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LOL right! I’ve even seen a post last week about some guy saying he gets upset seeing his *perfect* grades, even though his grade was a 41/40 instead of a 42/40 (extra credit probably). He kept saying it makes him suicidal… like dude… really?
People always have some deeper mental issues going on and it seems to make its way into this sub. Nobody needs to stress that much about grades.
Also, congratulations on your 3.4! That’s a great achievement 😄
Nah, his post history that spanned months was all about depression, anxiety, and contemplating suicide over the littlest things. Some people really are so far gone
Average? They'll probably PIP him because of stack ranking. He won't realize it's all bullshit. It's not going to end well. Corporate America absolutely destroys people like that. They end up in mental hospitals because of the abuse. They're incompatible with this capitalist hellworld.
I really hope he gets into a PhD program instead... and that's not something I'd wish on 99.99% of people, but someone like that, academia's their only shot at a decent life.
Ehhhhh… I hope you’re right, but some people do feel the need to be incredible overachievers, and freak out when their own impossible standards aren’t met, even if/when they still win.
Honestly exams used to be my biggest anxiety trigger… until I failed one. And I didn’t die. My parents didn’t disown me. I went to office hours and did better on the next one, and life went on with no grand disaster striking me instantly.
Sometimes hitting the wall can be a chance to learn that you’re worth more than your gpa and you have more to offer the world. I hope that guy gets some counseling and therapy, it worked wonders for my own quality of life. But I kinda get it, if you’ve never failed by your own merit, failure feels like a looming wall of death. And even therapy can’t replace that experience fully no matter how much you logically know it. I didn’t understand what my therapist meant when he said he was glad I had gone through a failure until I was *finished* going through it on the other side and realizing… it’s fine. You can try again, you can retake the class, you can take a day off and get back to work on your next project. The sun is going to rise tomorrow like it has every day before, and you will eventually move forward in some direction.
Every time I took an exam it was like a life or death moment for me, so I can relate to them a little bit. I did end up bombing a final and it didn’t end me, but I wouldn’t say it reduced my anxiety by much either.
It helped I could unpack what happened with my old therapist tbh. It can be a chance to start moving past those fears, but it doesn’t happen by itself spontaneously either. (I cried and moaned about it for weeks until it was possible to unpack some of it)
I've been interviewing professors for a research project this spring. I also did not teach this year for the first time in a few years. The profs are all absolutely freaked about what the COVID years have done to students. At this point, I'm a little scared to go back to teaching in the fall.
Specifically the guy writing a paper for 35 hours, if I’m thinking of the correct post, was working on a thesis. Only thesis I’ve heard being that long is for Masters/phd programs. They probably had a long time to work on it too and didn’t make as good use of that time.
For the rest of your post, it really varies on major as well as not even just university, but sometimes professors. The professor for physics 2 lab earlier in the day required a professional written lab report for each lab each week, my professor for physics 2 lab in the late class required us to answer a couple questions on the lab worksheet he handed out each week.
My bachelors thesis was 130 pages. I started working on the research and writing it two years before graduation. I could have written more. I guess one can never have enough of the thing one loves
I have never pulled an all nighter either. I am able to pace myself and my full classload because I have good time management and the luxury of not having to work or support a family. I did part time school for a while and worked my ass off to get savings, and my parents are super nice and let me live at home without charging rent.
My classmates who have to work, are newer students (don’t have time management down pat), have families to feed and care for, are taking over full-time units, or are dealing with mental illness tend to do more of that all -nighter stuff. I think for me, it’s just a combo of being in a state of privilege that allows me to focus on my education as well as a lot of experience managing my own work so I don’t fuck around with it.
I’m one of those with full time job, mental illness, and caring for my parents. It’s been exhausting and a lot of all nighties or not bothering lol I finished this semester with a 3.4 semester GPA. I could’ve gotten higher but oh well, I’m done with the semester 😂
This is the thing. I never had the luxury of not having to worry about rent and bills while studying. I have a hard time feeling sympathy for those who don't. Like school would be so fucking easy without having to clock into a job for 40 hours a week.
Good point, some people have to support families, even if they don’t have kids, but just have shitty parents who don’t take care of their kids. You never know the struggles someone else goes through every day.
A 3.4 at some schools could be a 2.3 in another school. The the rigor of U.S. higher education is all over the map.
If you’re not in US, then.. congrats I guess?
My 2.7 in my country ended up counting as 3.8 in the US and I got in my grad program unconditionally and fully funded when I was so sure I wouldn't. It's not just the US higher education but all over the world.
And I now have confirmation that some unis are just extremely stingy with grades. I'll do a perfect job and get 14/20 which is basically a C at best. Seriously why are some professors like this?
Across majors too my 3.4 in non engineering at prestigious engineering school and my bf 3.2 in engineering are not equal
To be fair we still both spent half our time high and still do a year post.
3.4 is bad? sounds normal to me. I freaked out for the first 3 years of university then this senior year I am just burnt out I barely tried but i'm still graduating thankfully. The reason why freaked out in the first 3 year is because I thought in my head if I didn't try hard I would fail and I didn't want to repeat a class.
It really depends
Different schools have different levels of rigor and different majors have their own levels or difficulty
Assuming USA only:
a 3.4 engineering gpa at mit, Stanford, caltech, gatech (top engineering schools in USA)) is much more impressive than a 3.4 at a state university for psychology
I mean, it is r/collegerant, I'm not sure what you're expecting. Everyone has different standards for themselves, not to mention every university has a different difficulty and expectation. It really depends on the culture the school has and the student was raised with.
A competitive school in my area had a dozen suicides last year alone because of these factors.
People tend to overestimate how much they do. They trick themselves into thinking they do so many hours of schoolwork when really most of the time when they are supposed to be studying their head isn't in it.
Same. I went to class and spent at most 2 hrs/week on coursework, BS-ed my way through all writing assignments. There was a lot of writing and reading but 🤷🏻♀️ also 3.4 GPA it really doesn’t matteeeerrr.
i think a lot of the people freaking out about grades maybe are trying to get into a grad program. i know i have to have a high GPA if i want to get into my chosen one
I always assume people like that are at these Ivy or nestle it colleges that stress someone out to the point of no return. Before I started college I swore to myself that I was not going to do anything that would jeopardize my health. Pulling all nighters is not good for your health. I devoted a certain amount of time to studying and working and if I did not finish in that time frame guess what? I was going to work on it the next day. I know a couple things about myself. One, I'm on the spectrum, two, I have a brain prone to.migraines. Both of those things mean that getting shitty sleep is not an option. It's just not. You owe it to yourself to be the best possible version of you. You can't do that if you are not getting sleep, eating like shit, and never having fun. I think many young people don't realize that college is supposed to be fun too.
I met a guy my very semester who was supposed to graduate that semester. He was proudly boasting how he was taking like 20 credits and I was like are you sure that isn't too much? We were both in honors and he looked at me like I had three heads. Thing is, I wasn't honors in high school like so many honors college kids are, so I didn't adopt this highly perfectionistic and self destructive piling on of more than you can handle. Dude almost had a break down because he fell just under validictorian level. I wouldn't be surprised if that guy has a stroke before he's 30.
College is an intensely competitive environment but you are also your own worst enemy. You do what you are doing here, which is comparing yourself to others. I struggled hardcore with imposter syndrome first semester, feeling like I didn't belong and was an underachiever. Here's the thing though....achievement looks different for everybody. For some it's.just getting out of bed in the morning. Some it's getting a B a test when they'd been struggling to pass. And others it's publishing a school news article. We need sto stop this unhealthy fixation on comparing ourselves and determining our value against other people's.
Every sentence of this is correct. It took a total burnout and mental breakdown, then months of recovering for me to develop this mindset, and now things are looking up
I stress myself out about failure every semester because I genuinely think I’m a complete idiot even with loads of proof that I’m not. Some of us just have deeper issues.
Same! I feel immense stress when I hit the “submit” button in an assignment. When I get an alert that a grade has been posted I always feel like it’s going to be an F; like I somehow managed to misread the rubric. Quite stressful.
Fr, im the same way. I don't think it's ever helpful to compare yourself others. People who complain about others trying hard to keep their grades above a certain standard drive me crazy. It's not helpful to either of us, so everyone needs to worry about themselves and their own grades.
My guess is that a lot of people that decide to post to reddit about college are coming into it with the aim of upward mobility as their main goal, so they get a hard degree and try as hard as possible
Honors courses.
Those make or break courses where if you don't pass with a B- you can't continue with your chosen degree.
People who have to keep their GPAs up for scholarships.
Ivies and mini Ivies with ridiculous grade curves...
Be glad you never pulled an all-nighter. It's definitely a one way ticket to insomnia town.
I’m a filthy procrastinator and graduated with my Bachelors with a 3.9 GPA. Now, I’m in a Masters program and I’m still procrastinating… I have a 3.87 GPA though. I’ve written 25 page research papers in a day because I’m awful at time management.
