Flying Spice
Good for you to say something about what took place. Alot of people will tend to stay quiet about their early mistakes. As CFI says this sort of topic will usually start a debate first with plenty putting in their 20 cents worth. Take all advice on after consulting you Instructor and relevant school/aircraft manuals.
My 20 cents worth (got this far with a post...might as well keep going) involves taking action before even getting close to the runway where bad things can happen. I teach people a small 'shopping list' and a couple rules of thumb to help.
1) HALF WAY ROUND HALF WAY DOWN- as it says you want to be approx 750' agl half way round base. If a little high reduce power a couple 100 rpm at most. If your low increase power a couple 100 rpm.
2) The speed needs to correct on Base. If fast tendency is overshoot turn=increased angle of bank=closer to stall angle=BAD
3)Dont be afraid to GO AROUND ON BASE...or any leg for that matter if you think your not flying in the correct flying parameters.
4)Once turned final use a little mental check called 'AAAR' (as in aaar s**t my instructor isn't here, I need to do it myself)
A=Altitude. Am I at least 500' agl wings level on rwy centerline.
A=Airspeed. Am I at correct Early final approach speed.
A=Attitude. Does the picture look right. You know by now.
R=RoD. Is the descent rate manageable ie 500-600' per min.
If any of these are out of tolerance fix them one by one. If you have a brain dump and forget (it happens) GO AROUND. Your instructor should show you how to Go around from all positions in the circuit including Base and Final in a number of different configurations.
Good luck with the rest of your flying and keep up the posts with any other questions beacause there are always people to help.
CHEERS