I’m on the bridge of getting a D on first semester AB. I had a really bad time balancing out my love of developing applications and games, and also my computer science engineering internship that I sacrificed studying time for my calculus class in high school. I am currently a junior and I’m debating whether or not it’s worthed to retake the AB course if I fail.
It depends on your personal priorities. If you pour all your effort into application development and comp. sci. engineering and make a major breakthrough in those fields, it will equal a ride to a school or career that taking Calc AB alone would not be able to get you into.
However, Calc AB also saves you a college class, money, and hours of your time. I would suggest to keep it up now. If you can achieve an improvement curve to prevent any chance of failure.
Another idea is to find a comp. sci. concept which requires understanding of calculus and dovetail the two to create a strong advantage for you.
It’s only December; you have a good 6 months to pull that grade up.
First and foremost, you’ve got to define your priorities. As much as you love your work with computer applications and games and your internship, you’ve got to realize that right now your job is student. If you’re hoping to go to college, then none of those things matter nearly as much as your grades. So you may have to severely cut back on the time you spend on those things until you can get your grades under control.
You’re a junior, taking a college course. You KNEW this was biting off a lot. It’s going to require a huge effort to get back on track, and then a substantial effort to maintain good grades.
First and foremost, make an appointment to speak to your teacher-- no stopping by at the end of class for this one. Explain to him/her what you’ve explained to us, and ask specifically what you can do. When I’m working with kids, I always suggest that they first concentrate on the current material. Make sure you do well on the next quiz and the next test-- once your grades are on the upswing, there will be time enough to go back and hit the old topics.
Find videos that can help. Lots of people love Khan Academy, though personally I find them too dry. LOTS of teachers have videos of their own-- you can find them on youtube, teachertube and educreations. (Search for “limits” or “derivative by definition” or “trapezoidal rule” or whatever on each of those sites.)
@bjkmom thanks!
Right. and get a tutor.