[house123]

I am currently a student at a local community college in my area. I was enrolled at Michigan State University for a month this past fall, but things got way out of control. So now I am back home working on my gen eds. I thought compared to State's courses this community college would be a breeze. Well I thought wrong...I am taking 15 credits, 3 of the courses being science and math. In math the material is very similar to my senior math class in high school yet I have failed 2 out of the four exams. This is unlike me I have always been a straight A with a possible B here and there student. I was diagnosed a year ago cyclothymic, then after returning from MSU and hospitalization, I was re-diagnosed as bipolar I with ADHD. I am on some different meds now, but I don't know if that's the cause of my falling grades or if it's something else. Anybody out there experiencing the same situation? Advice would be greatly appreciated, thanks

Hiya,

i just wanted to let you know that first and foremost I read your post, several times and I do relate. I'm sorry it's taken so long to respond. The fall semester of last year I took three classes and failed them all. The depression got the best of me and I couldn't function to make myself do any work. I used to be an almost straight A student in high school so this shocked me. But i picked myself up and am now doing much better.

I have found that math in college is so much harder than it was in highschool. I think in HS you actually take more time going over material and so it's easier to grasp. In college the pace seems so fast that i can't get a grip on the material sometimes. Don't underestimate the community colleges either, they are a precourser to university so are just as hard if not harder. I just got done taking a lower level course and it was incredibly difficult. I did get an A (Yay!) but it was very difficult.

I hope you know you're not alone. Many people here relate, their just being quiet for some reason.

Love and hugs,
Tara

[Fresia]

Welcome to PC House123!
I hear your frustration and too can relate. Between the symptoms themselves or med changes, both wreak havoc on studying and focus. Despite being a good student, because of my symptoms, I had to reevaluate my study habits and to learn to accommodate them. I couldn't do things the way I used to as it wasn't working. It took working with counselors, pdoc, and tutors to learn a new way of going about things, to get a different perspective, and to get back on track. It also helped working with the office for students with disabilities, and with an with an ADHD diagnosis is more than likely can qualify, just need documentation from one of your providers. There can be help with notetakers, testing, etc.

In the meantime, talk to with your professors about what is going as most are understanding; they can help with either suggestions for additional resources, leeway for extra credit at times, and possible extensions if it comes to that.

You are a good student, you just have some obstacles that need rearranging at the moment to help you succeed. Use the resources that are available: talk to your providers about techniques and tools, find tutors for a different way of looking at the material, talk to your professors in the meantime and let them know what all you are doing and ask for suggestions, contact students with disabilities office, etc. Help is out there for the asking. You can do it. The best of wishes meantime and hang in there.

[Perna]

College is much different from high school, even if the material seem similar. The classes are larger/smaller, the "working together" less (which made a difference to me; there's a togetherness about learning in high school that goes away with college/being an adult with everyone doing their own thing).

I would simply back off on how many courses you attempt per semester until you find how comfortable you are with each "kind" and I wouldn't take so many math/science ones at a time (unless you were planning to "major" in a math/science curriculum). I know when I went away to college I got straight C's the first semester and my stepmother commented on how one couldn't figure out what I was good at or bad at :-)

But I found the second time I went to college as an adult, just taking 2-3 courses a semester (and 1-2 in the summer) worked extremely well, especially after I figured out how college worked and how to get good grades in college, what professors seemed to want versus high school teachers. I would find the support center at your school, see about study skills or tutoring help, etc. and see if you can figure out exactly where you are having your difficulties and if you can work them out. I'm pretty sure taking a course a second time "cancels out" previous bad grades (instead of averaging them like in high school) so it is truly just a learning situation to find out how to master that particular class that you have to go through.

[(JD)]

I agree that college is different from high school, and well it should be!

And I agree with speaking with your professors. It may be that they are noticing something that you are, such as not paying attention in class, or not participating as much as others in class. Lack of class attentiveness can be your problem. It could be you feel you know the material, and are missing items you don't? But stress and/or depression can take our focus off as well.

See if you can have a copy of the day's notes, to compare with your own... or if your disorder is the real cause, talk to the college counselor and see if you can have a "note taker" for you, so you can pay more attention to what the professor is saying, and still have all of it written down.

Hang tough! A big part of the first 2 years is acclimating to the way college coursework happens.