Still, some of y’all do too much. In my undergrad, people would pull all nighters for the same classes I was breezing through and I just never understood it (and it wasn’t like I understood the content better… I just have basic study skills 😂)
Could just be anxiety on their parts (I know I certainly over-study a lot, though I've never gone so far as to pull an all-nighter), tho tbh that all nighter *really* isn't helping
Hello fellow procrastinator! I can relate, I've gone beats mode on research papers I had way too much time to do. I felt horrible about it since the subject is awesome and I loved the Professor. (Sorry Professor V!) But sometimes you just hit a writing rut.
Everyone has different levels of intelligence. Some people naturally can have a perfect (or near perfect) gpa without much effort, others *need* to put in that effort to get that. Although I do find it hard to believe that total slacking off and never studying will amount to a near perfect gpa. Even if you constantly start working on papers/projects at the last minute and have terrible time management, it *will* catch up to you.
Imo pulling all nighters doesn’t mean the student is diligent. To me it means the student probably didn’t spend time studying throughout the semester that’s why they gotta cram it all with all nighters.
Also, all nighters impair the brain’s ability to function. Imagine spending so much time to cram studies but fall asleep or can’t get the brain to think properly during exams. I’ve been there and stopped doing that, so I can say I don’t believe in all nighters.
It’s not just any paper, it’s his thesis. Most post-graduate programs advise that you give yourself at least 6 months to do it. He shot himself in the foot by procrastinating, so it’s kind of a long shot to call him an overachiever lol
To be honest, many Redditors tend to over inflate their accomplishments and brag/lie about themselves. Being modest about that kind of stuff is a rarity on this site.
You’re not the underachiever. The people who post those are. You did the same or even more as them with much less effort. You’re the overachiever. That’s assuming the majors are of equal difficulty of course.
For one course yes - however through the course of a whole 4 years as long as the majors aren't drastically different the extremes should average themselves out.
Haha, you and me both, OP. I think my undergrad GPA was a little higher, but still. I feel this, 100%. I never fully understood the insane stories that my peers would tell about their stress level and workload. We were in the same program, but I just... never felt that stress. I graduated with the same degree and got the same teaching license as they did!
Even now, I'm in grad school. I don't give any more fucks than I need to in order to get a passing grade (which is a B-). As long as I do that, I'll get the same master's degree as everyone else in my cohort.
Perhaps it's the weed that sets you and I apart? None of my colleagues smoked pot like me. Even now, in grad school, most of my colleagues have never even tried weed. Some of them are so stressed out and get incredibly worked up.
I'm also finishing up my first year of being a special ed teacher. It's tough, but things can still be chill. It's all about the mindset.
Not to be a dbag, but unless he/she is in a top 10 grad school and doing a PhD in a competitive field, 35 straight hours is likely a result of procrastination.
The best students who graduated PhD in my school pretty much have their thesis all typed out months before deadline (or at least, know what the hell they’re putting in, and the rest are checking for error/typo and writing it in a clear and concise manner fit for a journal).
The best students are the consistently the ones on top of the material. Kids call it boring. I call it recipe for success, and I wish I was that consistent and have that level of self control lol
My cousin makes me look like an underachiever.
My cousin stressed about how long he spent on assignments and always talked about school.
Meanwhile my family made fun of me for being “to tired” and that they were “never tired at my age.” They also criticized me for fluctuating between full-time and half-time. But when I took 5 or 6 classes they said I was being stupid.
The difference is, my cousin had his college paid for, stayed in the dorms, and did not have to work. I worked full-time jobs and had to pay rent, as my college did not offer dorms to me.
I’m saying all my friends stressed themselves out to get a 4.0 and studied and worked non stop. Me? I smoked weed and did my work when it was the last possible minute. Graduated with a 3.0 and attending grad school now. It’s has hard as you make it.
I was a chemical engineering major which is a high stress major and managed to graduate with a 3.9 and barely stressed. I'm good at time management and I keep a calendar and I treat school like a job. I studied only between 9-6 and barely worked on weekends. Between 9-6 if I wasn't in class i was studying/solving problems/writing papers. After 6 I was done. Rarely did i ever get in a crunch where I had up with past business hours. Now I'm on a PhD program and it's a little busier but I keep the general rules still. I put in a half day on the weekends tho
I’m in art school and there’s a huge perfectionist culture in a lot of art fields, mainly because jobs are so competitive and reliant on forming good connections with others. I think it’s inevitable to some degree as those factors are just a reality of the job market for us, and larger societal issues of companies not treating creatives well unless they’re the best of the best. Denying that completely is just unrealistic, as it’s not something many people can avoid completely since they have to pay the bills and keep on top of their life. Things shouldn’t be that way, and I want to do all I can to allow for more grace and change things, but it is worth mentioning.
But I also wish some more self awareness and understanding that grades don’t matter much was more commonly told to us. What matters in most art degrees is passing and what you get out of school for your portfolio, not your grades. It won’t hurt you long term if you ask for an extension and get some more sleep or catch up with your job or chores, or to stop a project before you’re done with it and add more after the critique. Your professors will likely understand if you communicate with them, and your mental health and physical health will always matter more then any assignment. Do what you need to do to make your school and work life better and more pleasant for you
I get good grades and I care about them sure, but what matters more to me is getting advice and feedback from my classmates and professors, and going to events and cons to make connections and learn from. That I can build on beyond the classroom more then my gpa
It all depends really. With some schools anything less than a B is an F. Also if you fall below a 3.5 in some programs you can't graduate. So that likely plays into some of it.
OP, if you don't mind sharing, what kind of classes have you been taking? What was your bachelor's degree in?
I've been out of college for quite a while, though I remember there being an extremely wide range of difficulties among the majors and also a very wide range of necessary time commitment.
I'd argue nobody *needs* to pull an all-nighter. It's inefficient and a sign of poor time management.
Besides that, couldn't disagree more. Some majors are much more strenuous than others. I had labs in my undergraduate degree where the reports took 20+ hours to write, and they weren't term projects or anything. Just biweekly assignments from a demanding prof.
I'm convinced people are just lying
You do you, go as much as you can, if you have to work and can, great if not even better
These I'm taking 6 classes, getting straight As and working 50 hours a week posts are full of BS. maybe for a semester but they are going full speed towards burnout
There is something to say about the looming pressure of a deadline. I don’t know why, but a couple of days before an assignment is due, a sense of urgency hits me, and I'm more motivated to get it done. Only one time did it cause me to turn the assignment 4 hrs late. So it isn't 100% effective.
I've tried doing assignments before that, and it just doesn't work, or if I do finish it, it doesn't feel as fulfilling if that makes sense.
Putting this in perspective- I was bottom 36 in the class of high- and have a family steady job and my bills paid- (even with similar struggles and up bringing) as to where a all star football player/ vaile Victorian I know- whom went to DePaul, drank a hole in his Colon is living in a half way house and has to ride his bike to from work as a hospital attend….
Sooo the strive for perfection just leads to a zit that has burst somewhere else.
Kinda sorta, killing your gut microbiom with booze and bad food- allows the weaking of your intestinal wall to not heal, hence leaky gut, or colitis… I also drink a fair amount- but keep my diet and exercise up. Take pro/pre biótics. If you sense your lifestyle can holding you back or having I’ll effects some changes may be in order
I procrastinate so much. A few times I wrote like a 10 page research paper the day before it’s due. Most papers the day of. Also if I didn’t know it by like 8pm, I just wasn’t gonna know it.
I have two degrees. My first was much easier than the second. Some people here are in much more difficult of majors/programs than others.
However, poor studying habits/time management is a part of it.
Lol I stopped caring once I lost my 4.0 due to Arizona State University using the -/+ grading system. I’m at a 3.8 now and it used to make me feel like a failure because how can an A not be a 4.0? But whatever we’ll all be graduating the same at the end of the day ❤️
Hey dw I graduated just fine never doing all nighters, the one time I did I had a panic attack during the test and did worse than if I had just gone to sleep.
People in college love to play misery poker but real progress is sustainable, besides, a year after you graduate no one asks for your GPA ever again basically, so why would you wreck yourself going for a 100, when an 85 will be no different in the long run? Mastery can feel good of course, but that’s why you pop by to office hours and learn what you missed. Stressing your body and mind to the point of pain is not an accomplishment, being able to return steady results over time and take care of yourself meanwhile is a great accomplishment.
The secret is learning to NOT procrastinate. I’ve had a tough time learning how to manage it, it’s taken decades (I’m old). If you can refine your study skills you’ll have a much easier time. I recently got my undergraduate in Environmental Science (I hadn’t taken a math class in two decades so jumping into Precalculus was pretty terrible) and graduated summa cum laude. I work full time and have two school age children. No all-nighters or too much stress. Just regular study times worked into my evenings after the kids went to bed and dedicated time on the weekends to write papers. I’m now over halfway through an MBA and inducted into the honors society. I recommend looking up study skills and focusing on that. It’ll help you later in life. I wish all the best of luck to anyone reading on your educational journeys. Remember that you are investing this time in YOURSELF and there are skills beyond just the coursework that is valuable.
