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But, is first-semester GPA predictive of anything? I'd rather see this result at graduation. Does the higher SAT predict higher graduation rate, better grad s

But, is first-semester GPA predictive of anything? I'd rather see this result at graduation. Does the higher SAT predict higher graduation rate, better grad school or job placement, or anything else? Note, I'm not arguing it won't be - I don't know. I just know more than a few people who bombed their first semester (most with SATs well above average), myself included, who ended up with decent academic performance once they got over the "shock" of being an adult away from home.

arethuza 3y ago
I did terribly in first year, scraped through second year and did really well in third and fourth years - to the point of getting a first and a class prize. I don't think it was anything to do with "shock being away from home" - but actually realising that some things require hard work.
- alistairSH 3y ago
  Oh, for me, it was definitely "no parents? Party!" That got old pretty quickly, just not quickly enough to save my first semester grades.
  - arethuza 3y ago
    Happily the grade of degree awarded was based something like 75% on final year exams and project and 25% on 3rd year and you just had to survive the first two years. Edit: I had started partying long before going to university so had already got that out of my system... :-)
rayiner 3y ago
> I just know more than a few people who bombed their first semester (most with SATs well above average), myself included, who ended up with decent academic performance once they got over the "shock" of being an adult away from home. Individual students might underperform because they're not prepared for living outside the home, but that factor would cancel out when you're comparing two populations with thousands of students. Note that, according to the article, the 0.86 GPA point difference--which is huge, like the difference between top of the class and below median--was after adjusting for high school GPA. So the analysis should factor out differences resulting from some kids simply being more "put together" as freshman than other kids.

arethuza 3y ago

I did terribly in first year, scraped through second year and did really well in third and fourth years - to the point of getting a first and a class prize. I don't think it was anything to do with "shock being away from home" - but actually realising that some things require hard work.

alistairSH 3y ago
Oh, for me, it was definitely "no parents? Party!" That got old pretty quickly, just not quickly enough to save my first semester grades.
- arethuza 3y ago
  Happily the grade of degree awarded was based something like 75% on final year exams and project and 25% on 3rd year and you just had to survive the first two years. Edit: I had started partying long before going to university so had already got that out of my system... :-)

rayiner 3y ago

> I just know more than a few people who bombed their first semester (most with SATs well above average), myself included, who ended up with decent academic performance once they got over the "shock" of being an adult away from home. Individual students might underperform because they're not prepared for living outside the home, but that factor would cancel out when you're comparing two populations with thousands of students. Note that, according to the article, the 0.86 GPA point difference--which is huge, like the difference between top of the class and below median--was after adjusting for high school GPA. So the analysis should factor out differences resulting from some kids simply being more "put together" as freshman than other kids.