My confidence has been destroyed

[Fakhter]

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Well I just finished my first math class in college "Calculus" and received a D. I commuted about 50 mins twice a weeks just to get to class. The professor was a first year teacher which didn't help either. So far I haven't taken many Prerequisites which is why this is so crushing. Before this class I had a total of 30 Credits . I have taken a full year of Biology, Psychology, English, History, and Sociology. I got A's in all of those classes.

 

[487806]

Well I just finished my first math class in college "Calculus" and received a D. I commuted about 50 mins twice a weeks just to get to class. The professor was a first year teacher which didn't help either. So far I haven't taken many Prerequisites which is why this is so crushing. Before this class I had a total of 30 Credits . I have taken a full year of Biology, Psychology, English, History, and Sociology. I got A's in all of those classes.

Retake and get an A.

Looks like you didn't follow the advice in the previous thread of yours. Oh well.

 

[V3NOM]

Retake and try the following, they are really helpful.

http://tutorial.math.lamar.edu/Classes/CalcI/CalcI.aspx

http://www.youtube.com/user/patrickJMT

http://www.youtube.com/user/khanacademy

 

[physguy]

Shrug it off and try again. Keep in mind though, that first year teacher or not, you will probably have to work harder to get an A in Calc I than sociology or biology etc...

 

[Quizlet04]

If you are flailing, get a tutor. Why? Because it will cost less to get a tutor for a semester than it will be to apply to all those med schools and fail to get in because of a bad GPA.

Every year you spend trying to get into medical school is one less year you have of earning something as a doctor. Unless you're going from a high-paying job --> medical doctor, you're losing money.

 

[Koalafied]

Well I just finished my first math class in college "Calculus" and received a D. I commuted about 50 mins twice a weeks just to get to class. The professor was a first year teacher which didn't help either. So far I haven't taken many Prerequisites which is why this is so crushing. Before this class I had a total of 30 Credits . I have taken a full year of Biology, Psychology, English, History, and Sociology. I got A's in all of those classes.

Give him/her 👎thumbdown👎 in course evals. Or 👍👍👍.

 

[Mt Kilimanjaro]

Why the quotes? Was it not really calculus? Was it sarcastically calculus? I'm confused.

 

[mimelim]

Well I just finished my first math class in college "Calculus" and received a D. I commuted about 50 mins twice a weeks just to get to class. The professor was a first year teacher which didn't help either. So far I haven't taken many Prerequisites which is why this is so crushing. Before this class I had a total of 30 Credits . I have taken a full year of Biology, Psychology, English, History, and Sociology. I got A's in all of those classes.

I see a lot of excuses. Every college student will deal with bad teachers. They will also deal with commuting or other time sinks. You need to figure out why you got a D that is within your control. Simply, "it was someone else's fault" isn't good enough.

 

[Audiojb]

Not the end of the world, unless you want it to be. Fix the problem, and move along.

 

[deleted518757]

We all have those courses where we fall through and end up either doing poorly or flat-out failing. The most important thing is to learn from it. I suggest reviewing your exams/quizzes/home works and categorize your mistakes. There are no such things as "stupid mistakes" because those you can't learn from. Mistakes that are categorized as "conceptual" or "algebraic" can be fixed. If your mistakes are one or both of the latter two cases then I suggest implementing extra practice and visiting a tutoring center. If your university offers a math resource center where you can do math homework and practice all while being surrounded by tutors use it! It is a huge motivator and you are in a prime working zone. Visit your professor at the first signs of trouble too. They are more helpful and spirit lifting than one may initially think.

Regardless, keep your head up high and continue forth but remember to learn from your mistakes. You CAN and WILL have a better turnaround with the course if you take the time to "diagnose" your mistakes in mathematics and correct them.

I wish you nothing but the absolute best this upcoming term.

 

[amazing tekkers]

You can definitely bounce back--next time use ratemyprofessor or chegg.com to avoid bad teachers.

 

[911 Turbo]

You can definitely bounce back--next time use ratemyprofessor or chegg.com to avoid bad teachers.

Brah how would they help if this was the first time the teacher taught?

 

[confuzus]

Or you can study harder and stop making excuses.

