Academic Probation. Flunked first semester freshman year

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<p>I know it’s fashionable on CC that everyone who’s anyone took calculus in 8th grade or whatever and breezes through it with their eyes closed, but that’s a lot of pretentiousness flowing around. Calculus <em>is</em> a hard class and there’s no shame in not finding it “easy” as argbargy suggests.</p>

<p>Not only that, but if over half of the students taking calc 1 already took the class in high school and were advised to re-take it in college even after getting a 4 or 5 on the AB calc exam (this was the case at several schools we considered), students who did not take high school calculus enter the class at a distinct disadvantage.</p>

<p>There is also no shame in re-taking a class such as calculus or chemistry - many students do this and find that it goes much better the second time around, often because they take it with a more compatible professor, arrange for timely tutoring help, or both.</p>

<p>I would advise OP to consider waiting until summer for a calc retake, though, after researching options and going over pre-calc material.</p>

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<p>You are quoting what I said just lines above and yet you get it wrong. I didnt say it was easy. My implication is that its not so prohibitively hard that we cant tell anything from the result. </p>

<p>Consequently I think its a good yardstick to Colegiada to self assess why he did poorly in since it should have been possible to get an A or B.</p>

<p>You may find this hard to believe, argbargy, but not everyone is great at math. And that doesn’t make them stupid or lazy.</p>

<p>Presumably that subset is hipped to the fact and dont blindly assuming engineering is a tap in. The OP had some reason to hope that this was the field for him. </p>

<p>And I didnt say either ‘stupid’ or ‘lazy’. Concentrate on the advice being given before you attempt to gainsay it.</p>

<p>I would agree with the others. I don’t think taking Calc 2 is a good idea if you want to bring your gpa up… Get an appointment with your advisor asap to discuss options on classes/major</p>

<p>Going forward you need to organize your time and focus first on studies (not social life) utilize any free tutoring your university offers, form study groups and if you take a math or science next semester look into personal tutoring as well. </p>

<p>Bottom line stay focused!</p>

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<p>Pizzagirl: I think that stupid and lazy are YOUR WORDS. Nobody else used those words.</p>

<p>Everyone is not good at math but if they want to be an engineer they should be able to get an A/B in Calculus. As Argybargy put it isn’t THAT hard. Not that its not hard at all. It’s not impossible and if a student wants to be an engineer they should be able to get an A/B in Calculus. The math and science get harder as you progress through an engineering degree. Not easier. So if the OP cannot do well in Calc 1, then engineering might not be the right major. That doesn’t make the OP stupid. Or lazy.</p>

<p>When you read a math text book, focus only on examples + definitions. Forget everything else, especially large chucks of text that don’t tell you anything. I hate that about math books.</p>

<p>When you take notes in class, focus especially when the teacher gives you an example and copy those down precisely. Then review them. </p>

<p>Watch a Khan Academy Calculus video every day, and soon you will have an intuitive feel for Calculus. It’s all about intuition because once you understand the concept, you can’t forget it.</p>

<p>These are study tips that might or might not help you.</p>

<p>The OP needs to do some heavy self evaluation. I agree that the lower level math SHOULD be passable for a student that wants to continue on in engineering. Me, I’m a epic “fail” at math and I am the only one in my family that is not an engineer…1 out of my 3 kids is attempting engineering and likes and “gets” math…the other two had to work their behinds off to get a B- and a C to check the box on their one required college math class.</p>

<p>If I was the OP’s mom I would be telling the OP to keep the psych class and the sociology class and the Chemistry class if the OP thinks he/she can get the grades needed to get off probation and NOT to take Calc 2 under any circumstances without having mastered Calc 1. I’d tell the OP to find an easy A class with no labs since presumably there are labs on top of the 4 classes Every college has the easy As classes…ask around.</p>

<p>Just found this. I hope you recovered from academic probation but you did seem like you were in the right direction by considering dropping calc 2. When you are on academic probation, you will have met Dean D’Agostino in the beginning of the semester and she will have offered helpful advice. I’ve been on academic probation once, and after switching majors, visiting professors more often during office hours, getting tutors, having good sleeping habits and finding a good study location, I managed to improve and eventually make the dean’s list.</p>

<p>Please use old threads for information only, do not post and revive them.</p>