It is not as if I "want" an A and if I get a B that's ok. I MUST GET AN A! I don't discuss my grades with fellow classmates unless asked and even then will usually only say "I did ok" unless the person asking is a friend... I do not boast. Most of my instructors post grades on the board or at least tell you the breakdown of A's, B's etc.. if there are two 100's and I'm not one of them I freak out!
I graduated high school with a very high GPA and went to college right after but quit to get married, have kids and raise my baby sister. I am a returning to school adult student with 3 children, husband, blah, blah, blah. After an exam I will look up answers and I won't sleep at night because I am rethinking all the questions. Once the exams are returned I will pour over it and if I get a grade less than mid 90's I will totally beat myself up. (the whole you can do better thing) My mother did punish me as a child for having less than A's (go in your room and don't come out until the grade is up) but I am 30 years old so you think I'd be over that by now....
How do the grade obsessed people out there deal? Do you try to modify that behavior or do you just accept yourself as an obsessor and get over it? Boy some days I feel like a mental case...
I check my online class grade record several times a day while at work to see if my grades are posted. I have been waiting over a week and half for a grade on a writing assignment and I think I might freakout if I don't find out what I got.
This is my first semester of nursing classes and I have already started to realize with the help of DH that getting a B is not the worst thing that can happen to me. Not sure if I believe this yet, but I am trying... :chuckle
I have to just let it go...I want to live to ENJOY my nursing education and career not strokeout over it...heehee
Make room on the "must make good grades" sofa! I'm joining everyone.
I just keep pounding into my head how much I'm paying for this education, and if I get a B, then I didn't learn something I NEED to know. For me, that's like a failure. I don't like feeling this way, but with every test or paper I turn in, that's how I feel. Even getting a 98 on my first Fundamentals test this week. Yes, it's an excellent grade and I'm happy with it, but I did miss a question. Which one? What is the thing I *don't* know, but thought I did? Will that come back to haunt me? And I keep thinking how I was ONLY 18 points above the cutoff grade. It doesn't seem like much when you look at it that way. :stone
It's also mandatory in my school that all exam grades must be a B or better. No exceptions. The lowest grade we can make in a science class is a B-, no exceptions. If you get below an 80 in any science class, you are pulled from nursing classes and have to retake the science class (and not all are offered each semester. A&P is only offered in the spring, so it would put someone a year behind) only ONCE. If you don't achieve the B-, you're out for good. If you do finally pass it, then you have to ask to be let back into the nursing program. I know that happened to someone, and they do let people back in, but it's not automatic. So, I guess in my school, "C" does not equal "RN". All of that makes me really nervous!
A lot of nurses are obsessive-compulsive to some degree---that is how we handle the 101 details of being a nurse. Sounds like the anxiety of school and being a wife, Mom, etc. are taking a toll on your psyche. You might be afraid to "fail", since nursing school has so much meaning to you. Go to http://www.keirsey.com and take the free personality test. You might learn some things that would help you cope. The good news is, nursing school does not last forever, although it FEELS that way.
I understand completely. I'm a little anal myself. I was NOT a good student the "first time around". Now at 34 I'm back in school and have a 4.0 (go figure). I KNOW that I will probably get a few B's (this stuff is hard at times), but I will NOT be happy when that day comes, who knows maybe it won't. So far so good. There is nothing wrong with striving to be successful. You just have to make sure you keep it in perspective. If ya get too "weird" with it maybe some self introspection or counseling may be in order.
Good luck!
It is not as if I "want" an A and if I get a B that's ok. I MUST GET AN A! I don't discuss my grades with fellow classmates unless asked and even then will usually only say "I did ok" unless the person asking is a friend... I do not boast. Most of my instructors post grades on the board or at least tell you the breakdown of A's, B's etc.. if there are two 100's and I'm not one of them I freak out!