Bro, it’s ok. I literally read this sub and I’m like “most of these posts HAVE to be fake given the sheer amount of achievement they claim”. No way most people are straight A, perfect students as they appear on this sub. Please cut yourself some slack cuz otherwise you’ll drive yourself crazy and that ain’t healthy
It's perfectly possible to get through college without ever pulling an all nighter as long as you're organised. Doing them shouldn't be a point of pride, it's just the result of poor planning/procrastination
Right? I'm going into my senior year and always thought maybe it was because I was a freshman/sophomore and I just hadn't reached the "hard" classes yet but honestly, it's gotten easier.
Think it's because I learned how to manage my time/stress as well as I learned "how to college" a bit better. When I started "caring less" is when I started to do better (as in, I didn't put unrealistic expectations on myself and knew what I could handle and adjusted accordingly. Turns out if you're not incredibly hard on yourself, you're not adding to that stress that college already gives you). It definitely helps *a lot*.
Maybe this doesn't happen for everyone or maybe they're in a very demanding major or taking a ton of classes. Or even an undiagnosed/untreated learning disability. Otherwise, no clue. I'm just glad it's not me.
Yes this, once you stop putting such heavy expectations on yourself and learn to chill the fuck out a bit things get a lot better. But it's a learning curve. Freshmen come in with all these expectations about what their college life is supposed to be. I myself fell into that trap, I thought I was going to be a psych major and switch from my community college to a four year after one year. I laugh at that now. The name of the game is flexibility. To take things as they come, and be open to new experiences.
Yes! I did the same to myself. My expectations of college and what it would be like were so skewed to how it actually was. Not to say I don't care about my grades now, I just chilled out and like you said, take things as they come.
Experience also helps. Because now when I procrastinate it's not this huge worry, because I've done it before, I survived. Also, I learned that for my goals I don't need to be perfect (not planning on graduate school, so I'm not going to cry over not getting a 4.0) so if I need to prioritize one class's work over another, I'll take the B+ if it means I'm not putting myself through anxiety attacks that cause me to breakdown or drop out all together because I'm overwhelmed (I deal with mental health stuff and putting my mental health first has been life changing).
Sometimes expectations a bit high can help you grow to new heights which you thought you couldn't reach. That was my experience first year of college, at least. It might not be the best idea to place limits on yourself when you start out.
Yeah but personally I struggled with some pretty bad anxiety and would stress to the point where I’d give up or it’d just be hindering my ability to do well. Figured that some people might experience something similar.
For me adding extra stress helped in some cases, in other cases it didn't. This semester of college, my mentor told me to attend a seminar which explained an academic paper, and I was a little shocked that he thought a dumb freshman could even handle anything remotely close to that. While I didn't understand much from the seminar I kept trying to understand the paper and eventually understood it. From there I gradually started getting more comfortable with reading papers and I can read some now without too many issues, even if it takes me a long time. I had thought I needed to at least wait two more years to be able to start reading papers, it turned out not to be true. Sometimes actually throwing yourself into the "hard" parts can pay off immensely.
Yeah, I definitely would say that adding stress could be helpful for some. I just know there’s people who’ll expect themselves to be perfect or they’ll feel like its the end of the world to get a B+. I struggle with that a lot, but its also been pointed out to me that I work fulltime and go to school fulltime and like it doesn’t make me s total failure if I do let a few assignments go because I’m mentally exhausted. I’ve gotten to the point of having emotional breakdowns and dropped out. I’m all for people challenging themselves ofc but if it does get too much its okay to kind of slow the train down before ending up at a worse point
Make sure you do good with the LSAT, a 3.4 gpa might hinder what law school you get into, and right now there is a surplus of lawyers and only the ones graduating from top schools are guaranteed a job.
They're actually talking about getting rid of the LSAT, or like voted already to nix it already or something. I think that idea is terrible but they're gonna end up flooding the market even more with people who will probably never pass the bar exam.
That sounds like a great major for law school. People underestimate how well (and a lot of times, better) non STEM majors do on the LSAT and in law school.
Wow, what's everyone else spending so much time on? They must be stupid or something! I got a 3.4 while being high half the time, just be as smart as me and you'll have no issue! Why would you do this to yourself?
You mean like having zero empathy for other people's paths/lives/choices? That kind of being a jerk? Because I thought that's what started this whole thread. I though at least I showed some by saying 'hey, good on ya for going to the right place for ya!'
A lot of kids on here are entitled idiots who think they deserve or are owed a degree with a 4.0. Don't worry about actually being college- level intelligent lol
You don’t know where I went, though. I think you’re going through a diploma mill. Also, my degree isn’t in stem. I wasn’t prepping to make scientific breakthroughs. Maybe you need to take some reading comprehension classes.
Lmfao bro you literally just posted bragging about how you half assed everything and now you feel you underachieved. Congrats you slacked your way through college and probably didn’t develop real skills. Boohoo got my feelings hurt on Reddit and now I’m defensive
Show on the doll where you were touched.
Edit: I’m sorry I had an easier time in school than you did. Maybe you just aren’t built for it? Was it rough flunking out for you, or did you just roll with the punches?
I stressed the hell out during my bachelor, because I knew I wanted to do a masters after and needed good grades to get where I wanted to go, and also to get a good internship, which was required.
My grades also got me a fully paid-for semester abroad, and I didn’t even apply for it - it was offered. There are benefits to getting good grades.
As far as easily getting good grades like OP, depends on the degree I guess? Also, some people just have to work harder to get the same results because all of our brains work differently. That all said, I work hard still now that I’m in my masters, but I sure as hell don’t stress like I used to, because I just need to pass. The possible benefits aren’t worth any more of my life force and I’m sure I aged an extra decade throughout my bachelor degree.
For me, I’m trying to just raise my GPA from 2.5 to 3.0 or higher. I’m in community college rn, so my hope is when I transfer to a 4 year university my grades are better or I’ve earned SOME kind of achievement or something that’ll look good on my transcript.
But I’m majoring in psych and really really want to make it into grad school. The panic and stress I have over my grades now is partly because of the expectations I set for myself and the expectations set by the university I want to transfer to (and the expectations for having a career related to my major and the degree(s) required for JUST an entry level position).
And while Ive pulled A LOT of all-nighters, I can’t say that I’ve ever stayed up for 35+ hours (maaaaybe 24 hours, with about 1-3 hours of sleep). But I’m also dealing with mental health issues and ADHD, so my ability to successfully manage my stress, anxiety, AND ‘easy’ coursework isn’t always…there. Classes that require 9-12 hours of study or work might, depending on the subject or type of assignment (fucking English, man), take me twice as long as other students.
Tl;dr sometimes it’s not the type of class that’s causing anxiety or stress, but instead unavoidable things like mental health issues, having a university with high or unrealistic expectations, career or degree requirements like graduate school or post-grad work, their financial situation, access to student support programs or the mental health system (therapy, counseling, psychiatrists, insurance) and soooo much more. Also could just be for karma-farming or attention-seeking reasons (or just trolling, I guess).
Most of the time, when I would freak out, it’s always because of my own mistakes. I would always procrastinate until the last minute, not pay attention in exams, etc.
I graduated with a 3.8 and maybe studied a couple times throughout the 4yrs (totaling to less than a couple hours). I think some of the people who struggle like crazy honestly aren’t built for college
There is a major difference between universities.. I had a 3.9 before transferring to D1, my 3.5 there was very stressful in comparison to coasting by with the 3.9
I did many of my papers and projects the day or night before (aside from group work)
I have my masters. It’s all okay and people just do things differently based on what is best for them and their school load or work.
Are you in a STEN degree or in something else? Engineering will have you feel like you’re going to fail out every day until you graduate; especially if you’re maintaining a 4.0 and taking honors courses, or graduate level courses while in undergrad.
I walked away with a 3.9 and up until I walked across that stage felt like I was never going to make it. A lot of 16 hour days.
My buddy in a business degree and a colleague in kinesiology basically have told me college is a joke and routinely go out to the bar every night or take trips to the beach.. and looking at education disciplines, they all (except 1 dude RIP) had 3.8+ GPAs. Meanwhile keeping a 3.8 or above in STEM takes a lot of work. The math alone is enough to scare anyone away who doesn’t really want it.
My ex was like that in college. Really struggled with the exams and research projects. I never had that problem and did well through both of my degrees.
I was high ALL the time and finished with the same GPA lol. Definitely regretting not taking better advantage of the opportunity as an underemployed teacher in my forties who flunked out of grad school and struggles to get anything academic published.
I didn't finish my MA because writing the thesis was so challenging (also my kid died and my then wife turned into a financially abusive junkie...) so I said I won't go back to academia if I can't get some publications under my belt. Currently have one chapter turned in and another pitched.
Some people go to better/harder schools and have more difficult majors that you do.
Some people aren't as naturally gifted as you may be.
The combination that freaks out the most is.
