about what I was doing). All I did was study and I made my parents very proud. I'm proud of going to Community College, I have met a lot of wonderful people who I am still friends with today, if my future child wanted to go to CC then I will totally support them. Now i'm in a new college and even though it's a lot more complicated, i'm doing exceptionally well.
One thing that also helped were that there were far less exams and homeworks. My average class only had three exams per semester and we rarely had homeworks. I had crappy homework grades which was a huge reason why I did poorly in high school since I was too lazy to study.
Bottom-line: I just needed a change of scenery. Think about it, in High School, you're around the same people for your entire time in school. Education is also not desired as much in HS as College, people in College are more driven and students are more likely to adapt to their surroundings .
Wow, tvdxer, sorry to hear about all of those things. And L.I.P., you make a good point that the social element can really make or break the academic experience in HS.
My overall college GPA wound up being the same as my overall HS GPA: 3.6. In my first year of high school I didn't apply myself and got all Bs, in part because I didn't know how to study well, and in part because I was suffering the consequences (demotion in course levels, guilt, self-hatred) as well as the ongoing causes (clinical depression, I realized, years later) of a 2-month truancy problem I had in my last year of junior high. In 10th grade I got my act together, began to learn how to study, and tried to redeem myself (to myself, at least) through learning and good grades. Due to the junior high truancy, I never did climb back into the honors track, but at least I did move from the less ambitious "B" level into the more academic "A" level of courses. In my last semester in HS I got a 4.0, which was good validation of my efforts, and I was on my way to a prestigious public university. My high school was very academically oriented--both a blessing and a curse for someone like me who was caught between excellence and mediocrity. Smart kids and high achievers were a dime a dozen at my HS, so if I hadn't had the inner resolve to improve and do well, no one would have cared. HS was a social nightmare for me, too.
I did well in college overall, but it took me a couple of years to hit my stride. I started out majoring in one of the fields my father wanted me to major in (Political Science--I resisted his entreaties to major in Business, thank goodness), and though I found the courses interesting, I never became passionate about them. After a study abroad experience in Spain, I switched my major to Spanish and focused more passionately on courses in languages, literature, etc. (My father was okay with the switch because Spanish is "useful," but I was more interested in the arcane aspects of the language and its legacy.) I was still socially inept when I graduated from college, but I did get into a good grad school where I eventually got a PhD, which led to an academic career. Fortunately, I learned how to be socially capable along the way (and I began treatment for depression), little by little.
Passed high school with top grades, and the same goes for my undergrad, which was basically a glorified high school. I've been humbled quite a bit since I started grad school on the campus of a top-tier university. Classes and research are fine, but the students here are truly top notch. I'm running across quite a few freshmen who took classes in high school that I was taking my junior and senior year of undergrad.
Similarly, myself...I did well in high school, graduating with honors, and did the same as an undergraduate. I learned more and worked harder in college, which is to be expected when one goes from a mediocre rural consolidated district with underwhelming curriculum and little funding to attract and retain amazing educators to a highly selective private college. I loved college so much more than high school in that regard. I felt I had waited so long to be somewhere where I was finally surrounded by people who actually really cared deeply about learning and found a lot of joy in it. Prior to college, I had mostly only had that experience with my family...rarely in the public school setting.
I like to brag that I graduated from high school in the top 99 percent.
While it was somewhat better than that, I was at best an average student. But I got serious in college, and while I never completed my bachelors, I did graduate from community college with high honors in the top 1 percent.
It sounds like you had some serious roadblocks in college, tvdxer. Congratulations on overcoming them and finishing, on time even! It was also a brain tumor that halted my studies, although not malignant. I hope you've won the battle.
tvdxer, you've been through a lot and have made a success of yourself. Congratulations.
I went to 2 parochial high schools in a large urban area, with the first one being better than the second one. I don't know how I did it, but I was an A- student at the first one, and spent very little time studying (on the bus, in between classes, and during lunch), so I had the time open after school to goof around...like riding our bikes to fancy hotels in Southern California to swim in their pools, among other stupid things teenagers do. At the second school, though easier, I did fine, but not as well as at the first. The second high school was not as academically rigorous, and I got lazier. That said, I still graduated in the top 10% of the class, though toward the bottom of that group.
I went to a small private college. It was a "default" decision that I was questioning heavily during the first two years, since I was wondering if I should have been bolder and gone out of state, to another private school or to a large reasonably respected public university...i.e Univ. of Florida. My grades were 3.4ish, but again, I barely studied. Traveling, going camping, and long lunches in nearby restaurants seemed more important. There was one local Mexican restaurant that offered lunch buffet that was popular with students from my college. After that place, I found that I had to nap in the school library the rest of the afternoon. Not only that, my Dad was unexpectedly hospitalized during my 2nd year, and this took a toll on that semester. The last 2 years I realized I wanted a higher GPA for jobs, grad school or whatnot, lived in the library and was frenzied about school. I carried 4.0s or close to it. When the final GPA was computed, I graduated "*** laude."
Did a dual masters at a well-respected public university out-of-state. I got a 3.9 (high honors) in one of the curricula and a 3.6 in the other (they did not give awards, unless it was "with distinction"), in which case I would not have qualified...those usually start at about 3.8. Because I went to grad school in a place that was so new (for me) and because I could NOT stand being around undergrads, I didn't do much else except study. I had a few friends from grad school with whom I would go out to eat, see a movie or occasionally take a road trip, but that was about it. On any longer break, I would fly home. The joke was that I was the first to leave town and the last to come back.
I did dreadfully in highschool and was advised by a counselor to be a 'nice secretary' because I'd never make it thru college. I did great in college, graduating with an MA and on the dean's list. Difficult to say what changed but it goes to show that everyone should at least have the opportunity to try college.
I didn't do quite that well or poorly as the OP, but I did well enough in high school and college. The high school I went to was super competitive about grades and scores and very college geared to the point where the cool thing to do as a senior was to compare college acceptance letters and SAT scores. After that I went to a small liberal arts college. It was very refreshing and I ended up doing much better grade wise just because everyone their was not obsessive about overachieving. I also had a better social life as well since unlike high school myself and my friends did not spend an insane amount of time on school work. After that I ended up going to a fairly good law school and its like being in high school again though fortunately I have found some folks who can escape that.
i was a top student in high school and about average in college. college definitely took some getting used to in that regard, but i wanted to be surrounded by others who challenged me a little more. i learned way more in college despite getting lower grades.
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