To drop or not to drop??

[Lovemybabies]

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Heres my situation. Im barely passing my Calculus class. I think I could probably pass it with a C.. but my teacher is terrible, and in all honesty, my grade would largely depend on my final exam which is 20 percent of my grade. A good grade would replace my lowest test, which is a good thing, but if I do poorly it could pull my grade down to a D. So it is completely possible I could end up with a D and it is also possible I could pull off a B, it just really depends on my future tests, which have been hit and miss. Its always a gamble. . I have A's in my other courses. So is it better to just get a W so it doesn't affect my GPA?

 

[lstone13]

Heres my situation. Im barely passing my Calculus class. I think I could probably pass it with a C.. but my teacher is terrible, and in all honesty, my grade would largely depend on my final exam which is 20 percent of my grade. A good grade would replace my lowest test, which is a good thing, but if I do poorly it could pull my grade down to a D. So it is completely possible I could end up with a D and it is also possible I could pull off a B, it just really depends on my future tests, which have been hit and miss. Its always a gamble. . I have A's in my other courses. So is it better to just get a W so it doesn't affect my GPA?

Do you have any W's yet? A W here and there is not all that bad.

 

[EulerianCircuit]

my teacher is terrible.

I wish I had a nickel for every time I've heard this.

 

[marele86]

I wish I had a nickel for every time I've heard this.

Agreed.

Even if your teacher is terrible, it's a math class - just learn it from the book. Read it multiple times and work the example problems until you understand it. (And I say this as someone who is innately lousy at math - with some work, you can become good.)

That said, if you seriously believe you can pull off the C, that would be way less hassle than having to retake the class. (And I understand being worried about having it be a D, but if your other grades are all A's, it probably means you have the work ethic to avoid this. Make Calculus your first priority, bring the grade up to at least a C, and be done with it.)

Either way, you're going to have to explain something on your transcript. You can either:
A) Retake the class, but you'll have to score very well the second time in order to negate the W that you'll have to be ready to explain at all of your interviews.
or
B) Just take the C, do no additional work, and move on with your life, being ready to explain the C at interviews.

For me, I think option B sounds much easier. Lots of people get into med schools with C's - it's not a big deal at all. But it would be an incredible amount of pressure to have to retake a class that's already difficult for you knowing that if you don't get improve significantly you're going to look like you can't handle the material.

But whatever works for you. Those are the options as I see them.

 

[Lovemybabies]

I don't have any other W's.. but ya it woud be alot more pressure to retake the class. Thank you for your detailed advice marele 86 It would really be inconveniant to retake the class seing as how I'm halfway through the course! On top of a waste of money 🙁 I do enjoy the course, because I like math, but I study twice as much for that class than any other and am still barely passing! Its so frustrating to me.. but in the end I think I can make the final work to my advantage.. I have been making efforts to go to more free tutoring classes.. and it seems to be helping a bit.. especially with the algebra portion of calculus (which is what I'm struggling with) so I'm hoping one of these days I'll start to pick it up a little faster.. I don't know if the instructor will curve the grade.. the class average right now is around a 50.. so if he does curve it I'll be in good shape. We have another test coming up soon, and I feel a little bit better about the chapter we're covering than the previous chapters.. so we'll see 🙂

 

[seelee]

I have never had a calculus teacher that was good at teaching. Learn it from the book. Read the book, use the tutors. And for any future calc students, make sure you are good on your algebra.