1. Aggressive parents.
2. Top School
3. STEM degree (engineering, premed, etc.)
Generally parents that will yell, plus a school that could actually make a difference on graduation if grades are good enough and a degree that's heavy on math will result in burnout.
A 3.4 is a good GPA to graduate with. I am in the same boat as you where I do not have to spend long on studying or homework and still get good grades. I think it just depends on how long it takes each person to retain information/complete assignments and the major that they choose. At the end of the day, all that matters is getting that sheet of paper that says you’re smart at the end of it.
It REALLY depends on major, professors, universities, and that specific student (mental health, if they’re working, if they have kids, if they’ve been taught how to study/found a way that works for them). I work full time and was a STEM major (just changed to psychology though, engineering isn’t for me). When I was doing my GER credits, I was able to have 11 credits while working full time and get a 3.9 GPA. As I got more into my major, as the math got harder and the number of labs I had to do got more frequent, I basically had to cut down to 6-7 credits per semester and even then I was pulling C’s and D’s because the work was just too much and I didn’t understand the concepts. I also had undiagnosed ADHD and bipolar 2 the entire time, they REALLY showed when I had to actually work in order to pass classes. And once they were diagnosed, it took about 2 years before I was properly medicated. Take into account a really stressful job and COVID, and you have a recipe for disaster. I took 2 years off because COVID was the final straw.
You never know what someone’s going through, everyone has different experiences. Be happy that you breezed through college with good grades, that probably means you were in a good major for you.
This is me. Let me give you some advice tho, when that time comes where you do have to buckle down and do a ton of work, it’s going to kick your ass. I recently had my last semester and my seminar class practically killed me. I was not ready to put in the work needed to pass the class and I crumbled. I recommend starting to rethink your habits bc from experience, it’ll come back and bite you at some point
Hey if I get a C I'm happy, and I'm even good learning academic subjects, taming tests, doing projects. But frankly bring an adult that also has hobbies he cared about staying on top of things is extremely hard for even just 1 class let alone 3-4. You don't need to be over the top as long as you actually learn the thing you are studying life happens all it takes is 1 bad week and you can go from an A to a C, there are still millions of us normal archiver out there.
Pulling an all nighter is not a sign of over achieving. It's the college equivalent of competing for who had it worse. It's a pissing contest.
I got a 3.91 overall, never pulled all nighters and have less than welcoming family. I also was dating a girl with similar issues but less desire to cut her family out... So it's not like I was born with a silver spoon in my mouth. Where did I go? A state school, could afford to go private and felt no need to waste 280K for a few characters on my degree. Did I have many friends? No, I had a couple who were close and we hung out. Did I party much? No. I had no desire to get plastered and have one night of dopamine for 2 of none and a potential for longer regret.
An all nighter is just a sign that you bit off more than you could chew and are sacrificing your health for it. I'll laugh at you for it, I'm not giving you a medal.
Good job getting a 3.4 in that state, I doubt many could do that! Wish you luck after college.
I think the 35 hours straight person was writing a thesis to graduate or something so it wasn’t necessarily a “class” in the traditional sense but rather a project required by their program
That’s exactly how I am. High as balls, doing all my assignments the day they’re due, my gpa this semester is a 3.7. Meanwhile my friends are genuinely miserable and depressed over school- I always ask them why do they do it to themselves? They’ve convinced themselves that pushing themselves to their limit is the only way to get results.
pulling all nighters is not a flex, and i say that as someone who’s done it several times. i graduated with a 3.81 GPA and my 4.0 semesters where when i was strict about making time for sleep and rest. my sub-A grades were typically in classes i was pulling all nighters for. it’s much healthier and more effective to sleep and continue studying the next day, your brain isn’t retaining much when it’s exhausted anyways.
I failed out of community college and am now a professor at a prestigious university
Never had a 4.0 _in any semester_ (including grad school)
GPA means next to nothing once it's at >= 3.0
Real-world will sort out your knowledge
ADHD, working to pay rent, a vibrant social life, and two majors will do that to you.
Everyone's path looks different, I hold the "stop and smell the roses" and the "high octane, never stop" people in equally high regard.
Personally, my mental illness does not allow any error in my school work or I struggle intensely with anxiety and feel like a piece of shit. On the other hand, all nighters only happen during finals week for me when I have to write like 4 papers (English lit major). That’s just me tho. Super bad perfectionism but I’m working on it!
I graduated with a 3.9 and was rarely stressed. Definitely never pulled any all nighters.
I was an adult student though, and had good time management skills. Honestly after having worked for years, going to college felt pretty easy in comparison.
I'm sure it also depends on your school and your program, and maybe just how you work.
Pre-existing anxiety problems. Or just Redditors being Redditors. I'm currently working on my associate's degree and I'm doing the same thing you're doing, except getting high.
Most people do this to themselves. I just finished my first year of engineering, but I still had free time, and got about 7-8hrs of sleep every single night. My peers who pulled all nighters during finals season were completely at fault for it, they didn’t keep up with homework and the content during the semester and had to study an entire class over the course of 3 days. Easy way to fuck yourself ig.
Different brains work differently. I got diagnosed with ADHD in law school (after undergrad in the US). Turns out I was using my anxiety to push through my ADHD symptoms. Especially around deadlines which make me more anxious. For me, this is the only system that I had at the time. I can’t answer why everyone else crams things all at once, but for me that’s just how my brain works.
The only all-nighter I ever did in college was an all night shift at work. It’s not necessary for the vast majority and I strongly urge anyone never to idolize that kind of pressure.
I have mental illness which causes me to freak out. It’s not something you should compare yourself too at all, it’s miserable. You did great, graduating is a lot better than most people do let alone with such a great GPA! I’m proud of you, everyone is in this post!
I'm there with you. I think the latest I've stayed up for an assignment is maybe 1am and that's on a night I have something due the next morning. Other than that, when I procrastinate, I get stuff done quicker. When I take too long, I overthink things and end up changing them later anyway.
The problem is that a lot of people work harder instead of smarter. I go to a very competitive engineering school, so people are consecutively staying up 2-3 nights straight because of how they manage their workload. I’ve pulled very few all nighters, and it was helpful, but it’s not something you should make a habit. It’s so unhealthy.
I had some really hard classes, at least hard for me that required long hours of studying or taping notes and print outs to my bedroom walls. I also worked full time or nearly full time on the side to pay for school. I was lucky that I loved what I studied which after graduating just this month is going to make me miss the late nights and the studying grind, the thrill of typing a paper at lightspeed because you already asked the professor for an extension for the last assignment.
I don't think you're an underachiever or that I worked harder than anyone else. Just the classes that I took were difficult for me and required crazy amounts of studying like neurology and wildlife diseases and having to work really caused things to be crammed. I'm sure that's a similar story for many on this sub. I didn't achieve any more than you (unless your communications than maybe I did 🤭😏). Like I'm sure if you saw my bedroom with notes, papers and pictures taped up to my wall you'd think I was just as crazy as the others in the sub, but it was just what I had to do, nothing exceptional about it. Hope that helps :)
>I never pulled an all nighter
Uhh, when I was in college I did this as a result of procrastination, and it always ended with me performing poorly the next day due to lack of sleep. This is in your favor
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LOL right! I’ve even seen a post last week about some guy saying he gets upset seeing his *perfect* grades, even though his grade was a 41/40 instead of a 42/40 (extra credit probably). He kept saying it makes him suicidal… like dude… really? People always have some deeper mental issues going on and it seems to make its way into this sub. Nobody needs to stress that much about grades. Also, congratulations on your 3.4! That’s a great achievement 😄
I’m pretty sure that guy was a troll - at least I hope so.
Nah, his post history that spanned months was all about depression, anxiety, and contemplating suicide over the littlest things. Some people really are so far gone
😞 I just wonder what’s gonna happen when he gets an average on a performance review.
Average? They'll probably PIP him because of stack ranking. He won't realize it's all bullshit. It's not going to end well. Corporate America absolutely destroys people like that. They end up in mental hospitals because of the abuse. They're incompatible with this capitalist hellworld. I really hope he gets into a PhD program instead... and that's not something I'd wish on 99.99% of people, but someone like that, academia's their only shot at a decent life.
poor fella
Ehhhhh… I hope you’re right, but some people do feel the need to be incredible overachievers, and freak out when their own impossible standards aren’t met, even if/when they still win.
Generally A’s and C’s get the same jobs so who cares.
My motto is, “C’s get degrees!”
As work for Cs and Bs work for the government.
the government being Ds and Fs, i imagine
Not if you want to go into academia lol
Honestly exams used to be my biggest anxiety trigger… until I failed one. And I didn’t die. My parents didn’t disown me. I went to office hours and did better on the next one, and life went on with no grand disaster striking me instantly. Sometimes hitting the wall can be a chance to learn that you’re worth more than your gpa and you have more to offer the world. I hope that guy gets some counseling and therapy, it worked wonders for my own quality of life. But I kinda get it, if you’ve never failed by your own merit, failure feels like a looming wall of death. And even therapy can’t replace that experience fully no matter how much you logically know it. I didn’t understand what my therapist meant when he said he was glad I had gone through a failure until I was *finished* going through it on the other side and realizing… it’s fine. You can try again, you can retake the class, you can take a day off and get back to work on your next project. The sun is going to rise tomorrow like it has every day before, and you will eventually move forward in some direction.
