So, I just made the stupidest academic mistake of my long college and post-bacc career. I took a Calculus 2 class over the summer, because my physics professor said that I needed it to do well in his physics class in the Fall. I took the Calculus 2 at a community college, because I couldn't fit it into my works schedule nor at the 4-year post-bacc school which I am attending.
And I got a D in that Calculus 2 class. I struggled the whole way through, and it seemed that no matter how many practice problems I did, I could not master the material when it came to doing the exams. Because it was in the summer, the class was 7 weeks in length. I was working full-time, so I struggled to keep up. Later, I quit one of my jobs to make more time. I did all the homework problems. I went to nearly every office hour. I went to tutoring. I spent 8-12 hours a day doing homework problems. But I could not earn more than a C on each test, some tests were a D. I tended to get around or just below the class average. On exams, I would do a problem, and then half-way through, I would forget what were the next steps. Or, I would get lost in the algebra for the problem. Or I would use the approach of one type of problem on another type of problem. Sometimes, I could not remember all of the theorems and the trig identities. And I messed up the final exam, which I failed; it was worth a lot of points, and sealed my class grade. Also, I miscalculated (no pun intended), how much was worth the homework. I thought it was worth more, which would have left me with a B.
I've never gotten anything less than a B in a math class, and the last time was years ago. I've never received a D in any class ever. A few C's. Getting a D will hurt my post-bacc GPA, so I'll have to take more upper division science classes at my 4-year school.
I am going to retake the Calculus 2 class this Fall as my only class.
The only upside on all of this, is that it highlighted a potential learning issue for me: during exams my thinking gets cloudy and I panick sometimes. I’ve known of this for a while, which is why I have delayed taking the MCAT. I need to find out how I can overcome this.
And I got a D in that Calculus 2 class. I struggled the whole way through, and it seemed that no matter how many practice problems I did, I could not master the material when it came to doing the exams. Because it was in the summer, the class was 7 weeks in length. I was working full-time, so I struggled to keep up. Later, I quit one of my jobs to make more time. I did all the homework problems. I went to nearly every office hour. I went to tutoring. I spent 8-12 hours a day doing homework problems. But I could not earn more than a C on each test, some tests were a D. I tended to get around or just below the class average. On exams, I would do a problem, and then half-way through, I would forget what were the next steps. Or, I would get lost in the algebra for the problem. Or I would use the approach of one type of problem on another type of problem. Sometimes, I could not remember all of the theorems and the trig identities. And I messed up the final exam, which I failed; it was worth a lot of points, and sealed my class grade. Also, I miscalculated (no pun intended), how much was worth the homework. I thought it was worth more, which would have left me with a B.
I've never gotten anything less than a B in a math class, and the last time was years ago. I've never received a D in any class ever. A few C's. Getting a D will hurt my post-bacc GPA, so I'll have to take more upper division science classes at my 4-year school.
I am going to retake the Calculus 2 class this Fall as my only class.
The only upside on all of this, is that it highlighted a potential learning issue for me: during exams my thinking gets cloudy and I panick sometimes. I’ve known of this for a while, which is why I have delayed taking the MCAT. I need to find out how I can overcome this.
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