Is it normal to study your hardest, but still get the average?

Just be glad you did study or you would have most likely failed.. and failing would suck more... Just accept some things you will be better at than others... We all can't be good at everything all the same! For example... I am good at writing... Don't pay attention to my crappy grammar here LOL... I actually write online and get paid to do it... I am also good at singing and artistic stuff... But I suck at math! Try and appreciate the things you are good at because there is always someone out there struggling to do what you find easy and wishing it could come more natural to them like it does with you :)

That sucks, I couldn't put less effort into studying if I tried, I've missed exams, handed every piece of work in late this year and not taken a single note in any of my lectures. In my first year I turned up to a stats exam without any revision or a calculator and I got the 8th highest mark out of a room of about 160 so called scientists.

It is normal and that's a shame. Because we can't help thinking it is unfair that we work hard and try our best and it will never be rewarded

There are always going to be certain subjects that you will not fully grasp - I've lost count the number of times my husband has told me about my car's engine :o) Anyway, it's not the number of hours you study but how well you take in the information.

Tonight I was teaching a teenager that has a mental block with maths and I'd to cover the nth term....
The formula was dn + (a-d)

So I made up a story about the friends they have staying over.

They're having DiNner + so invite Alistair without his Dog.

There are loads of memory techniques like this and the more ridiculous the story the more memorable. Try this.

Good luck!

Math is the same for me. To this day I struggle to get the Concepts no matter how much I study.

Sadly, this is very normal. I remember that last year I took AP Biology and studied for a total of, wait for it, 110 hrs for the end of the year test. A 3 is passing but I ended up getting a 2. I also took AP European history and didn't study at all for the test and ended up with a 3. Stuff like this happens. The best we can do is learn from our mistakes and correct ourselves in the way that we study in order to improve.

Excuse my language but.. I FUCKING HATE THAT. I have the same issue with some things. I'm very studious, and when I don't do so great, I could almost cry out in frustration. It's like, what's the point in even trying? I usually find it has to do with how much the teacher likes you some of the time. Not always, but when it comes to things like "English class" where they can be bias and give you low marks just because "they didn't like it." It has to do with how much they like you as a person. Otherwise, I guess maybe were just not good at certain things no matter how hard we try..

I tell you by experience: grades don't matter at all. Employers don't pay attention to them, the most important thing is what you learn.
If you want to get better grades, don't study more, just change your study strategy.

Even within a narrow subject area, there are things you implicitly understand and things which you constantly need to keep chipping away at. AC Theory in Physics is a good example for me. It's not especially complicated but it just won't stay in my brain for longer than a day. It doesn't matter how long I study it, it just isn't going to stick.

i feel you. and its such a helpless and irritating feeling that makes you want to give up all together. why work my ass off if all i will ever be is average?

Some things just come easier than others. I can ace mircobiology tests without even studying (I've walked into class on numerous occasions not knowing there's a test until I see people studying) but in other subjects, I do need to put extra effort in. It's normal.