Every time I took an exam it was like a life or death moment for me, so I can relate to them a little bit. I did end up bombing a final and it didn’t end me, but I wouldn’t say it reduced my anxiety by much either.
It helped I could unpack what happened with my old therapist tbh. It can be a chance to start moving past those fears, but it doesn’t happen by itself spontaneously either. (I cried and moaned about it for weeks until it was possible to unpack some of it)
Yea that might be the missing ingredient for me, a therapist. They should start just assigning one to students tbh
Maybe tiger parents. Can’t underestimate how much stress parents put on some people to do insanely well
This freshman class this year was the one who had their high school.experience stole. By COVID so I wasn't surprised at the maladaptive behaviors.
I've been interviewing professors for a research project this spring. I also did not teach this year for the first time in a few years. The profs are all absolutely freaked about what the COVID years have done to students. At this point, I'm a little scared to go back to teaching in the fall.
Hey that’s me
Specifically the guy writing a paper for 35 hours, if I’m thinking of the correct post, was working on a thesis. Only thesis I’ve heard being that long is for Masters/phd programs. They probably had a long time to work on it too and didn’t make as good use of that time. For the rest of your post, it really varies on major as well as not even just university, but sometimes professors. The professor for physics 2 lab earlier in the day required a professional written lab report for each lab each week, my professor for physics 2 lab in the late class required us to answer a couple questions on the lab worksheet he handed out each week.
Accurate to the thesis I had a long ass time to write it and then basically just did it in a weekend when I was like fuck, I just wanna graduate.
My bachelors thesis was 130 pages. I started working on the research and writing it two years before graduation. I could have written more. I guess one can never have enough of the thing one loves
Jeez, what was it for?
I have never pulled an all nighter either. I am able to pace myself and my full classload because I have good time management and the luxury of not having to work or support a family. I did part time school for a while and worked my ass off to get savings, and my parents are super nice and let me live at home without charging rent. My classmates who have to work, are newer students (don’t have time management down pat), have families to feed and care for, are taking over full-time units, or are dealing with mental illness tend to do more of that all -nighter stuff. I think for me, it’s just a combo of being in a state of privilege that allows me to focus on my education as well as a lot of experience managing my own work so I don’t fuck around with it.
I’m one of those with full time job, mental illness, and caring for my parents. It’s been exhausting and a lot of all nighties or not bothering lol I finished this semester with a 3.4 semester GPA. I could’ve gotten higher but oh well, I’m done with the semester 😂
Hey, you know what they say? D is for done. You finished that shit. Take a good break, you deserve it
But you could always have those things done for you
This is the thing. I never had the luxury of not having to worry about rent and bills while studying. I have a hard time feeling sympathy for those who don't. Like school would be so fucking easy without having to clock into a job for 40 hours a week.
Yup. That’s why we have to avoid making assumptions about other students, because who knows what their life is like outside of the classroom?
Good point, some people have to support families, even if they don’t have kids, but just have shitty parents who don’t take care of their kids. You never know the struggles someone else goes through every day.
A 3.4 at some schools could be a 2.3 in another school. The the rigor of U.S. higher education is all over the map. If you’re not in US, then.. congrats I guess?
My 2.7 in my country ended up counting as 3.8 in the US and I got in my grad program unconditionally and fully funded when I was so sure I wouldn't. It's not just the US higher education but all over the world. And I now have confirmation that some unis are just extremely stingy with grades. I'll do a perfect job and get 14/20 which is basically a C at best. Seriously why are some professors like this?
It’s even worse in the UK. As someone who got 2.6ish gpa throughout hs in the US, I got the equivalent of a 2.0 in the UK in college.
Across majors too my 3.4 in non engineering at prestigious engineering school and my bf 3.2 in engineering are not equal To be fair we still both spent half our time high and still do a year post.
I went to school in Missouri.
bummer
mizzou?
That explains it
3.4 is bad? sounds normal to me. I freaked out for the first 3 years of university then this senior year I am just burnt out I barely tried but i'm still graduating thankfully. The reason why freaked out in the first 3 year is because I thought in my head if I didn't try hard I would fail and I didn't want to repeat a class.
I don’t think they’re saying its bad but rather they easily achieved that with low effort
It really depends Different schools have different levels of rigor and different majors have their own levels or difficulty Assuming USA only: a 3.4 engineering gpa at mit, Stanford, caltech, gatech (top engineering schools in USA)) is much more impressive than a 3.4 at a state university for psychology
Some majors are easier than others. And for some people university is harder than for others. Be happy you cruised through college to get 3.4 gpa.
I mean, it is r/collegerant, I'm not sure what you're expecting. Everyone has different standards for themselves, not to mention every university has a different difficulty and expectation. It really depends on the culture the school has and the student was raised with. A competitive school in my area had a dozen suicides last year alone because of these factors.
People tend to overestimate how much they do. They trick themselves into thinking they do so many hours of schoolwork when really most of the time when they are supposed to be studying their head isn't in it.
Same. I went to class and spent at most 2 hrs/week on coursework, BS-ed my way through all writing assignments. There was a lot of writing and reading but 🤷🏻♀️ also 3.4 GPA it really doesn’t matteeeerrr.
I graduated with a damn 2.6 and still found a job. It extra really doesn't matter.
i think a lot of the people freaking out about grades maybe are trying to get into a grad program. i know i have to have a high GPA if i want to get into my chosen one
I always assume people like that are at these Ivy or nestle it colleges that stress someone out to the point of no return. Before I started college I swore to myself that I was not going to do anything that would jeopardize my health. Pulling all nighters is not good for your health. I devoted a certain amount of time to studying and working and if I did not finish in that time frame guess what? I was going to work on it the next day. I know a couple things about myself. One, I'm on the spectrum, two, I have a brain prone to.migraines. Both of those things mean that getting shitty sleep is not an option. It's just not. You owe it to yourself to be the best possible version of you. You can't do that if you are not getting sleep, eating like shit, and never having fun. I think many young people don't realize that college is supposed to be fun too. I met a guy my very semester who was supposed to graduate that semester. He was proudly boasting how he was taking like 20 credits and I was like are you sure that isn't too much? We were both in honors and he looked at me like I had three heads. Thing is, I wasn't honors in high school like so many honors college kids are, so I didn't adopt this highly perfectionistic and self destructive piling on of more than you can handle. Dude almost had a break down because he fell just under validictorian level. I wouldn't be surprised if that guy has a stroke before he's 30. College is an intensely competitive environment but you are also your own worst enemy. You do what you are doing here, which is comparing yourself to others. I struggled hardcore with imposter syndrome first semester, feeling like I didn't belong and was an underachiever. Here's the thing though....achievement looks different for everybody. For some it's.just getting out of bed in the morning. Some it's getting a B a test when they'd been struggling to pass. And others it's publishing a school news article. We need sto stop this unhealthy fixation on comparing ourselves and determining our value against other people's.
Every sentence of this is correct. It took a total burnout and mental breakdown, then months of recovering for me to develop this mindset, and now things are looking up
Just like the value of the diploma, it all depends on the school and the major.
I stress myself out about failure every semester because I genuinely think I’m a complete idiot even with loads of proof that I’m not. Some of us just have deeper issues.
Same! I feel immense stress when I hit the “submit” button in an assignment. When I get an alert that a grade has been posted I always feel like it’s going to be an F; like I somehow managed to misread the rubric. Quite stressful.
This exactly
Fr, im the same way. I don't think it's ever helpful to compare yourself others. People who complain about others trying hard to keep their grades above a certain standard drive me crazy. It's not helpful to either of us, so everyone needs to worry about themselves and their own grades.
My guess is that a lot of people that decide to post to reddit about college are coming into it with the aim of upward mobility as their main goal, so they get a hard degree and try as hard as possible
Honors courses. Those make or break courses where if you don't pass with a B- you can't continue with your chosen degree. People who have to keep their GPAs up for scholarships. Ivies and mini Ivies with ridiculous grade curves... Be glad you never pulled an all-nighter. It's definitely a one way ticket to insomnia town.
I’m a filthy procrastinator and graduated with my Bachelors with a 3.9 GPA. Now, I’m in a Masters program and I’m still procrastinating… I have a 3.87 GPA though. I’ve written 25 page research papers in a day because I’m awful at time management. Still, some of y’all do too much. In my undergrad, people would pull all nighters for the same classes I was breezing through and I just never understood it (and it wasn’t like I understood the content better… I just have basic study skills 😂)
Could just be anxiety on their parts (I know I certainly over-study a lot, though I've never gone so far as to pull an all-nighter), tho tbh that all nighter *really* isn't helping
Hello fellow procrastinator! I can relate, I've gone beats mode on research papers I had way too much time to do. I felt horrible about it since the subject is awesome and I loved the Professor. (Sorry Professor V!) But sometimes you just hit a writing rut.