 

[verdiyuyn]

Every year you spend trying to get into medical school is one less year you have of earning something as a doctor

 

[vadeem]

Frankly, your teacher doesn't determine your aptitude for the subject.I took Calculus over the summer and I hardly ever went to class. You need to invest more time into studying. Focus on completing all odd/even problems in your assigned sections, and never skip problems because you think they're too difficult. 99% of the time they show up on your exam. If you're truly struggling to grasp Calculus (Calc. 1 isn't a very difficult subject, no offense but it only gets much more difficult from here on out) then you need to utilize every resource you have available to you. That means getting the solutions manual, actively visit your professor in his office, get help from the free tutoring department your school offers, watch videos on youtube (Khanacademy, PatrickJMT, etc.), and seek out help/advice from students that are getting A's in the class. You can do this, don't let this set-back get you down too much. You have plenty of chances to improve, but you need to get into gear NOW.

 

[pepperthelaunch]

Well I just finished my first math class in college "Calculus" and received a D. I commuted about 50 mins twice a weeks just to get to class. The professor was a first year teacher which didn't help either. So far I haven't taken many Prerequisites which is why this is so crushing. Before this class I had a total of 30 Credits . I have taken a full year of Biology, Psychology, English, History, and Sociology. I got A's in all of those classes.

Commuting --> don't see the relevance of this.
New teacher --> neither is this. I've got plenty of first time professors too, and they actually tried harder.

You haven't told us why you got the D. Were you struggling with the course? You've provided us nothing to go with. I don't see how it is the teacher's fault unless the whole class received the same grades.

 

[squidward45]

I see a lot of excuses. Every college student will deal with bad teachers. They will also deal with commuting or other time sinks. You need to figure out why you got a D that is within your control. Simply, "it was someone else's fault" isn't good enough.

The person didn't claim it was the teacher's fault. My take is this: you don't need to pass calculus to become a doctor. Some medical schools require it-but I know many don't. If I had to guess, I would say most don't. At least you didn't fail the course. Perhaps you are good at calculus, and you could simply invest in a TI 84 to solve the answers for you if you haven't already? Maybe you are better at statistics than you are calculus. Yeah, it doesn't feel good to get that grade. But you will be just fine. Do you even need calculus to graduate?

 

[squidward45]

Or you can study harder and stop making excuses.

Forget it. You don't need calculus to get into med school. If you needed it for your major, you can still do the following steps to get where you want:

switch majors
take prereqs out of major
graduate
apply to MD/DO school that doesn't require calculus
walk off into the sunset.

Calc shmalc. Do you think Ben Carson uses calculus? I don't think any of these famous, successful clinicians on the news remember any calculus-assuming they ever took/passed it. Because they don't need to.

 

[487806]

The person didn't claim it was the teacher's fault. My take is this: you don't need to pass calculus to become a doctor. Some medical schools require it-but I know many don't. If I had to guess, I would say most don't. At least you didn't fail the course. Perhaps you are good at calculus, and you could simply invest in a TI 84 to solve the answers for you if you haven't already? Maybe you are better at statistics than you are calculus. Yeah, it doesn't feel good to get that grade. But you will be just fine. Do you even need calculus to graduate?

Forget it. You don't need calculus to get into med school. If you needed it for your major, you can still do the following steps to get where you want:

switch majors
take prereqs out of major
graduate
apply to MD/DO school that doesn't require calculus
walk off into the sunset.

Calc shmalc. Do you think Ben Carson uses calculus? I don't think any of these famous, successful clinicians on the news remember any calculus-assuming they ever took/passed it. Because they don't need to.

Stop with your anti-calculus rant. That isn't the purpose of the thread. Instead, you're using it as a pathetic excuse to justify OP's follies. OP took calculus and screwed it up, so he has to retake it and get an A.

 

[yehhhboiii]

The person didn't claim it was the teacher's fault. My take is this: you don't need to pass calculus to become a doctor. Some medical schools require it-but I know many don't. If I had to guess, I would say most don't. At least you didn't fail the course. Perhaps you are good at calculus, and you could simply invest in a TI 84 to solve the answers for you if you haven't already? Maybe you are better at statistics than you are calculus. Yeah, it doesn't feel good to get that grade. But you will be just fine. Do you even need calculus to graduate?

lol if he got a d, he's obviously not good at calculus

 

[mimelim]

The person didn't claim it was the teacher's fault. My take is this: you don't need to pass calculus to become a doctor. Some medical schools require it-but I know many don't. If I had to guess, I would say most don't. At least you didn't fail the course. Perhaps you are good at calculus, and you could simply invest in a TI 84 to solve the answers for you if you haven't already? Maybe you are better at statistics than you are calculus. Yeah, it doesn't feel good to get that grade. But you will be just fine. Do you even need calculus to graduate?

