Losing Confidence After Failing Thermodynamics Exam

[hanson]

very depressed...

Hi all..
Just finished my thermodynamics exam...do badly...not expected to be that bad...
I used to score greatly in the first year...I got A+ in nearly all courses..
But this time...I am afraid that I would probably get a D or even worse...how can i accept this...sigh...
I am so much depressed.
Thermodynamics is actually my favourate subject and I used to do well in that.
The questions are not difficult...and everyone see the same...I sincerely feel that I can do much better if I am well preapred. So it is too late to say these, I know.
But I just can't accept a grade of "D" "C" appearing i nmy transcript, especially for my favourite subject.
Actually I am sick during the examination period, feeling sleepy all day round. But I just don't want to use this as an excuse...damx!

I am going to loss my confidence to pursue further study and strive for the best...I am just very down...
I know that I am too childish...

Just try to see if I would feel better after telling these to someone.

 

[Genecks]

start weightlifting.

What do you want with all this knowledge you're obtaining?
Don't lose your dream.

 

[Igor_S]

One bad grade, so what ? You said you got A+ in nearly all other courses... I mean, it's not the end of the world if you don't have perfect grades :). And try to relax a little before the exam...

 

[moose]

Just try to learn the stuff because you like the class! Who cares if you do bad in just that one class anyway? Don't let it bother you :)

 

[hanson]

Thank you all for the encouragement~
Since this course is a seond year course, which counts heavier towards the final class of honor I could get upon graduation.
I just fear that I can't get a good honor to graduate and hence no graduate school would accept me...
And it is just frustrating...

anyway, thanks

 

[tmc]

A single D won't do much against your GPA if you have a bunch of A+ to cover it up.

Its understandable to do bad in an exam. Youll end up writing 40 finals to get your degree, its very possible that 1 doesn't go as well as planned.

 

[hanson]

anyone who has similar experience and could eventually get into prestigious graduate school?

 

[mathwonk]

i got a D- in honors calculus, after winning the state math contest in high school. In fact I had a 1.2 average in every class, out of 4.0.

Then junior year I turned it around, did well at least in math, and mde sure I got A's in the last two courses I took before applying to grad school.

I got in an excellent grad school, really better than my record deserved, and learned a lot.

I stumbled there s well though, lost focus and had to leave with a masters degree. then I went to a teaching job at a small college, and worked very hard at recovering my preparation level.

After 4 more years, I re entered a new grad school, not famous at the time, but in the process of upgrading. It was also excellent, and I learned a lot more and got my PhD.

I got 3 job offers, including Ivy league schools, chose an appropriate one and am still there s full professor.

In between I enjoyed a postdoc at Harvard, and many invited tripos to international conferences.

Life is really long and that one grade means zip, nada, nothing.

good luck

 

[GCT]

yeah, grades are one of those things which requires a lot of preserverence, bad grades will happen to you, especially if you're not a perfectionist. If thermodynamics is something you really tried to excel at and in the end did not match up, then you may be better off aspiring to something else, that is relax a bit. If you really want to become good at it, nothing is preventing you from pursuing the studies on your own. The truth is, you're not going to excel at such an in depth subject right away, unless you're exceptionally mathematically/visually gifted. I have to admit, I would also become pretty depressed with a C, and a heart attack with a D.

You may have just underestimated the course.

By now, you'll need to pick a specific field you want to apply yourself in...if you want to become a scientist.

Consider the event a lesson learned, you can start making a transition right now, start moving forward. Your grade in the course either means your lack of study skills, or simply that you didn't match up in savvy. People can get by with study skills or if they had significantly applied themselves to the subject. Which one applies to you?

 

[Tide]

At this stage I would do an honest and objective analysis of why I had problems this semester and come up with a plan to fix it. And then carry it out!

 

[asdf60]

yea, well i just bombed my honors math final because my neck was hurting (4 days of finals and no food will do that to you)...after a semester of maintaining an A+ average and getting a 100 on the midterm

 

[JasonJo]

i got a D- in honors calculus, after winning the state math contest in high school. In fact I had a 1.2 average in every class, out of 4.0.

Then junior year I turned it around, did well at least in math, and mde sure I got A's in the last two courses I took before applying to grad school.

I got in an excellent grad school, really better than my record deserved, and learned a lot.

I stumbled there s well though, lost focus and had to leave with a masters degree. then I went to a teaching job at a small college, and worked very hard at recovering my preparation level.

After 4 more years, I re entered a new grad school, not famous at the time, but in the process of upgrading. It was also excellent, and I learned a lot more and got my PhD.

I got 3 job offers, including Ivy league schools, chose an appropriate one and am still there s full professor.

In between I enjoyed a postdoc at Harvard, and many invited tripos to international conferences.

Life is really long and that one grade means zip, nada, nothing.

good luck

how difficult is it to get post doc positions at universities like Harvard or Pinceton?