Hello, all:
I’m currently a graduate student in the social sciences. I come from a very limited math background but have recently taken an interest in applied math and research. I just took Linear Algebra over the summer, very accelerated and at a top 50 school with a great math department. Before this my last math course was whatever came before pre-calc and nothing else. I got a solid B in Lin Alg, but I’m a little disappointed. One exam cost me the A/A- (and I think taking it in the summer cost me the A, too). I do feel like I could do better. My question is should I retake for an A or just move forward to Calc I and aim to ace that and any other math courses I take? Calc I will be over the summer too but will have to wait until next summer session most likely (due to current graduate courses I’m taking). None of these courses are required of me or for my degree, but I enjoy learning this stuff. Any feedback will be appreciated.
I do want to add that while these aren’t required courses, they are very relevant and helpful, as Im on the research end of the social sciences. So there is good reason to take them and do well!
No, you definitely should not retake a class you got a B in. If you know the material then just move onto the next class.
Edited:
I feel like I should add some context.
- Shake the pressure and competitiveness that tells you an A is the only acceptable grade. This is college. A B means you did well. Embrace the B; love the B.
- I am someone who also was a social science major but took some math classes because they're very helpful in research. Think about this: What's helpful is knowing the material well and progressing through the next step. Retaking the course wastes time; you're unable to take the next class in the sequence (any classes that require linear algebra) until later on. However, if you keep it moving, you can take higher-level classes that will be really impressive if graduate school is your goal (and also really useful in your work). I would be far more impressed by an undergrad with a B in linear algebra who also took calc- and linear algebra-based statistics in the math department than a student who retook LA for an A but never got to the statistics classes. (In fact, I personally would think a student who retook a class they got a B in so they can get an A was a bit neurotic, and it'd make me think harder about bringing them into graduate school working for me.)
Remember that the goal of LA and calc is simply to build a foundation for those statistics classes you need in the social sciences. If you know the material, you have achieved the goal, so move on.
Thisis an undergraduate course, right? You are a graduate students, correct? Your goal in taking these classes, in the summer, outside your field, is to learn the mathematics and there is no way a course like this can be counted for your graduate degree. Furthermore, you already have an undergraduate degree and thatrecord willnot be affected by this course.
Basically the paragraph above was to remind you of all the reasons why a B in this course matters not a whit as long as you got want you wanted out of it. That is a better understanding of the material. You can measure the latter by the grade but I urge you to measure it in a less rigid way, by asking yourself if your objectives for taking the course in the first place were met and then move on to more relevant things.
Finally, as @juillet says, embrace the B it is a very respectable grade…
Ah, I somehow missed that you were a grad student taking the class! In that case then it really, really does not matter, and you definitely shouldn’t retake it.
Thank you both, I really appreciate the comments and feedback! I think @juillet that you are absolutely right and I should focus on taking more advanced math and stat classes. Building a strong foundation is important to me, so I’m just going to continue to move forward and take more and more math coursework. Juillet, if I may ask, which program are you at?