Calculus is not required to go into medicine. You will be a better physician if you have a fundamental understanding of calculus. I can't remember the last time I actually integrated an equation, but understanding basic calculus is helpful for understanding and appreciating data trends.

Regardless, if someone got a D in calculus and didn't retake it, I would consider that a pretty big black mark on their transcript.

 

[chillaxbro]

Less competition for me 😎

 

[deleted562324]

If you're doing well on practice problems but only struggle on exams, you could have gone to office hours or tried to make an appointment with the professor to express your concerns. You could have asked him for resources that present similar styles of questions to study from.

You could also have expressed your concerns to the professor about the style of the exams. How were your classmates doing compared to you? Newer professors recognize that they will not be the best teachers in their first semester. If the performance of the whole class was suffering, the professor would may have been willing to change.

I'm not saying that you didn't do any of these things, but these were all viable steps that you could have taken during the semester. I'm sure you're a bright student, but you've probably never had to struggle to earn a grade below an 'A'. This sort of thing happens quite frequently in college and is what separates the good students from the great students. In the first post it sounds like you're trying to put some of the blame on the professor, but that isn't a good perspective.

I suggest you retake the course and use some of the strategies I mentioned earlier (assuming you didn't before). This can be something to talk about in interviews, and can demonstrate maturity and persistence.

 

[BlueLabel]

Well I just finished my first math class in college "Calculus" and received a D. I commuted about 50 mins twice a weeks just to get to class. The professor was a first year teacher which didn't help either. So far I haven't taken many Prerequisites which is why this is so crushing. Before this class I had a total of 30 Credits . I have taken a full year of Biology, Psychology, English, History, and Sociology. I got A's in all of those classes.

To everyone telling OP he sucks at calculus/needs to stop blaming others, chill. He posted this under the title "my confidence has been destroyed", I think he gets that he screwed up.

Think of this as an important learning experience. Your prereqs and other coursework are going to get harder from here, so either use this as a wake-up call to adjust, or consider different career options. The good news is that since your other grades are very good, if you use this opportunity to make those adjustments, retake the class, and do much better, you can then honestly discuss this later when you're applying as a pivotal moment that helped make you a better student. That kind of narrative/context strikes me as pretty compelling.

Chin up, buddy.

 

[physguy]

Frankly, your teacher doesn't determine your aptitude for the subject.I took Calculus over the summer and I hardly ever went to class. You need to invest more time into studying. Focus on completing all odd/even problems in your assigned sections, and never skip problems because you think they're too difficult. 99% of the time they show up on your exam. If you're truly struggling to grasp Calculus (Calc. 1 isn't a very difficult subject, no offense but it only gets much more difficult from here on out) then you need to utilize every resource you have available to you.

I don't see how this helps OP. Calc I is pretty difficult, and him struggling with it is normal. Its probably the hardest math class he'll take, and its more difficult than Calc III and DE IMO. No one cares that you never went to class.

 

[Strudel19]

Don't retake something that you're terrible at. You can't be the first person to do bad in Calc. I would only retake it if you're confident that you'll do better - MUCH better.

 

[Temerit]

I disagree with Agent B's analysis. I think taking many calculus or calculus-based physics classes without any genuine interest is pointless if one's aim is to gain admission to medical school.

 

[487806]

I don't see how this helps OP. Calc I is pretty difficult, and him struggling with it is normal. Its probably the hardest math class he'll take, and its more difficult than Calc III and DE IMO. No one cares that you never went to class.

You serious bro?

Agent B just has a hard on for calculus and cal-based physics along with a huge ego. Don't listen to him.

Like your post is any productive here. Try actually to be meaningful for once before you go bashing other people nonsensically.

