Hello!
My DS is a senior and is really struggling with Calculus which is a a College level class taken on his campus. He really wants to drop it with a W rather than fail (he’s currently a C-).
How badly would this affect his college admissions? No IVY’s and he’s looking to major in business.
Any advice?
Thank you
Take the W. Some colleges will carry forward college work GPAs, so he doesn’t want to start off with a C-.
Thank you @itsgettingreal17
He really needs to keep grades up in the B/C level at least through the end of the year.
Has your S taken advantage of every resource available to try to succeed in the class (ex. seeing teacher after school, online resources such as Khan Academy, maybe getting a tutor)? Has he spoke to the the teacher – does he/she think he can get through the course with a B or so? Are there any lower levels of calculus he can switch into?
It is hard to predict how dropping calculus could impact admissions. A number of b-schools like to see students take calculus (or at least have four years of math) at HS.
Also keep in mind:
-Business schools require a semester of calculus so he will eventually have to take it. Many students in b-schools will have taken calculus in HS.
–If he has already submitted college applications he will have to notify each school that he has dropped the course.
Is there a lower level calculus class your son can transfer into? If not, what math class would he take? Most colleges are going to expect to see 4 years of math on a HS transcript.
Is this a college course or a college-level HS course? I read your post as this is a HS class. Do most of the better students at his HS take calculus? Is there a level he could drop down to? What would he take instead?
If he is really going to fail or get a D, then he should drop the class. But if he is willing and you are able, perhaps a tutor and more work will help him get to a B.
I would also talk to the guidance counselor about the schools on his list and whether this will impact his opportunities. Of course he will get into a college, but may impact the likelihood of the college he wants to go to. OTOH, if the class is really too hard, it may not be worth the time and effort to do well. You can present his options, offer what support you are able to, and then he can decide and deal with the outcome. Good luck!
You’re all awesome. Thank you!
Calculus is a college course so goes on separate transcript. As I understand it from his teacher this Calc is more physics based but the Calc he could take in college might be Business Calculus. Does this make sense?
There is no other level he can drop to. He’s used all the resources he can at school but is still unable to make it.
He does have 4 years on math since (besides Calc) he’s also doing AP Statistics this year.
Yes, it does make sense that that business calculus (which he would take as part of a b-school program) would be less challenging than physics-based calculus. It is unfortunate that your HS has no lower level calc courses but you can’t change that.
I also agree that if he has exhausted the resources available, spoke to the teacher and still does not feel he can keep a C average then it makes sense to drop the course. However, it is impossible to know the impact it may have on b-school admissions (and the impact may vary from college to college). The fact that he has AP Stats is a plus.
A concern I do have is based on my S’s expereince. My S did not take calc in HS and when he got to college and took business calc he found that he was one of only a small handful of students in the class who did not have calc in HS. He was in a solid b-school but not an Ivy level program. For most students the business calc class was easy/mostly a review of material they knew and it was very challenging for him to keep up. My S did use the school’s resources (mostly the college’s math center) and did fine but it was really time consuming and a tough way to start college. (I made sure my D had calc in HS based on his expereince.) If your S drops calc Id suggest he go through some resources like the Khan academy (or elsewhere) and try to become a bit familiar with some of the concepts in calculus before starting college.
Drop the class.
Also want to add that when applying for some graduate programs (MBA, Law, Medicine), all college coursework is used to compute a cumulative GPA. Even college classes taken during high school.
“Calc is more physics based but the Calc he could take in college might be Business Calculus. Does this make sense?”
Typically people refer to calculus-based physics, not physics-based calculus, it’s possible the GC was referring to hard core calculus that physicists would use would be harder than the calculus used for business applications.
PM’ed you
Maybe he should just take AP Calc (AB or BC). It is much easier than taking it at a college and you can still get the credit. I personally take it as a freshman and it is much easier than taking it at my local university.
No need to take calculus in high school. And many who take AP calculus in high school take it over again once in college, anyway. I don’t know anyone who takes both AP statistics and calculus at the same time. Is this an effort to catch up? It is just not necessary.
Have him try some of these things:
http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/college-life/1920853-college-is-a-step-up-from-hs-16-tips-on-doing-well-in-college.html
Most every college has a small group tutoring session for Calculus.
it will be a good thing for him to learn how to get help on a college campus by not Withdrawing.