I made the decision to take AP Calculus last semester, little did I know I would greatly regret this decision. I have thought about what I want to do after high school this entire semester and finally determined I want to go to a community college after high school and then transfer a do something in exercise science, most likely physical therapy. I have a C in the class this whole first semester and it’s dropping both my GPA and class rank. Senioritis has kind of kicked in this semester and I have absolutely no drive to continue with this class anymore this last semester of high school. This is my last and only time in high school and I want to enjoy it and relax because I’ve worked so hard the past three years. I went to my GC and tried to drop, but she got an assistant principal and he blatantly said no. I will not need calculus, so it’s a waste of time and stress. I dread that class more than I can explain. Someone please help
If you really want to drop, then get a parent to try contacting the GC. But one C in a tough course isn’t that bad and won’t keep you out of community college so perhaps you should stick with it.
But high school is four years. College, and the real world, isn’t easier.
You can probably get a parent to make something happen, but working through difficult situations is a key skill in life. The grade isn’t going to affect your plans, and you don’t need to take the AP exam.
My DS is in a little bit of the same situation in that he is in Honors Pre-Calc as a senior and has a C from first semester. He is also planning on Community College and then a transfer and plans to major in Psychology so doesn’t need Pre-Calc. He had already taken 4 years of Math as he did one course in the summer but his counselor convinced him that no Math senior year wasn’t a good idea.
He also is not allowed to drop it, so he will muddle through this last semester and just do the best he can. Even if he gets a D, he would still graduate and community college doesn’t care. High school GPA won’t be used when he transfers after 2 years. However, he doesn’t want a D and will do the best he can to pull off another C for the second semester. All his other grades are As so his GPA is really not bad at all.
Just hang in there and do the best you can!
If exercise science is a specialized biology major or a specialization within general biology, calculus may be required or useful at some colleges.
If your school’s drop period has ended then I doubt you can do anything about it. I know for my kids’ school that you can drop until about the first week in December and after that you’re stuck in the class whether you want to be or not. So, most likely you’ll just need to stick through it and do your best not to get a horrible grade in it. You could have your parents contact the GC about dropping it just to see if that helps. I’m just guessing the response however will be that the drop period has already ended, but it can’t hurt to have your parent make the request.
Thank you guys for all of the insight! I have rearranged some of my other classes (online college) and taken off a few to make it easier to balance AP Calculus. I will just do my best, I am probably overthinking it a bit. I just have to make it to the AP exam and do my best and whatever happens just know I tried.
Note that, depending on your state, if you’ve worked hard and have good scores&GPA it may make more financial sense to attend a 4-year university with a scholarship than CC then 4-year at full cost, especially since physical therapy or exercise science may be direct-entry or super- competitive entry.