I graduated high school with a very high GPA and went to college right after but quit to get married, have kids and raise my baby sister. I am a returning to school adult student with 3 children, husband, blah, blah, blah. After an exam I will look up answers and I won't sleep at night because I am rethinking all the questions. Once the exams are returned I will pour over it and if I get a grade less than mid 90's I will totally beat myself up. (the whole you can do better thing) My mother did punish me as a child for having less than A's (go in your room and don't come out until the grade is up) but I am 30 years old so you think I'd be over that by now....
How do the grade obsessed people out there deal? Do you try to modify that behavior or do you just accept yourself as an obsessor and get over it? Boy some days I feel like a mental case...
You know, now that I re-read your post the counseling thing sounds like it might be a good idea. You may have issues from childhood (we all do). But you need to find a healthy balance. Good luck.
I understand completely. I'm a little anal myself. I was NOT a good student the "first time around". Now at 34 I'm back in school and have a 4.0 (go figure). I KNOW that I will probably get a few B's (this stuff is hard at times), but I will NOT be happy when that day comes, who knows maybe it won't. So far so good. There is nothing wrong with striving to be successful. You just have to make sure you keep it in perspective. If ya get too "weird" with it maybe some self introspection or counseling may be in order.
I was grade obsessed before I entered nursing school and I am just thankful to pass the classes. With a 14 year old and a 2 year old and several pets it is hard sometimes to find time to keep up with my assignments. I am one of those people who get it but it takes reading several times. I have friends who can read something once and then the know it. I have had a couple of C's but they were an 80 or a 79 not barely passing and I have had 3 B's and two of them were high B's. I have had a couple of A's on tests and I am thrilled but sometimes the material is easier than others.
It's not so much the grade as it is UNDERSTANDING WHY I missed the questions I missed. I figure everything they're teaching me is something I need to know in order to be a good nurse, therefore, what I miss is as important as what I get right. Does that make sense??
Oh My, I'm so glad I'm not the only one!!!!!! Every time I get a test back I am scared to open it for fear it is not an A. Everyone at school thinks I am nuts because I get upset if I make a 90. We have to have at least 80% on EVERYTHING to pass. Everyone else is just happy to pass, but I feel horrible if I don't get above a 95. The first few weeks of class I kept my head in the book 4 hours a night. I finally stopped doing that, because it really didn't seem to make much difference if I studied 4 hours or 1 hour, my grades were the same. So I've learned to relax just a little bit. I think we all feel that we finally GOT IN and don't want to flunk out, it took so much time and effort just to get accepted. I guess some of us are just more of a perfectionist than others and will never be happy without that A.
i was never grade obsessed but i know so many nursing student are and nothing wrong with it however nursing school is a different kind of game. different from any class you had ever taken.
one thing i hate would be giving myself 100+% and not getting the grade that i think deserve. my best friend told me one thing, grades aren't the thing that judge you what kind of nurse you will or will not be!
Well, I tell myself that I just want to "do my best". That was always my mother's advice to me as a child. Back then I could get good grades without much effort. Later on in life (during my previous successful adult college career) I learned how to actually study. I was able to earn A's, so that became my standard. I am in my first semester of a 4 semester ADN program. I got an A on the first test. I studied hard and feel I earned it. I am just worried now about keeping my work up to this level.
For me, it is about testing myself and seeing how far I can take this road. I am also seeking scholarships and admission to a competitive BSN/MSN program. I do worry about becoming a bit too OCD with it. As someone else mentioned, this sort of obsessive behavior is probably a part of the nursing personality.
fry.girl
446 Posts
I am so guilty of being grade obsessed... :imbar
I check my online class grade record several times a day while at work to see if my grades are posted. I have been waiting over a week and half for a grade on a writing assignment and I think I might freakout if I don't find out what I got.
This is my first semester of nursing classes and I have already started to realize with the help of DH that getting a B is not the worst thing that can happen to me. Not sure if I believe this yet, but I am trying... :chuckle
I have to just let it go...I want to live to ENJOY my nursing education and career not strokeout over it...heehee
Cheri