 

[Mel Belle]

Speaking of calculus... This fall I'll be taking calculus. And calculus-based physics. Oh, btw, my calculus professor is from Korea and no one understand what she says. Any advice on how to deal with that? I'm trying desperately to get a different professor but all my other classes are locked in. I'm just afraid of having to teach myself calculus whist taking calculus-based physics, and then doing terribly in both as a result. I have 19 credits. And a tutoring job. So... Help.

 

[487806]

Speaking of calculus... This fall I'll be taking calculus. And calculus-based physics. Oh, btw, my calculus professor is from Korea and no one understand what she says. Any advice on how to deal with that? I'm trying desperately to get a different professor but all my other classes are locked in. I'm just afraid of having to teach myself calculus whist taking calculus-based physics, and then doing terribly in both as a result. I have 19 credits. And a tutoring job. So... Help.

This post is your friend (found on top of the thread).

Retake and try the following, they are really helpful.

http://tutorial.math.lamar.edu/Classes/CalcI/CalcI.aspx

http://www.youtube.com/user/patrickJMT

http://www.youtube.com/user/khanacademy

You won't find a lot of calc in the mechanics version of calc though. Your book should help (Serway is usually the popular one).

 

[physguy]

You serious bro?

Yes. Most people only have to take Calculus I, so its the last math class he'll take. Learning Calc for the first time is hard; its all new concepts to you. For the rest of your math classes (excluding Calc II which was harder) its just applying everything you already learned.

I digress. OP is not less intelligent than the populus bc hes having a hard time in Calc I. Lots of people struggle with it.

 

[Mavs88]

My best advice to you is to forget the professor, the schedule, etc and reflect on yourself. Did you do everything you could have? did you study regularly? review material? Make time? You need to look into what you can do MORE then next time..I mean what if the prof is worse? Sure a lot falls on who you get, but more so on you.

My first year I dropped Cal I on account of laziness and got a D in Ochem on account of being negligent and clueless. I completely abandoned premed after this cause I just gave up. A year later, I have found it in myself to give it another shot and this semester am taking both courses. I know I can do well, just have to be motivated.

Don't feel hopeless...you can do it if you set your mind to it.

 

[amazing tekkers]

Brah how would they help if this was the first time the teacher taught?

Avoid first time teachers I suppose.

 

[squidward45]

Stop with your anti-calculus rant. That isn't the purpose of the thread. Instead, you're using it as a pathetic excuse to justify OP's follies. OP took calculus and screwed it up, so he has to retake it and get an A.

Anti calculus rant? What part of the posts is an anti calculus rant? I'd love to see what you're looking at. OP doesn't have to retake anything. I don't see how getting a D in calculus is necessarily a folly-unless they chose to get that grade on purpose. If the person ends up with a 3.8 or something and does well in all other math classes/chemistry/biology, he can get into a med school just fine. Stop catastrophizing.

 

[487806]

Anti calculus rant? What part of the posts is an anti calculus rant? I'd love to see what you're looking at. OP doesn't have to retake anything. I don't see how getting a D in calculus is necessarily a folly-unless they chose to get that grade on purpose. If the person ends up with a 3.8 or something and does well in all other math classes/chemistry/biology, he can get into a med school just fine. Stop catastrophizing.

A D in any subject is a bad thing and should be retaken.

 

[squidward45]

A D in any subject is a bad thing and should be retaken.

If the person knows they will do better-sure. If not, then no need to double your trouble. As you already know, it isn't necessary to be a doctor. Never has been, never will be.

 

[ToldYouSo]

If the person knows they will do better-sure. If not, then no need to double your trouble. As you already know, it isn't necessary to be a doctor. Never has been, never will be.

God forbid you actually learn how the world around you works.

 

[487806]

If the person knows they will do better-sure. If not, then no need to double your trouble. As you already know, it isn't necessary to be a doctor. Never has been, never will be.

... Just stay in your fantasy land.

God forbid you actually learn how the world around you works.

Don't bother. He's just wasting our time by spouting false information.

 

[vadeem]

I don't see how this helps OP. Calc I is pretty difficult, and him struggling with it is normal. Its probably the hardest math class he'll take, and its more difficult than Calc III and DE IMO. No one cares that you never went to class.