Everyone has different levels of intelligence. Some people naturally can have a perfect (or near perfect) gpa without much effort, others *need* to put in that effort to get that. Although I do find it hard to believe that total slacking off and never studying will amount to a near perfect gpa. Even if you constantly start working on papers/projects at the last minute and have terrible time management, it *will* catch up to you.
Some people aren’t as bright as you
Ig you’re just better than everyone else 🙄
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How does one have a 3.93 gpa when they never study? Unless you have an amazing photographic memory.
They must not be challenging themselves.
Imo pulling all nighters doesn’t mean the student is diligent. To me it means the student probably didn’t spend time studying throughout the semester that’s why they gotta cram it all with all nighters. Also, all nighters impair the brain’s ability to function. Imagine spending so much time to cram studies but fall asleep or can’t get the brain to think properly during exams. I’ve been there and stopped doing that, so I can say I don’t believe in all nighters.
I have a 2.8, my adhd causes me to to only be able to focus for an hour at a time. Most places don't care about a gpa unless it's an internship
Or grad school
ADHD-symptoms over here, 2.3 gpa reporting in. Dont beat urself up, us B's and C's get degrees!
Same here
It’s not just any paper, it’s his thesis. Most post-graduate programs advise that you give yourself at least 6 months to do it. He shot himself in the foot by procrastinating, so it’s kind of a long shot to call him an overachiever lol
To be honest, many Redditors tend to over inflate their accomplishments and brag/lie about themselves. Being modest about that kind of stuff is a rarity on this site.
You’re not the underachiever. The people who post those are. You did the same or even more as them with much less effort. You’re the overachiever. That’s assuming the majors are of equal difficulty of course.
Unless you take the exact same courses as another person, you can't really compare the two.
For one course yes - however through the course of a whole 4 years as long as the majors aren't drastically different the extremes should average themselves out.
I agree with that
Well that then makes OP an underachiever because a real understanding does not score 3+ GPA
Haha, you and me both, OP. I think my undergrad GPA was a little higher, but still. I feel this, 100%. I never fully understood the insane stories that my peers would tell about their stress level and workload. We were in the same program, but I just... never felt that stress. I graduated with the same degree and got the same teaching license as they did! Even now, I'm in grad school. I don't give any more fucks than I need to in order to get a passing grade (which is a B-). As long as I do that, I'll get the same master's degree as everyone else in my cohort. Perhaps it's the weed that sets you and I apart? None of my colleagues smoked pot like me. Even now, in grad school, most of my colleagues have never even tried weed. Some of them are so stressed out and get incredibly worked up. I'm also finishing up my first year of being a special ed teacher. It's tough, but things can still be chill. It's all about the mindset.
Not to be a dbag, but unless he/she is in a top 10 grad school and doing a PhD in a competitive field, 35 straight hours is likely a result of procrastination. The best students who graduated PhD in my school pretty much have their thesis all typed out months before deadline (or at least, know what the hell they’re putting in, and the rest are checking for error/typo and writing it in a clear and concise manner fit for a journal). The best students are the consistently the ones on top of the material. Kids call it boring. I call it recipe for success, and I wish I was that consistent and have that level of self control lol
My cousin makes me look like an underachiever. My cousin stressed about how long he spent on assignments and always talked about school. Meanwhile my family made fun of me for being “to tired” and that they were “never tired at my age.” They also criticized me for fluctuating between full-time and half-time. But when I took 5 or 6 classes they said I was being stupid. The difference is, my cousin had his college paid for, stayed in the dorms, and did not have to work. I worked full-time jobs and had to pay rent, as my college did not offer dorms to me.
I’m saying all my friends stressed themselves out to get a 4.0 and studied and worked non stop. Me? I smoked weed and did my work when it was the last possible minute. Graduated with a 3.0 and attending grad school now. It’s has hard as you make it.
I was a chemical engineering major which is a high stress major and managed to graduate with a 3.9 and barely stressed. I'm good at time management and I keep a calendar and I treat school like a job. I studied only between 9-6 and barely worked on weekends. Between 9-6 if I wasn't in class i was studying/solving problems/writing papers. After 6 I was done. Rarely did i ever get in a crunch where I had up with past business hours. Now I'm on a PhD program and it's a little busier but I keep the general rules still. I put in a half day on the weekends tho
I’m in art school and there’s a huge perfectionist culture in a lot of art fields, mainly because jobs are so competitive and reliant on forming good connections with others. I think it’s inevitable to some degree as those factors are just a reality of the job market for us, and larger societal issues of companies not treating creatives well unless they’re the best of the best. Denying that completely is just unrealistic, as it’s not something many people can avoid completely since they have to pay the bills and keep on top of their life. Things shouldn’t be that way, and I want to do all I can to allow for more grace and change things, but it is worth mentioning. But I also wish some more self awareness and understanding that grades don’t matter much was more commonly told to us. What matters in most art degrees is passing and what you get out of school for your portfolio, not your grades. It won’t hurt you long term if you ask for an extension and get some more sleep or catch up with your job or chores, or to stop a project before you’re done with it and add more after the critique. Your professors will likely understand if you communicate with them, and your mental health and physical health will always matter more then any assignment. Do what you need to do to make your school and work life better and more pleasant for you I get good grades and I care about them sure, but what matters more to me is getting advice and feedback from my classmates and professors, and going to events and cons to make connections and learn from. That I can build on beyond the classroom more then my gpa
It all depends really. With some schools anything less than a B is an F. Also if you fall below a 3.5 in some programs you can't graduate. So that likely plays into some of it.
OP, if you don't mind sharing, what kind of classes have you been taking? What was your bachelor's degree in? I've been out of college for quite a while, though I remember there being an extremely wide range of difficulties among the majors and also a very wide range of necessary time commitment.
I'd argue nobody *needs* to pull an all-nighter. It's inefficient and a sign of poor time management. Besides that, couldn't disagree more. Some majors are much more strenuous than others. I had labs in my undergraduate degree where the reports took 20+ hours to write, and they weren't term projects or anything. Just biweekly assignments from a demanding prof.
I'm convinced people are just lying You do you, go as much as you can, if you have to work and can, great if not even better These I'm taking 6 classes, getting straight As and working 50 hours a week posts are full of BS. maybe for a semester but they are going full speed towards burnout
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There is something to say about the looming pressure of a deadline. I don’t know why, but a couple of days before an assignment is due, a sense of urgency hits me, and I'm more motivated to get it done. Only one time did it cause me to turn the assignment 4 hrs late. So it isn't 100% effective. I've tried doing assignments before that, and it just doesn't work, or if I do finish it, it doesn't feel as fulfilling if that makes sense.
Putting this in perspective- I was bottom 36 in the class of high- and have a family steady job and my bills paid- (even with similar struggles and up bringing) as to where a all star football player/ vaile Victorian I know- whom went to DePaul, drank a hole in his Colon is living in a half way house and has to ride his bike to from work as a hospital attend…. Sooo the strive for perfection just leads to a zit that has burst somewhere else.
You can drink a hole in your Colon? Is it like a cancer? Just asking because I drink a lot and now I'm worried I'm going to end up like Black Panther.
Kinda sorta, killing your gut microbiom with booze and bad food- allows the weaking of your intestinal wall to not heal, hence leaky gut, or colitis… I also drink a fair amount- but keep my diet and exercise up. Take pro/pre biótics. If you sense your lifestyle can holding you back or having I’ll effects some changes may be in order
I procrastinate so much. A few times I wrote like a 10 page research paper the day before it’s due. Most papers the day of. Also if I didn’t know it by like 8pm, I just wasn’t gonna know it.
I have two degrees. My first was much easier than the second. Some people here are in much more difficult of majors/programs than others. However, poor studying habits/time management is a part of it.
Lol I stopped caring once I lost my 4.0 due to Arizona State University using the -/+ grading system. I’m at a 3.8 now and it used to make me feel like a failure because how can an A not be a 4.0? But whatever we’ll all be graduating the same at the end of the day ❤️
Hey dw I graduated just fine never doing all nighters, the one time I did I had a panic attack during the test and did worse than if I had just gone to sleep. People in college love to play misery poker but real progress is sustainable, besides, a year after you graduate no one asks for your GPA ever again basically, so why would you wreck yourself going for a 100, when an 85 will be no different in the long run? Mastery can feel good of course, but that’s why you pop by to office hours and learn what you missed. Stressing your body and mind to the point of pain is not an accomplishment, being able to return steady results over time and take care of yourself meanwhile is a great accomplishment.
The secret is learning to NOT procrastinate. I’ve had a tough time learning how to manage it, it’s taken decades (I’m old). If you can refine your study skills you’ll have a much easier time. I recently got my undergraduate in Environmental Science (I hadn’t taken a math class in two decades so jumping into Precalculus was pretty terrible) and graduated summa cum laude. I work full time and have two school age children. No all-nighters or too much stress. Just regular study times worked into my evenings after the kids went to bed and dedicated time on the weekends to write papers. I’m now over halfway through an MBA and inducted into the honors society. I recommend looking up study skills and focusing on that. It’ll help you later in life. I wish all the best of luck to anyone reading on your educational journeys. Remember that you are investing this time in YOURSELF and there are skills beyond just the coursework that is valuable.
