Dropped Calc Freshman year, just did poorly on summer retake final exam

[EyesOfTheWorld]

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Like the title says, I dropped calc my freshman year. This summer I took 12 credits (bad idea), started a new job, and have been going through a 180 hour training course for a crisis hotline.

I just got back from my calc final and I feel like I did very poorly. I'm kicking myself right now for not studying enough, and basically freaking out. I know it looks horrible to retake a course and still get a low grade. I'm really crushed because I worked so hard on the last midterm and got a B, then didn't study enough for this final (or rather, what I studied the most was not on the exam at all).

I'm pretty sure I'm going to be getting a C, unless things went even worse than I expected and I got a D (in which case).


What do I do? Is this going to look really horrible?

🙁😕

 

[Mr Avante]

You took 6 classes during your summer?

 

[EyesOfTheWorld]

No, I took four classes all of which were three credit courses. I took a philosophy course, a neuroscience course, a music course and calc. I'm double majoring (phil/science) and minoring (neuro), which is why I thought such a heavy summer course load would be a good idea.

Oh, I actually had 13 credits because the calc course was 4. Which makes it worse that I did so poorly. :cry::cry::cry:

 

[deleted407021]

You overloaded yourself during the summer, which was a mistake. You probably learned to not do that again. If you dropped, that is not a retake, it might as well be the first time you took the class. To answer your question, be prepared for what grade you might receive. A C in not unacceptable for your situation. A D, however would probably warrant a retake if you we're so inclined, but it would not be completely necessary as most schools don't require calculus. Can you tell us, now, what you think you should do and if you have learned anything from this?

 

[Lamel]

That sucks man. Luckily not all med schools require calc.

I'm sure it hit your GPA but how are the other classes?

Just move past it and ace your future courses.

 

[EyesOfTheWorld]

You overloaded yourself during the summer, which was a mistake. You probably learned to not do that again. If you dropped, that is not a retake, it might as well be the first time you took the class.

Wow, that's really great to know and a huge relief! 😳

To answer your question, be prepared for what grade you might receive. A C in not unacceptable for your situation. A D, however would probably warrant a retake if you we're so inclined, but it would not be completely necessary as most schools don't require calculus. Can you tell us, now, what you think you should do and if you have learned anything from this?

I'm going to wait to see the grade, I think there might be a curve. On the last exam I was 20% above the class average, which was much lower than the desired grade so there might be a slight curve if everyone did poorly on the final (my classmates are consistently lower than the desired average, so that might be a possibility). I think if I get a C, I'll evaluate my GPA and possibly retake the course if I feel like it's necessary. It would be the only C I've ever gotten, so maybe I wouldn't retake. With a D, I'd definitely need to retake it IMO. I think I might need over a D in calc for my major anyway... hmm.

I definitely learned how fast paced summer courses are. My adviser warned me about that, but I just didn't fully grasp the gravity of the situation. I also didn't fully grasp how many other commitments I'd actually end up having by the time the end of the semester rolled around, which made everything even more stressful. I'm never going to take a full time course load in the summer again. I also learned that my procrastination needs to stop. It's taking a toll on my grades and my health (overall stress levels have been THROUGH THE ROOF these past few weeks). I know that if I had studied as much as I did for the last exam, I would have done well on this final. So, I guess the take home message here is that I need to dedicate more time each day to my more difficult courses, and I need to start studying for every exam AT LEAST a week in advance, probably more for finals.

Thanks for helping me evaluate this as a learning experience. 👍 I've been freaking out since the exam but your response really helped me to get a better perspective on it. (Though, I'm still very disappointed with myself at this point but I know I can't change the past, I can only learn from it.)

 

[EyesOfTheWorld]

That sucks man. Luckily not all med schools require calc.

I'm sure it hit your GPA but how are the other classes?

Just move past it and ace your future courses.

A's in two of my courses, and a B in my phil course. (Which is unfortunate, since I had an A up until the incredibly difficult final section of the course. On the plus side I have all A's in the rest of my phil courses so hopefully this will be my only B in that major.)

My GPA is going to drop from a 3.48 to a 3.42 (if I got a C) which is another disappointment since I had hoped to raise above a 3.5 with these summer courses. *sigh* :cry:

 

[Lamel]

A's in two of my courses, and a B in my phil course. (Which is unfortunate, since I had an A up until the incredibly difficult final section of the course. On the plus side I have all A's in the rest of my phil courses so hopefully this will be my only B in that major.)

My GPA is going to drop from a 3.48 to a 3.42 (if I got a C) which is another disappointment since I had hoped to raise above a 3.5 with these summer courses. *sigh* :cry:

By the sounds of it, you are going to be a sophomore or junior this fall?

If so, you have PLENTY of time to increase your GPA significantly.

If you're going to be a senior, then you can still definitely get it above 3.5.

There is a thread on this forum right now about a student who failed physics 1, retook it to get an A-, and raised his 3.0 GPA to 3.65 by graduation.

 

[deleted407021]

Glad I could help. BTW I'm a bit jealous you can do neuroscience. I wish we had that major/ minor where I am!😀

 

[EyesOfTheWorld]

By the sounds of it, you are going to be a sophomore or junior this fall?

If so, you have PLENTY of time to increase your GPA significantly.

If you're going to be a senior, then you can still definitely get it above 3.5.

There is a thread on this forum right now about a student who failed physics 1, retook it to get an A-, and raised his 3.0 GPA to 3.65 by graduation.

Yeah, I'm technically a junior now credit wise but this fall is the start of my junior year. I'm pretty sure I can get it above a 3.5 by the time I apply, especially since I'm constantly improving my studying and time management techniques.

Glad I could help. BTW I'm a bit jealous you can do neuroscience. I wish we had that major/ minor where I am!😀

I am very appreciative of your help! 🙂
I'm glad we have a neurocience minor here, since it's my passion. This summer was my first course in the minor and I loved every second of it. 😍