The Importance of Fall Semester

School is back session and Penn has a newfound energy - atleast until midterms arrive. Nonetheless, its exciting to be back at school, especially as a junior. My first two years at Penn have been tremendous and have definitely taught me a lot of bout myself and life in general. That being said, I wanted to make a quick plug about the importance of the first semester. In general, I think first semester is more important than second semester. I say this for a few reasons; First, when applying to summer opportunities, potential employers will most likely only see your grades from fall semester. Needless to say, its important to have strong grades and demonstrate that you are focused and off to a great start academically. Second, its easier for your grades to go down than to go up. I think of it this way, each additional class you take has a decreasing marginal impact on your overall GPA. Therefore, the classes you take second semester have less of an impact than those you take first semester. Lastly, (and this is a serious thought) if you're like me, there's an inverse relationship between my ability to do work and the quality of the weather; the better the weather, the harder it is for me to be productive (good weather = more distractions). Gameplan for good weather by giving yourself a cushion via your fall grades. That's just my two cents; good luck everyone.

Forum of Huntsman Hall