3.0 GPA as both my second semester GPA and my cumulative GPA, is this a good or bad sign?

Student Lounge College Life
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I just finished my second semester of community college and I feel like I did better than my first. During my first semester I did bad because I got a D in my math class and withdrew from English because I knew I was gonna fail. During my second semester, I didn’t fail, withdrawl, or get a D in any classes but am not still quite where I wanna be academically because I got a C. I hope in the future I do well enough to have a 3.5 GPA before I transfer.

Here are my second semester grades

Fundamentals of Public Speaking: A
English Composition:B
Intermediate Algebra:B
World Civilization II: C

Since I retook algebra, the new grade replaces the old one in my GPA. The previous grades that are still calculated in my GPA are a B in my philosophy course and an A in a one credit institution requirement that I took during the spring 2017 Semester. Now I wanna dive into the details of my classes. Just to know, my College does not use plus and minus grades.

I’m very proud of my A in My COMM course because I was nervous before and thought this class would be a nightmare but I was actually able to have fun in this class because I brought some humor in one of my speeches and got to talk about topics I’m passionate about, watched other students humor in there speeches, and had a good relationship with my Instructor. I feel like this class has prepared me for other classes that have presentations and the workforce.

I’m a little concerned about my B in English Compostion because I need to be strong in English if I ever hope to become a Scientist. creating a strong thesis, writing good reports and research materials that people can understand, and being able to do other things in which people can understand are all very important for being a good scientist. I had an 88 or 89 in the class.

Now since I’m a STEM major, how I’m doing in math Is what I should most be concerned about. I got a high B (88 or 89) in the class. Are Bs in math acceptable as a STEM major if this is the trend that continues as long as I have some As in my science and other classes? I never got a score bellow an 80 on my Quizzes or tests in this class during this semester. I did all my homework and attended almost every class session. Engineering is one of the STEM majors I’m interested in and when I talked to the Pre-Engineering head at my school, he said that “you don’t have to have Straight As in math but if you’re getting any grade bellow a B in math is a red flag”. I know it was concerning when I didn’t do well in algebra the first time I took the course in the spring but I gave myself a break on that because things I couldn’t control like loosing a family member and having pneumonia for two weeks happened which interfered with my ability to go to class, study, and focus when taking Exams.

World Civilization II was my hardest class and was happy to get a C because I was worried I was gonna get a D or fail it. in most cases these days it seems a C isn’t acceptable even though the course will still transfer and won’t kill my GPA too much in the long run. I struggled with the essay Questions on tests because I couldn’t think of specific examples from the class that were appropriate to put in an essay. I also struggled slightly with a Book review, presentation, Quizzes, Extra credit research paper, and absorbing the information from lectures in my head in the class. My professor didn’t have a syllabus or put individual grades into the online system we use to login and check grades but I think my grade was a low C (70-72). Is my weakness in History a red flag for anything whether I go into STEM or not?

This is my schedule for Spring 2018

College Algebra
Triginometry with Analytic Geometry
Principles of Microeconomics
Exposition and persuasion

The purpose of taking two math classes in the same semster is to test to see if I can learn at the pace of STEM majors.

Some things I plan to do over break to prepare for the spring semester are practicing my math on EdReady, reading the book called how to become a straight A student by pal newport again, and reading my Econ textbook.

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Congratulations on a successful semester. Next semester looks more rigorous but looks like you are planning well for it. Enjoy your winter break.

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Looks to me like you did much better this semester – no withdrawals and improving the D to a B. Keep moving forward in a positive direction.

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You’re doing very well actually. A 3.0 would be considered very good in STEM majors, since the courses tend to be more challenging. As long as you like math and are passionate about engineering you’ll do fine. You don’t “have” to get a B in every math class… know plenty of engineers who got C’s in calculus/diff eq (I got a C in calc 1) but are now very successful in their respective jobs. Keep on chugging! :smiley:

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Thanks for the replies. That’s amazing how you can have C’s in Math and still do Engineering but I should still have a goal of getting atleast a B in my math classes especially since I’m still in Remedial math classes so that I have a solid foundation for the math classes that do count toward engineering (college algebra and trig that I’m taking in the spring are considered Remedial for STEM majors). Can anyone tell me if my weakness in history and slight weakness in English are warning signs about how I’ll do in the future or life?

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The knowledge from the history class probably won’t be all that important for you, but the skills it taught might. Taking examples and being able to analyze what they mean in a larger context could be valuable for making a presentation to your boss or coworkers (regardless of which industry you end up in). Same with English. Luckily, you have plenty of other classes left to take in which you can hone those skills.

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@bodangles in your opinion, is a B in math acceptable as a STEM major? I thought I could ask you this since your an Engineering major. Everyone’s standards for acceptable is different so I’m not sure which is accurate. Some people think you have to have straight As in math to be a STEM major, some people think you have to have atleast a B in your math classes,and some people think that as long as you pass with a C that is acceptable. I know math classes might not be the hardest part of STEM majors but maybe the science and upper level classes. Was this semster difficult because the upper level classes are?

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I’m a senior math and CS major and I’ve gotten a B in lots/most of my college level math courses (including the entire calc sequence, which I took in high school). I’ve only gotten A’s in 3 math classes so far in college (linear algebra and discrete, both of which I took freshman year, and by some miracle I pulled off an A- in real analysis). You don’t need to have A’s in math to be successful as a STEM major. I already accepted a position back in August for when I graduate (I got offers for 4 positions at the same employer).

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I agree with guineagirl. A’s and B’s are good. The occasional C is fine too – might just have to work a little harder to grasp the concepts if they come up again in a future class.

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Getting a B in math isn’t bad… but is no one concerned that the OP took 2 tries to get a B in intermediate algebra? (In the context of him wanting to go on to engineering)

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They don’t have to decide on a major yet. If engineering won’t work out, that will become clear in upcoming semesters at the CC (algebra & trig, precalc if that’s not covered by trig, calc 1, etc.). OP just has to stay on top of the drop deadlines so as not to hurt their GPA if things go south.

If that happens, though, they’ll have to identify some majors that don’t require as much higher level math. Even something like biology involves calc 1 and 2 and some physics at my school.

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I got myself a D in calculus 1 then retook it got a B. The Difficulty with OP is that he will be taking two math classes next semester (Both College Algebra and Trigonometry with Analytic Geometry) and will determine if he’ll have to pick either meteorology or engineering. I think its too early to say because taking two math courses that aren’t high like calculus is something to worry about. If OP were to say, “Oh, I’m going to take calculus 1 then decide if I can do meteorology or engineering.” That is different because calculus 1 tends to be the class that many students dreams come to an end. If I were OP, my suggestion is to wait until calculus 1 to decide if he can do meteorology or engineering.

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@romanigypsyeyes things I couldn’t control prevented me from continuing the first time I took the class. This does not reflect my abilities because I didn’t even take and couldn’t take the final exam the first time I took the course due to what happened. Hopefully things like that will not happen in the future. I had to take the grade I could get in the course so I wouldn’t have an incomplete when I already had a W that semster.

Wildlife is a major that interests me that only requires Breif calculus I and statistics. some of the upper level courses in this major involve some statistics and chemistry. If I’m strong in algebra then I should do fine in stats and chemistry. Physics isn’t required for this major but physics as a requirement does not scare me because I think it’s fun because of the labs and practical math that are in this course.