I offered OP suggestions to improve the next time he takes the course. Sure, Calc. 1 is difficult and it's common to struggle, but so is every other hard-science/math course you take in undergrad. It's okay to struggle, I know I did, but hard work always prevails. The reason I said that I hardly went to class was to emphasize that's its possible to succeed without having to rely on your professor's lecturing...

 

[physguy]

I offered OP suggestions to improve the next time he takes the course. Sure, Calc. 1 is difficult and it's common to struggle, but so is every other hard-science/math course you take in undergrad. It's okay to struggle, I know I did, but hard work always prevails. The reason I said that I hardly went to class was to emphasize that's its possible to succeed without having to rely on your professor's lecturing...

OK, I see where you're coming from now. Maybe OP would be better off taking an extra 100 minutes to study every week instead of commute, especially if professor isn't very good.

 

[squidward45]

... Just stay in your fantasy land.



Don't bother. He's just wasting our time by spouting false information.

So you are claiming that calculus is required in order to be a doctor? Did I miss the memo? And...as for the above comment...I know how the world works...the calculus teachers run it. Obama only got elected president because he knows calculus.

 

[squidward45]

God forbid you actually learn how the world around you works.

Yeah, it works by the calculus overlord pressing computer buttons to decide what happens. We are all just little ants. It is up to the calculus overlord to control what happens.

 

[487806]

So you are claiming that calculus is required in order to be a doctor? Did I miss the memo? And...as for the above comment...I know how the world works...the calculus teachers run it. Obama only got elected president because he knows calculus.

Yeah, it works by the calculus overlord pressing computer buttons to decide what happens. We are all just little ants. It is up to the calculus overlord to control what happens.

Out of curiosity, why do you hate calculus? Have you taken the course but the prof gave you a bad vibe?

Some schools oddly require calculus and these can be found via the MSAR. But that isn't the purpose of OP's question. Instead, OP took a course and got a D, which meant he has to retake it and get an A. A D is a pretty bad mark on the academic transcript.

 

[squidward45]

Out of curiosity, why do you hate calculus? Have you taken the course but the prof gave you a bad vibe?

Some schools oddly require calculus and these can be found via the MSAR. But that isn't the purpose of OP's question. Instead, OP took a course and got a D, which meant he has to retake it and get an A. A D is a pretty bad mark on the academic transcript.

Why don't you tell me what "false information" I spread? You said I was spreading false information. I have yet to hear what it was.

 

[Koalafied]

(http://forums.studentdoctor.net/showthread.php?p=14308256#post14308256) post #16 couldn't have said it any better.

 

[487806]

Why don't you tell me what "false information" I spread? You said I was spreading false information. I have yet to hear what it was.

Sure.

If the person knows they will do better-sure. If not, then no need to double your trouble. As you already know, it isn't necessary to be a doctor. Never has been, never will be.

There you go.

From the expert:

Calculus is not required to go into medicine. You will be a better physician if you have a fundamental understanding of calculus. I can't remember the last time I actually integrated an equation, but understanding basic calculus is helpful for understanding and appreciating data trends.

Regardless, if someone got a D in calculus and didn't retake it, I would consider that a pretty big black mark on their transcript.

 

[ToldYouSo]

So you are claiming that calculus is required in order to be a doctor? Did I miss the memo? And...as for the above comment...I know how the world works...the calculus teachers run it. Obama only got elected president because he knows calculus.

Yeah, it works by the calculus overlord pressing computer buttons to decide what happens. We are all just little ants. It is up to the calculus overlord to control what happens.

See the problem here is that you lack the maturity to realize why these replies are not only stupid, but show a general antipathy towards education simply because you can't see the intangible benefits of learning something useful, in this case math. By your logic, the only things worth learning are those which are immediately applicable to whatever career one will be doing, disregarding anything else just because it isn't used directly.

 

[Escape_Goat]

I see a lot of excuses. Every college student will deal with bad teachers. They will also deal with commuting or other time sinks. You need to figure out why you got a D that is within your control. Simply, "it was someone else's fault" isn't good enough.

This. OP, you should work on developing an internal locus of control and not blame other for your failures. Sucks you had a hard time with the professor, but you could've sought out tutoring, gone to office hours, done more practice problems, looked up resources online, or checked out books from library.

Be more proactive when you retake the course and you'll crush it.