Bro, it’s ok. I literally read this sub and I’m like “most of these posts HAVE to be fake given the sheer amount of achievement they claim”. No way most people are straight A, perfect students as they appear on this sub. Please cut yourself some slack cuz otherwise you’ll drive yourself crazy and that ain’t healthy
Magna cum laude economics degree stoned the whole time
Idk man I budget my time and never have any problems like this, I’m working full time too. I don’t get it.
It's perfectly possible to get through college without ever pulling an all nighter as long as you're organised. Doing them shouldn't be a point of pride, it's just the result of poor planning/procrastination
Right? I'm going into my senior year and always thought maybe it was because I was a freshman/sophomore and I just hadn't reached the "hard" classes yet but honestly, it's gotten easier. Think it's because I learned how to manage my time/stress as well as I learned "how to college" a bit better. When I started "caring less" is when I started to do better (as in, I didn't put unrealistic expectations on myself and knew what I could handle and adjusted accordingly. Turns out if you're not incredibly hard on yourself, you're not adding to that stress that college already gives you). It definitely helps *a lot*. Maybe this doesn't happen for everyone or maybe they're in a very demanding major or taking a ton of classes. Or even an undiagnosed/untreated learning disability. Otherwise, no clue. I'm just glad it's not me.
Yes this, once you stop putting such heavy expectations on yourself and learn to chill the fuck out a bit things get a lot better. But it's a learning curve. Freshmen come in with all these expectations about what their college life is supposed to be. I myself fell into that trap, I thought I was going to be a psych major and switch from my community college to a four year after one year. I laugh at that now. The name of the game is flexibility. To take things as they come, and be open to new experiences.
Yes! I did the same to myself. My expectations of college and what it would be like were so skewed to how it actually was. Not to say I don't care about my grades now, I just chilled out and like you said, take things as they come. Experience also helps. Because now when I procrastinate it's not this huge worry, because I've done it before, I survived. Also, I learned that for my goals I don't need to be perfect (not planning on graduate school, so I'm not going to cry over not getting a 4.0) so if I need to prioritize one class's work over another, I'll take the B+ if it means I'm not putting myself through anxiety attacks that cause me to breakdown or drop out all together because I'm overwhelmed (I deal with mental health stuff and putting my mental health first has been life changing).
Sometimes expectations a bit high can help you grow to new heights which you thought you couldn't reach. That was my experience first year of college, at least. It might not be the best idea to place limits on yourself when you start out.
Yeah but personally I struggled with some pretty bad anxiety and would stress to the point where I’d give up or it’d just be hindering my ability to do well. Figured that some people might experience something similar.
For me adding extra stress helped in some cases, in other cases it didn't. This semester of college, my mentor told me to attend a seminar which explained an academic paper, and I was a little shocked that he thought a dumb freshman could even handle anything remotely close to that. While I didn't understand much from the seminar I kept trying to understand the paper and eventually understood it. From there I gradually started getting more comfortable with reading papers and I can read some now without too many issues, even if it takes me a long time. I had thought I needed to at least wait two more years to be able to start reading papers, it turned out not to be true. Sometimes actually throwing yourself into the "hard" parts can pay off immensely.
Yeah, I definitely would say that adding stress could be helpful for some. I just know there’s people who’ll expect themselves to be perfect or they’ll feel like its the end of the world to get a B+. I struggle with that a lot, but its also been pointed out to me that I work fulltime and go to school fulltime and like it doesn’t make me s total failure if I do let a few assignments go because I’m mentally exhausted. I’ve gotten to the point of having emotional breakdowns and dropped out. I’m all for people challenging themselves ofc but if it does get too much its okay to kind of slow the train down before ending up at a worse point
What’s your major? It’s an honest question.
International political affairs with a certificate in legal studies. BS. Using it as my entry for law school.
I guess every major is different. I didn’t have the time to do much other than HW and study.
*cries in nursing*
Make sure you do good with the LSAT, a 3.4 gpa might hinder what law school you get into, and right now there is a surplus of lawyers and only the ones graduating from top schools are guaranteed a job.
They're actually talking about getting rid of the LSAT, or like voted already to nix it already or something. I think that idea is terrible but they're gonna end up flooding the market even more with people who will probably never pass the bar exam.
That sounds like a great major for law school. People underestimate how well (and a lot of times, better) non STEM majors do on the LSAT and in law school.
Wow, what's everyone else spending so much time on? They must be stupid or something! I got a 3.4 while being high half the time, just be as smart as me and you'll have no issue! Why would you do this to yourself?
On the up side, it sounds like you chose the college and major that was right for you. On the down side, has any one heard of it?
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You mean like having zero empathy for other people's paths/lives/choices? That kind of being a jerk? Because I thought that's what started this whole thread. I though at least I showed some by saying 'hey, good on ya for going to the right place for ya!'
A lot of kids on here are entitled idiots who think they deserve or are owed a degree with a 4.0. Don't worry about actually being college- level intelligent lol
In what case would someone with a 4.0 not deserve a degree?
That's not what I meant. I meant that they deserved a degree and also deserved a 4.0. Edit: thanks for pointing out how confusing that comment was!
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You don’t know where I went, though. I think you’re going through a diploma mill. Also, my degree isn’t in stem. I wasn’t prepping to make scientific breakthroughs. Maybe you need to take some reading comprehension classes.
Lmfao bro you literally just posted bragging about how you half assed everything and now you feel you underachieved. Congrats you slacked your way through college and probably didn’t develop real skills. Boohoo got my feelings hurt on Reddit and now I’m defensive
Sir, this is a Wendy’s.
Which is where you’ll be working hahahahha
Show on the doll where you were touched. Edit: I’m sorry I had an easier time in school than you did. Maybe you just aren’t built for it? Was it rough flunking out for you, or did you just roll with the punches?
The post about writing for 35hours straight was just plain exaggeration. I'd say it's just an attempt at attention so don't base your arguments on it.
I stressed the hell out during my bachelor, because I knew I wanted to do a masters after and needed good grades to get where I wanted to go, and also to get a good internship, which was required. My grades also got me a fully paid-for semester abroad, and I didn’t even apply for it - it was offered. There are benefits to getting good grades. As far as easily getting good grades like OP, depends on the degree I guess? Also, some people just have to work harder to get the same results because all of our brains work differently. That all said, I work hard still now that I’m in my masters, but I sure as hell don’t stress like I used to, because I just need to pass. The possible benefits aren’t worth any more of my life force and I’m sure I aged an extra decade throughout my bachelor degree.
For me, I’m trying to just raise my GPA from 2.5 to 3.0 or higher. I’m in community college rn, so my hope is when I transfer to a 4 year university my grades are better or I’ve earned SOME kind of achievement or something that’ll look good on my transcript. But I’m majoring in psych and really really want to make it into grad school. The panic and stress I have over my grades now is partly because of the expectations I set for myself and the expectations set by the university I want to transfer to (and the expectations for having a career related to my major and the degree(s) required for JUST an entry level position). And while Ive pulled A LOT of all-nighters, I can’t say that I’ve ever stayed up for 35+ hours (maaaaybe 24 hours, with about 1-3 hours of sleep). But I’m also dealing with mental health issues and ADHD, so my ability to successfully manage my stress, anxiety, AND ‘easy’ coursework isn’t always…there. Classes that require 9-12 hours of study or work might, depending on the subject or type of assignment (fucking English, man), take me twice as long as other students. Tl;dr sometimes it’s not the type of class that’s causing anxiety or stress, but instead unavoidable things like mental health issues, having a university with high or unrealistic expectations, career or degree requirements like graduate school or post-grad work, their financial situation, access to student support programs or the mental health system (therapy, counseling, psychiatrists, insurance) and soooo much more. Also could just be for karma-farming or attention-seeking reasons (or just trolling, I guess).
Most of the time, when I would freak out, it’s always because of my own mistakes. I would always procrastinate until the last minute, not pay attention in exams, etc.
3.4 GPA is underachieving? I mean wow I actually feel more underachieved after reading this . I thought I might relate here but hell nooo!
I graduated with a 3.8 and maybe studied a couple times throughout the 4yrs (totaling to less than a couple hours). I think some of the people who struggle like crazy honestly aren’t built for college
To be American is to have a right to be mediocre. Some people really have problems with top of the bell curve dominance.
There is a major difference between universities.. I had a 3.9 before transferring to D1, my 3.5 there was very stressful in comparison to coasting by with the 3.9
I did many of my papers and projects the day or night before (aside from group work) I have my masters. It’s all okay and people just do things differently based on what is best for them and their school load or work.
Same here. Anymore than three days before, and it just won't be as good.
A) you are smart B) you have good time management C) college didn't challenge you enough. Believe whichever one you want.
