Pre-Pharm. major - Calculus class. Questions

[EnvyV07]

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Hello SDN,

I have a very personal questions in which I need advice for. In my first year of college (2007) I took classes that I couldn't take seriously. I took Calculus and failed it, yeah I know... But it gets worse... I took it again with the same teacher because my school only offered 2 teachers. (dumbest mistake) And then I got a D. So now, I'm stuck here trying very hard to pull up my GPA.

What should I do about my Calculus class?

Thanks in advance SDN. I really appreciate everyone helping everyone. I have seen a lot of that.

 

[Passion4Sci]

Quick math tells me you're in your Junior standing year, then? Well, you'll need to improve your Calculus grade first and foremost. Clearly you should try the other teacher for it, but aside from that, you must address why it is that you're performing so poorly in Calc.

How are your grades otherwise?

 

[diastole]

Retake again because you need at least a C in most schools. An F and a D won't ruin your chances but you need to get much higher grades to make up for it. Focus on an upward trend and try to get the other parts of your application like pharmacy experience, good PCATs, other ECs, etc. all in order.

 

[EnvyV07]

Quick math tells me you're in your Junior standing year, then? Well, you'll need to improve your Calculus grade first and foremost. Clearly you should try the other teacher for it, but aside from that, you must address why it is that you're performing so poorly in Calc.

How are your grades otherwise?

My other grades are okay. I am pretty much satisfied with them except for the ones that I took when I first got into college. Such as BIO 1 and 2, which I both got a C in. Oh, and also ENG 1... got a C. Rest I am good with. I am standing at 57 credit hours and around a 2.7 GPA.

What should I do?

Retake again because you need at least a C in most schools. An F and a D won't ruin your chances but you need to get much higher grades to make up for it. Focus on an upward trend and try to get the other parts of your application like pharmacy experience, good PCATs, other ECs, etc. all in order.

Yeah, I am working as a Pharmacy Technician for over 2 years now, about to be 3 in January. I am going to call local hospitals for volunteering work.

Anymore advice is very thankful and helpful to me and other SDN... thanks!

 

[Passion4Sci]

If I were you, I'd:

1. Leave BIO 1 and BIO 2 as remnants of the past. A lot of us buckle when we first get to college... Different environment, pressures, etc. So put that in the past.

2. Re-take Calculus with a different instructor, and seek tutoring. My campus should have free tutoring available at a mathematics lab or something!

3. Look back at the previous 2 terms of Calc, and determine what exactly bothered me or that I didn't grasp fully, and drill it specifically.

We all falter, the important thing is that you're picking yourself up and seeking assistance. Good, now make sure you get some math tutoring or help.

 

[EnvyV07]

If I were you, I'd:

1. Leave BIO 1 and BIO 2 as remnants of the past. A lot of us buckle when we first get to college... Different environment, pressures, etc. So put that in the past.

2. Re-take Calculus with a different instructor, and seek tutoring. My campus should have free tutoring available at a mathematics lab or something!

3. Look back at the previous 2 terms of Calc, and determine what exactly bothered me or that I didn't grasp fully, and drill it specifically.

We all falter, the important thing is that you're picking yourself up and seeking assistance. Good, now make sure you get some math tutoring or help.

Sounds good... but should I take it at this University or a local community college?

 

[Passion4Sci]

Sounds good... but should I take it at this University or a local community college?

If you take it at a CC but nothing else at a CC, it's going to look like you're class-dodging, and you don't want that... The previous 2 times you took Calc, it was with the same instructor, right? Well, I know I have had a professor I just completely did not mesh with and did much worse in the class than I should have. So, take it with the other professor!

 

[EnvyV07]

If you take it at a CC but nothing else at a CC, it's going to look like you're class-dodging, and you don't want that... The previous 2 times you took Calc, it was with the same instructor, right? Well, I know I have had a professor I just completely did not mesh with and did much worse in the class than I should have. So, take it with the other professor!

Oh sounds valid. What year are you? When are you applying and how are your grades looking? IF you don't mind me asking.

 

[Passion4Sci]

Oh sounds valid. What year are you? When are you applying and how are your grades looking? IF you don't mind me asking.

I re-read your question... You're asking what year I am in undergraduate! I am done with my undergraduate and I am awaiting the interview nervousness cycle! I have applied for Fall 2010 at UoP, UCSF and USC and my PharmCAS combined GPA is 3.73.

 

[Kaiter]

It won't kill you, but it will certainly hurt you to have all those attempts. If you can afford it, take a semester of 'easy' classes with calculus so you can focus more on calc (without sacrificing the other courses of course). Never assume your GPA will absorb the blow for you later...its always better to have a safety cushion. I encourage you to regularly engage in doing homework regularly (and not put it off to the last minute). Calculus is one of the courses that can build on itself and without understanding previous material you may get lost later. If you need help with specifics remember to ask your professor or other students...you can also PM me but I don't remember much (even tho i just took calc 3 last year).

 

[charfdorn]

I re-read your question... You're asking what year I am in undergraduate! I am done with my undergraduate and I am awaiting the interview nervousness cycle! I have applied for Fall 2010 at UoP, UCSF and USC and my PharmCAS combined GPA is 3.73.

Passion, you post SO MUCH! Do you read every thread? Anyway, I actually replied to wish you good luck. Try not to freak out.

