Please advise me on this.....................

[nefermaat]

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I'm in my second semester at UCBerkeley(i know its early for me to be worried about this stuff), and im currently taking 16 units.

chem1a - 1at sem college chem
math 1b - 2nd sem college calculus
Ethnic Studies - humanities.........
Nes 102B - egyptian archaeology

ok now that u know my schedule, ill tell u why i need your advice. Recently, i was extremely ill for 2 weeks(this is the start of the 6th week of the sem btw). I was totally incapacitated, could not go to class or even sit up. Well, fortunately for me, i had a chem midterm before this whole ordeal that i aced, but the calculus mi9dterm i just took on friday is a different story. I was so behind that it was a real struggle to catch up once i recovered from my sickness. So while i mad a valiant effort to learn the material, i found out today that i got a 52%(uncurved raw score), and that the mean for the class was 65%. This midterm will not be curved, so i basically got an f on it. This midterm will count 15% of my final grade, and while that may seem not too much, realize that i lost nearly 8% towards my final grade. Also, my quizzes in section during this period have been bad - the last couple i got c's on, but i even got a 1/30 on one of them. Overall, i think that i should switch the grading option to pass no pass because i honestly do not think i can pull a b with this poor start. I do not want to drop, because then i would only be taking 12 units. So what should i do. BTW, i only would need to get 60/100 total to pass the class, so while my latest numbers have been dismal, as long as i pick it up from now on, i should be fine.

 

[CalBear]

if you think that you can at least pull some sort of B in the class, you should stick w/it. otherwise drop it. you can make up the credits with a decal class or some humanities class and take that p/f. you can't really take math 1B p/f b/c med schools require that you take the pre reqs for a letter grade. if you have any more questions, go talk to patti meyer at the career center.

 

[rajneel1]

drop it. you can explain to med schools why you dropped it. but you must take it for a letter grade.

 

[megkudos]

Yeah, I think you're better off just dropping it. The fact that you were sick is a REALLY good reason to have a withdrawal on your record. Besides, if you are capable of doing well, it's worth the wait.

Drop it and retake it, no question.

 

[NuMD97]

You can make a valiant effort, but it sounds like it's going to be a real uphill struggle, and once the grade is in at the end of the semester, it's hard to have a course removed from the transcript for extenuating circumstances. (Though it can be done at some institutions, with a very good reason.) If you drop it at this point does the drop show up as a drop on your transcript or is it erased completely? Some institutions work that way, but I think it's too late in the semester for that. I think the best advice, as already mentioned above, is to talk to an advisor and explain the situation. But even with twelve credits you could always start anew over the summer and make up the time. Stuff happens. In the larger scheme of things you'll see further down the road that this was just a blip in your record and not the whole deal. I've seen other people have this happen to them, and when it comes time to explain it, it can be reasonably done without any prejudice towards you. Good luck.

 

[nefermaat]

i have until march 15th to drop it without notation on my transcript

 

[NRAI2001]

Hey Nefermaat,

I go to UCB also, and I am a 2nd semester also. I heard that math 1b is a killer. If you can stick with it and get a B I think that is really very good. I am not very good at math, and that is why I decided to take math 16a.

 

[Tobtolip]

•••quote:•••Originally posted by nefermaat:
•i have until march 15th to drop it without notation on my transcript•••••Wow if thats the case, drop it man! If it won't eve nappear on your transcript, med school admissions will never be the wiser right?

 

[UCMonkey]

How many units is the class? If you drop it, will it put you below the minimum units for full-time status (making you have to add another class)?

Just something to think about.

 

[MAPKinkster]

hey...

my advice is to drop the class, find a one-unit seminar to get your 13-unit minimum, then sign-up for math1b during the summer. i took math1b during summer sessions and i think it's actually better b/c [a] the class is smaller [<20 instead of big lecturehall] and taught by a GSI who likes to teach, you have it everyday so it's really fresh, and [c] it's still taught at berkeley [vs. community college] so you don't have to worry about transferring.

mapk

 

[nefermaat]

yeah - thanks for all the suggestions everyone. Is it bad to take it letter graded over the summer at community coll?