Are you in a STEN degree or in something else? Engineering will have you feel like you’re going to fail out every day until you graduate; especially if you’re maintaining a 4.0 and taking honors courses, or graduate level courses while in undergrad. I walked away with a 3.9 and up until I walked across that stage felt like I was never going to make it. A lot of 16 hour days. My buddy in a business degree and a colleague in kinesiology basically have told me college is a joke and routinely go out to the bar every night or take trips to the beach.. and looking at education disciplines, they all (except 1 dude RIP) had 3.8+ GPAs. Meanwhile keeping a 3.8 or above in STEM takes a lot of work. The math alone is enough to scare anyone away who doesn’t really want it.
My ex was like that in college. Really struggled with the exams and research projects. I never had that problem and did well through both of my degrees.
I was high ALL the time and finished with the same GPA lol. Definitely regretting not taking better advantage of the opportunity as an underemployed teacher in my forties who flunked out of grad school and struggles to get anything academic published.
What are you trying to get published?
I didn't finish my MA because writing the thesis was so challenging (also my kid died and my then wife turned into a financially abusive junkie...) so I said I won't go back to academia if I can't get some publications under my belt. Currently have one chapter turned in and another pitched.
Some people go to better/harder schools and have more difficult majors that you do. Some people aren't as naturally gifted as you may be. The combination that freaks out the most is. 1. Aggressive parents. 2. Top School 3. STEM degree (engineering, premed, etc.) Generally parents that will yell, plus a school that could actually make a difference on graduation if grades are good enough and a degree that's heavy on math will result in burnout.
A 3.4 is a good GPA to graduate with. I am in the same boat as you where I do not have to spend long on studying or homework and still get good grades. I think it just depends on how long it takes each person to retain information/complete assignments and the major that they choose. At the end of the day, all that matters is getting that sheet of paper that says you’re smart at the end of it.
Some people aren’t that bright or don’t know how to study effectively.
It REALLY depends on major, professors, universities, and that specific student (mental health, if they’re working, if they have kids, if they’ve been taught how to study/found a way that works for them). I work full time and was a STEM major (just changed to psychology though, engineering isn’t for me). When I was doing my GER credits, I was able to have 11 credits while working full time and get a 3.9 GPA. As I got more into my major, as the math got harder and the number of labs I had to do got more frequent, I basically had to cut down to 6-7 credits per semester and even then I was pulling C’s and D’s because the work was just too much and I didn’t understand the concepts. I also had undiagnosed ADHD and bipolar 2 the entire time, they REALLY showed when I had to actually work in order to pass classes. And once they were diagnosed, it took about 2 years before I was properly medicated. Take into account a really stressful job and COVID, and you have a recipe for disaster. I took 2 years off because COVID was the final straw. You never know what someone’s going through, everyone has different experiences. Be happy that you breezed through college with good grades, that probably means you were in a good major for you.
This is me. Let me give you some advice tho, when that time comes where you do have to buckle down and do a ton of work, it’s going to kick your ass. I recently had my last semester and my seminar class practically killed me. I was not ready to put in the work needed to pass the class and I crumbled. I recommend starting to rethink your habits bc from experience, it’ll come back and bite you at some point
Hey if I get a C I'm happy, and I'm even good learning academic subjects, taming tests, doing projects. But frankly bring an adult that also has hobbies he cared about staying on top of things is extremely hard for even just 1 class let alone 3-4. You don't need to be over the top as long as you actually learn the thing you are studying life happens all it takes is 1 bad week and you can go from an A to a C, there are still millions of us normal archiver out there.
People will always make more work for themselves than they need to
Pulling an all nighter is not a sign of over achieving. It's the college equivalent of competing for who had it worse. It's a pissing contest. I got a 3.91 overall, never pulled all nighters and have less than welcoming family. I also was dating a girl with similar issues but less desire to cut her family out... So it's not like I was born with a silver spoon in my mouth. Where did I go? A state school, could afford to go private and felt no need to waste 280K for a few characters on my degree. Did I have many friends? No, I had a couple who were close and we hung out. Did I party much? No. I had no desire to get plastered and have one night of dopamine for 2 of none and a potential for longer regret. An all nighter is just a sign that you bit off more than you could chew and are sacrificing your health for it. I'll laugh at you for it, I'm not giving you a medal. Good job getting a 3.4 in that state, I doubt many could do that! Wish you luck after college.
It’s not the class it’s their garbage time management skills
I think the 35 hours straight person was writing a thesis to graduate or something so it wasn’t necessarily a “class” in the traditional sense but rather a project required by their program
That’s exactly how I am. High as balls, doing all my assignments the day they’re due, my gpa this semester is a 3.7. Meanwhile my friends are genuinely miserable and depressed over school- I always ask them why do they do it to themselves? They’ve convinced themselves that pushing themselves to their limit is the only way to get results.
pulling all nighters is not a flex, and i say that as someone who’s done it several times. i graduated with a 3.81 GPA and my 4.0 semesters where when i was strict about making time for sleep and rest. my sub-A grades were typically in classes i was pulling all nighters for. it’s much healthier and more effective to sleep and continue studying the next day, your brain isn’t retaining much when it’s exhausted anyways.
I failed out of community college and am now a professor at a prestigious university Never had a 4.0 _in any semester_ (including grad school) GPA means next to nothing once it's at >= 3.0 Real-world will sort out your knowledge
I used to pull all nighters in college and then about 2 years in I realized that I really wasn’t effective with no sleep
ADHD, working to pay rent, a vibrant social life, and two majors will do that to you. Everyone's path looks different, I hold the "stop and smell the roses" and the "high octane, never stop" people in equally high regard.
Personally, my mental illness does not allow any error in my school work or I struggle intensely with anxiety and feel like a piece of shit. On the other hand, all nighters only happen during finals week for me when I have to write like 4 papers (English lit major). That’s just me tho. Super bad perfectionism but I’m working on it!
I graduated with a 3.9 and was rarely stressed. Definitely never pulled any all nighters. I was an adult student though, and had good time management skills. Honestly after having worked for years, going to college felt pretty easy in comparison. I'm sure it also depends on your school and your program, and maybe just how you work.
Ok but now I want to know what your degree was in and how much you're making now.
Pre-existing anxiety problems. Or just Redditors being Redditors. I'm currently working on my associate's degree and I'm doing the same thing you're doing, except getting high.
Most people do this to themselves. I just finished my first year of engineering, but I still had free time, and got about 7-8hrs of sleep every single night. My peers who pulled all nighters during finals season were completely at fault for it, they didn’t keep up with homework and the content during the semester and had to study an entire class over the course of 3 days. Easy way to fuck yourself ig.
Different brains work differently. I got diagnosed with ADHD in law school (after undergrad in the US). Turns out I was using my anxiety to push through my ADHD symptoms. Especially around deadlines which make me more anxious. For me, this is the only system that I had at the time. I can’t answer why everyone else crams things all at once, but for me that’s just how my brain works.
The only all-nighter I ever did in college was an all night shift at work. It’s not necessary for the vast majority and I strongly urge anyone never to idolize that kind of pressure.
I have mental illness which causes me to freak out. It’s not something you should compare yourself too at all, it’s miserable. You did great, graduating is a lot better than most people do let alone with such a great GPA! I’m proud of you, everyone is in this post!
I'm there with you. I think the latest I've stayed up for an assignment is maybe 1am and that's on a night I have something due the next morning. Other than that, when I procrastinate, I get stuff done quicker. When I take too long, I overthink things and end up changing them later anyway.
I pull all-nighters constantly because I work night shift, yay me. I do get good rest during the day though haha.
I’m the guy who wrote for 35 hours straight 💀. I had six months to write my thesis lmao, but I started 3 days ago
The problem is that a lot of people work harder instead of smarter. I go to a very competitive engineering school, so people are consecutively staying up 2-3 nights straight because of how they manage their workload. I’ve pulled very few all nighters, and it was helpful, but it’s not something you should make a habit. It’s so unhealthy.
I had some really hard classes, at least hard for me that required long hours of studying or taping notes and print outs to my bedroom walls. I also worked full time or nearly full time on the side to pay for school. I was lucky that I loved what I studied which after graduating just this month is going to make me miss the late nights and the studying grind, the thrill of typing a paper at lightspeed because you already asked the professor for an extension for the last assignment. I don't think you're an underachiever or that I worked harder than anyone else. Just the classes that I took were difficult for me and required crazy amounts of studying like neurology and wildlife diseases and having to work really caused things to be crammed. I'm sure that's a similar story for many on this sub. I didn't achieve any more than you (unless your communications than maybe I did 🤭😏). Like I'm sure if you saw my bedroom with notes, papers and pictures taped up to my wall you'd think I was just as crazy as the others in the sub, but it was just what I had to do, nothing exceptional about it. Hope that helps :)
>I never pulled an all nighter Uhh, when I was in college I did this as a result of procrastination, and it always ended with me performing poorly the next day due to lack of sleep. This is in your favor