I applied to CU-Denver and Regis, because I didn't want to move (at least on the first attempt). I wasn't even sure about applying to Regis because it's a new program and CU was always my first choice, but a month after my interview at CU I'd heard nothing so I applied to Regis on their deadline. They called me for an interview right away (three days later, I think) and I of course accepted. At that point I was feeling pretty good about getting into at least one, and after the Regis interview went so well I was trying to make up my mind where I would go if CU accepted me, too.

Then, a week after the Regis interview, I got the Regis rejection letter. Very few people were rejected outright from this school, which interviewed only 200 people for 50 spots. The only two people who I interviewed with that I kept in contact with later both got in, and I didn't even make the wait list! Now I was flat depressed. If the new school that cost twice as much wasn't going to take me, what chance did I have at the established, top-25 program? I agonized for two weeks over what I would do and even started preparing myself for the 2010 application cycle. Then, on April 8 - 62 days after applying - I got the email letting me know to expect my acceptance package.

The point is, 62 days of stressing and 15 days of absolute panic were all spent on nothing. I know it's not easy to do, but try to have some peace about it. Admissions committees take a lot of time, and sometimes you get rejected by a weird combination of schools. Don't break down in tears until you have all your rejections in hand, and don't start making plans until you have all the acceptances, either. I know you'll get in, probably to your first choice, and in the mean time you just have to try to stay calm through all the waiting.

 

[Passion4Sci]

I don't read every thread, no. Just the ones I find interesting or that I think I can help/contribute in.

it's not like I'm posting garbage, right?

 

[charfdorn]

I don't read every thread, no. Just the ones I find interesting or that I think I can help/contribute in.

it's not like I'm posting garbage, right?

That's the best part! 10 or 15 percent of my 500 posts are junk posts, but all of yours seem to be good ones. We must think the same kinds of threads are interesting, because you always get in them before I do.

 

[Passion4Sci]

That's the best part! 10 or 15 percent of my 500 posts are junk posts, but all of yours seem to be good ones. We must think the same kinds of threads are interesting, because you always get in them before I do.

Or I'm more technologically gifted - Do you have e-mail notification on your iPhone/Blackberry?!

I am very emphatic about this forum. It really did make a huge difference in my navigation through the utter quagmire that is pharmacy school application/research and I am trying to damnedest to give back when/while I can.

I have some "junk posts" though, people just tend to agree with what I proselytize in them.

 

[IrishHammer]

Quality post, OP. We don't see too many "I need advice on failing a class" threads around here. Hopefully you can find a very good answer for your problem that clearly was so special that it had to have its own thread as opposed to being latched on to any of the other "I failed/did poorly in a class" threads here.

 

[tootoo30]

I took Calculus three times, first time I got an F. Wasn't my fault, I had a really horrible teacher that did not allow anyone to ask questions in class. The second time around I got the same teacher, go figure, got a C this time and we also got him fired for being a horrible teacher👍 The third time I got an A, so I say keeping trying until you get at least a C.

 

[charfdorn]

Or I'm more technologically gifted - Do you have e-mail notification on your iPhone/Blackberry?!

I am very emphatic about this forum. It really did make a huge difference in my navigation through the utter quagmire that is pharmacy school application/research and I am trying to damnedest to give back when/while I can.

I have some "junk posts" though, people just tend to agree with what I proselytize in them.

I feel the same way, even though I found SDN a little late in the game (ie, after I interviewed). I don't have the technology to compete with you - I still use the Intertubes the old-fashioned way, at home or at work on a computer.

I took Calculus three times, first time I got an F. Wasn't my fault, I had a really horrible teacher that did not allow anyone to ask questions in class. The second time around I got the same teacher, go figure, got a C this time and we also got him fired for being a horrible teacher👍 The third time I got an A, so I say keeping trying until you get at least a C.

Good for you. Is there a sarcasm smiley? Why does everyone insist that something happening to them is someone else's fault? If you can't get help from the teacher, find a tutor. If the teacher is the "reason" you failed, don't take that teacher again. And if you can't get an A on your third try, there's definitely something wrong with you.

 

[tootoo30]

I feel the same way, even though I found SDN a little late in the game (ie, after I interviewed). I don't have the technology to compete with you - I still use the Intertubes the old-fashioned way, at home or at work on a computer.



Good for you. Is there a sarcasm smiley? Why does everyone insist that something happening to them is someone else's fault? If you can't get help from the teacher, find a tutor. If the teacher is the "reason" you failed, don't take that teacher again. And if you can't get an A on your third try, there's definitely something wrong with you.

There was no tutor to go to at the time and for the summer when I took the class again, there was only one teacher so I didn't have a choice of a teacher the second time around. That summer I actually paid a tutor to help out because his teaching skills were none existent, but with the lack of info from the teacher, there was only so much the tutor could do for me. I'm very stellar in Math and that was my first low grade in a Math class, I actually have a minor in Math LOL

 

[Kaiter]

I feel the same way, even though I found SDN a little late in the game (ie, after I interviewed). I don't have the technology to compete with you - I still use the Intertubes the old-fashioned way, at home or at work on a computer.



Good for you. Is there a sarcasm smiley? Why does everyone insist that something happening to them is someone else's fault? If you can't get help from the teacher, find a tutor. If the teacher is the "reason" you failed, don't take that teacher again. And if you can't get an A on your third try, there's definitely something wrong with you.

haha I found out about SDN about a week before my interview, but it was the same week I had tests in my all classes (including labs) so I couldn't review much 🙁