Dropping Major Senior Year of College--Please Help

<p>Just had my advisor tell me that I should re-consider whether or not I wanna take Calc 2. I retook a history course already (received two Ds in that one really bad semester) and it would mean I would need to enroll in free winter course to make up a three credit deficiency. I wouldnt mind taking a winter course tho. It would just mean, I have no room to drop a course at all (while taking 18 both semesters + a winter course) or I just wont graduate on time. </p>

<p>the last day to add classes and decide on this is tomorrow evening.
I am currently at a 3.2 with that D in calc…i wanna attend grad school at some point in the future so idk what to do and i would feel bad about leaving that D there</p>

<p>I think you ought to listen to your Advisor. I still don’t think your potential GPA boost is worth retaking Calc II. I’m not sure I understand your credit requirements to graduate. If you don’t retake Calc II are you saying you need to take 18 credits each term plus the 3 credit winter term? </p>

<p>If I am understanding things correctly, you need 36 credits in order to graduate.</p>

<p>Is there any way you can arrange to take calc 2 over next summer and plan to get your diploma at the end of the summer? For that matter, could you take calc 2 and another class over the summer and limit yourself to 15 credits? 18 sounds like a lot of credits if you are taking only upper-level classes typically taken by majors (and calc2), especially if you want to turn in impressive performance in one or more of these classes each term.</p>

<p>It might be less expensive to do the summer classes than to wait until fall and do an extra semester, and either sounds less risky than trying to overload in order to graduate in May, unless there is s serious financial penalty in not getting out on time.</p>

<p>Taking a summer course probably isn’t an option. Im on a full scholarship and my family cant afford to pay for my summer course…would have to take out an extra loan. Hopkins provides no aid for summer courses. Definitely trying to avoid that option. </p>

<p>A 4 credit course with a D… i really dont know</p>

<p>I think you drop calculus, accept that your GPA “is what it is” and work super hard to do well in all your other classes this year. At some point, you can’t risk the rest of the semester trying to do well in a course you’ve already not done well in.</p>

<p>I think you drop Calc and move on. Killing yourself on the chance that you can move the D to an A- what other classes would you risk to make that happen?</p>

<p>If I retake calc, I would have to overload BOTH semesters. If I dont, I can do 15 now, one winter, then 15 in spring…no overloading nec. Calc takes a lot of energy so if I take it with 5 other classes, the others will suffer. Just looked at my semester schedule and I am aware that they will. I just didnt know if getting 5 B+s + a B from a calc retake would be better than not taking calc at all</p>

<p>Oy. Someone with multiple Ds taking 18 credits for two semesters. This could end badly.</p>

<p>Run the numbers to calculate your GPA upon graduation, based on your last prediction of B in Calc 2 & B+ in the other classes… THEN, calculate GPA with realistic prediction of grades this year, if you do NOT re-take Calc 2 …</p>

<p>The difference might not be as big as you think…</p>

<p>Also, I believe the last 2 years of undergrad are more important than the first 2, as you go forward. For example, if you feel the need to include GPA on a resume/CV, you can just list the GPA in your major. (To be clear, one can get a job without including GPA on a resume, especially if relevant skills are obvious.)</p>

<p>Grad schools are not going to solely hone in on your grade in Calc 2. I don’t know if you’ve taken a math-dependent econ course, like statistics, but mastery of a course like that, given your econ minor, is more important than Calc 2.</p>

<p>Consider talking with your advisor again, if you did not go over what your plans upon graduation are in the context of your transcript.</p>

<p>Comments above are solid I only included the GPA calculation suggestion because it could reassure you.</p>

<p>I wouldn’t take the French or re-take the calc. Concentrate on your major and stop flogging yourself for not taking these courses. No one gives a flip if you take them or not. D is for Diploma.</p>

<p>@Strongbeans >> “RIght now I have a 3.2 with that D…if D is retaken and I get a B, i can graduate with a 3.4 - 3.5.” Unless I am missing something, how is this possible? At best your GPA MAY be raised by 0.02 points at best.</p>

<p>@PeterW lol its a D in a 4 credit course. When I retook my other D grade and made Deans List that semester, I wentt from a 2.88 to a 3.19. </p>

<p>Thank you everyone. I dropped calc and french and I will focus on my major and finishing strong. I got that D sophomore year, and made Deans List right away junior. Ill just keep the grade and keep it moving. Spoke to my advisor again and she was like “nah, dont take it please, focus on graduation”. She basically said dont worry about grad school and how your GPA would look bec you have an upward trend. That is what I shall do. Spoke to other students and they got into Cambridge, Columbia Law School, etc with a D and 3.3s - 3.4s. The avg GPA (esp for minorities) is very very low at my school—under 3.0</p>

<p>A load just lifted and now I dont have to overload BOTH semesters.</p>

<p><a href=“http://lawschoolnumbers.com”>http://lawschoolnumbers.com</a> can give you an idea of what GPA and LSAT scores students have for admission at each law school.</p>

<p>Remember, however, that law school application GPA is calculated by the LSAC method; it does not matter how your college does it.
<a href=“Transcript Summarization | The Law School Admission Council”>http://www.lsac.org/aboutlsac/policies/transcript-summarization&lt;/a&gt;
Note that if your transcript shows all instances of repeated courses, all of those grades are included in the law school application GPA.</p>