I B Classes Person Grades Gpa Professor Registering

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In this lesson, we are going to learn about the terminologies you need to know when you talk about classes with your peers.

There are several sections I will break this up into:
Registering for classes
Grades in class
Professors and different curriculum
Dropping out/Withdrawal

First, let's talk about registering for classes.

Questions

Did you register yet?"
When do you register for classes?"
When does registration start for next semester?"
How do you register for classes?"
Where is the registration office?"

What classes are you registering for?"
What classes are you going to take?"
What classes do you want to take?"

Ways to answer these questions

I haven't registered yet."
I register next Tuesday."
Registration starts 4 weeks before the next semester."
You register on-line. Go to the website, and click on register."
The registration office is in Schmidt Hall. That's right across the street from the statue."

I'm not worried about getting into psychology 101, but I think the physics class will be full by the time I register."
If all things go well, I plan on registering for English composition, chemistry, and calculus."
I really want to take computer programming, but I'll have to see if it is full or not."

Regular comments about registering

I hate registering for classes. All the classes I want to take are always full."
Being a sophomore sucks because we register last."
Seniors have the first pick so registering is easy for them."
If I get all the classes I want to take, I'll be so happy."
Registration was great this time. I got all the classes I wanted."
Registering for classes is such a big headache."

University Classes - Grades

Grades in Classes

Talking about grades is all dependent on if you open up about these things or not. I know some people are very secretive about their grades, and others like me freely talk about grades. So make sure you are close friends with the person you are talking to about grades.

Grades are different depending on school. Some schools give letter grades that translates into number grade. Other schools strictly give number grades only. The difference is in letter grades, you cannot get a 3.5. You either get a B+, which is a 3.3, or an A- which is a 3.7. However, in number grades, the instructor can give a 3.4, 3.5, or 3.6.

What did you get in English?" If you are talking about the subject, you do not need to say grade. But if not, you can ask, What grade did you get in English?"
I can't believe I got a 3.1 in biology. What did you get?"
How was your GPA this semester?" GPA stands for Grade Point Average.
How were your grades this quarter?"
Did you do well this semester?"
Did you screw up your grades this semester?"
What was the lowest grade you ever got?"
What is your overall GPA?"
How are your grades?"
What's your accum?" This is short for accumulated. This is asking what your overall GPA is.

I'll give examples for both specific and general answers.

In English, I got a B+."
I got a 2.9 in English."
I did similar to you."
I got a 3.4 this semester."
If I didn't get the C+ in Biology, my GPA would have been awesome this semester."
My grades were ok."
I did average this quarter."
My accum is 3.6 right now. I really want to get over 3.75."
My overall GPA is 2.94. I need to get a 3.4 next semester to bring my GPA above 3.0."
My GPA sucks."
I did pretty good this semester." Although grammatically this is incorrect, spoken English allows such errors. If you want to be grammatically perfect, you will need to say, I did pretty well this semester."

How is Professor Johnson?"
Is Professor Smith an easy grader?"
What is Professor Lee like?"
Would you take another class from Professor Jackson again?"

How many exams did you have to take in Sociology 121?"
What's the curriculum for Chemistry 101?"
Do you have to give any presentations in journalism class?"
What do you do in poetry class?"

If somebody asks you these types of questions, you can answer like the following:

Professor Johnson is so uptight. He's always lecturing and never allows students to ask any questions."
Professor Johnson is a brilliant professor. I learned so much from him."

No way. He is such a hard grader. I was expecting a 3.7, but it turns out that I got a 3.1. Can you believe that?"
His grading system is messed up. He grades according to how much he likes you."

He's a difficult grader."
He's an easy grader."

So far, I have taken 2 classes from Professor Jackson. I'm going to take every class he offers."
I wouldn't recommend Professor Jackson. His classes are so boring."
He's an idiot. He doesn't know anything."

There were just two exams... the midterm and the final."
There is an exam ever other week. It was hard, but at least it prevented me from cramming."

The curriculum is pretty basic. We have two days of lecture, two days of lab, and one day of discussions. Every now and then we have a quiz, but it's pretty routine."

In journalism, we have to give a presentation 3 times during the course. I didn't mind it, but a lot of other students were complaining."
We had two presentations, but they were pretty easy. It was the writing that was hard."

University Classes - Dropping Out / Withdrawal

There are two ways to leave a class. You either drop out, or you withdrawal. Dropping out usually means you are going to get a failing grade and you don't care about it. But primarily, dropping out refers to leaving college life altogether. So if you intend to say that you dropped out of a class, you should use withdrawal. There are several time periods for withdrawal. The first week, there is no penalty. The second week up to the first month, a W will show up on your transcript. And finally, withdrawal after the half way point will give you a failing grade. But this is dependent on each school policy. So learn the withdrawal format of your school. I was using the dates mentioned above only as an example. Let's learn some sentences to say these kinds of things.

I dropped out of my chemistry class."
I withdrew from my biology class."
I had too many classes as it is, so I dropped out of my statistics class."
I couldn't keep up with the schedule, so I dropped out of that class."
I couldn't understand the material, so I withdrew."
I hated the professor, so I just withdrew."

If you need to ask questions about withdrawal, these may help:

When is the last day to withdrawal?"
If I withdrawal now, will it show up on my transcript?"
Does a withdrawal look bad on the transcript?"
How do I drop out of a class that I don't want to take anymore?"
What is the procedure to withdrawal from class?"
How do I withdrawal from a certain class?"

Other things you might want to say when discussing this topic...

Are you sure you want to drop out of that class. You only have 4 more weeks. At least you can get the credit."
If I stay in that class, I'm going to screw up my GPA."
The best I can do is a C in this class. I don't want a C on my transcript. I'm going to withdrawal from the class."
If you get a bad grade, can't you just re-take the course?"
Even if I retake the course, both grades are used. This school has a different system where re-taking the course doesn't really help."

University Classes - Interactive Practice

Click on Listen All and follow along. After becoming comfortable with the entire conversation, become Person A by clicking on the Person A button. You will hear only Person B through the audio file. There will be a silence for you to repeat the sentences of Person A. Do the same for Person B. The speed of the conversation is native speed. Use the pause button if the pause between each sentence is too fast for you. After practicing several times, you will be able to speak as fast as a native.