<p>This question is aimed to any sophmores or juniors or seniors at UF that may give me advice to give my S. My S is attending fall semester at UF as a freshman. Started with 12 credits cause he knew Calculus MAC2311 was gonna be difficult. Well not only has it been difficult he is failing badly after 2 tests. Honestly doesn't look like he will be able to get higher than C-.This has been my worst nightmare and it has come true. Okay what to do now? Does he drop the class? Is it easy to drop a class? Yes I read you have to get some kind of petition signed by the college. I also read something about only being able to drop the class if you are not failing. Is that true? But the other important question is does he take it again or does he go to a lower class like MAC1147? and then go back to Cal 1? I kinda think if he already has done most of the class he should just do the Cal 1 again. Also he cannot go on to Chem 2 if he does not pass Cal 1 according to the Chem 1 syllabus. So he would have to take the Cal 1 in the Spring and then the Chem 2 in the summer. Is it horrible to take Chem 2 Chem 2046 in the summer with the lab? He is pre-health maybe predent so he needs the calculus class somehow. Math has been his issue and seems that all the other sciences will be just fine.</p>
<p>You go to academic adviser for whatever college your son is in (e.x. CALS - College of Life Science) and tell him you wish to drop a class. He/she will fill out a form and you take it to the office (adviser will tell you where) and they sign it and you drop the class. Simple as that. They don’t care what grade you have at the moment or the reason, so long as you can only drop 2 classes in 60 hours.</p>
<p>Who is your son’s professor? Smith?
If he doesn’t already, tell him to check out:
<a href=“Academic Resources – College of Liberal Arts & Sciences”>Academic Resources – College of Liberal Arts & Sciences;
scroll down to mac2311 and pick whatever exam he is on. They have video reviews of previous exams and solutions. they work it out and explain some concepts. The exams are all the same questions as in the video reviews except different numbers (e.x. for the video review it’d say find derivative of 2x, but in the exam, it would be find derivative of 3x. Different number, but same exact concept. They helped me a lot when I did mac2311.</p>
<p>You can also go to Broward tutoring center on campus, either to their walk-in sessions or you could have a private tutoring appt set up on a regular basis. My d has been a tutor there (for Calc, diffy q, physics), and she met with “regulars” once a week and went over anything they wanted to go over for an hour. There is no cost to this for the student. I don’t know how many private tutoring appt slots are still available, as D was filled up with the same regulars by about 1/3 of the way thru the semester. But there might be some still, if he’d like to still “slug it out” with the class.</p>
<p>zebes</p>
<p>Does S have Kozinski? He teaches the Engineering sections of MAC2311 and is harder than other teachers (that’s why he teaches engineering students) My S’s gf has him this semester and is barely scraping by- a nightmare. My S had MAC2311 with Kozinski last fall and he says the class gets much easier as time goes on…so maybe your S can stick it out with Broward tutoring, a private tutor (see math dept.), Tutoring Zone (my S recommends) or Study Edge(both charge a fee-around $25)-Study Edge is in Campus town
Here is a link for Study Edge’s upcoming review sessions: [MAC2311</a> - Calculus I](<a href=“http://www.studyedge.com/schools/university-of-florida/classes/mac2311.html]MAC2311”>http://www.studyedge.com/schools/university-of-florida/classes/mac2311.html)</p>
<p>Also a great resource and very helpful to loads of kids in difficult college classes is Khan Academy, a free online resource with tons of helpful videos to explain different concepts to students–including calculus, chemistry, and physics
Here is a link for your son for calc at khanacademy:
[Khan</a> Academy](<a href=“Khan Academy | Free Online Courses, Lessons & Practice”>Khan Academy | Free Online Courses, Lessons & Practice)</p>
<p>Usually the class is curved, so don’t panic yet…drop deadline is Nov. 21, so he has a few more weeks to make a decision and maybe get a good score on the next test. Maybe he can study really hard, go to some tutoring sessions, and score well on the next test. Then, he won’t have to drop.</p>
<p>Sorry to hear about your sons grades.</p>
<p>You may want to check out studyedge.com they are across the street from campus and offer tutoring and test prep for mac2311 and others.</p>
<p>my son is taking chm2045 and mac2311 which were both heading towards disaster. but thanks to studyedge he is understanding the material much better.</p>
<p>we only $75.00 per month and this covers both classes.</p>
<p>Good Luck to him in the future and hang in there.</p>
<p>Kozinski -.-</p>
<p>pre-health is not going to pan out if he can’t do calc 1.</p>
<p>Really? Where else will he need calculus? Not medical school that’s for sure. Yes maybe physics but there is physics without calculus. And I don’t remember but I think the mcat doesnt have calculus? As far as I am concerned I got my MD many years ago and calculus plays no role in my practice. But yes these weed out classes are difficult and the competition is intense, but my kid is smart and has a back up plan on the back burner. Not because he sensed doom but he has other interests also and always has. But yes if calculus doesn’t “pan out” as you say. He plans to retake it. Either dropping or just retaking it.</p>
<p>But that was one of my questions to current sophomore juniors or seniors. Should he retake same class or start lower and then move up.
By the way thank you for all of the input I have gotten it does help a lot.</p>
<p>readalotmom OK this is what I suggest. Have him retake the class, but from day one join studyedge and go to everyone of their study hours, and test reviews. Also tell him to jump all over the class do not wait not one day to do his work. Studyedge hands out study packages and practice tests tell him to do them all.</p>
<p>my son is also a freshman. He is taking both mac2311 for engineers and chm2045 (chemistry) as most freshmen he procrastinated during the first 2 weeks and fell behind. He didnt do very well on his first mac2311 test and flunked the first chm2045 test. He was in shock and immediately got serious. Studyedge made all the difference. There are other study tutor groups, but I can only speak for studyedge.</p>
<p>have him retake and not to overload his schedule with other difficult courses.</p>
<p>I am with you. Calculus has nothing to do with med school never has never will. But it is obvious that UF wants to make sure their med students can handle the analytical thinking that goes along with calculus.</p>
<p>Good luck to him and to you.</p>
<p>Thank you gator4ever this has been very difficult and I still can’t believe he actually did drop the class today. Unbelievable! He says he is prepared to do it all over again, the thing is that at UF as you know you have to get a C for it to count for anything. He wasn’t willing to take that chance. I am the one that is a nervous wreck. I hope your kid is surviving. On the UF website for 2015 some posters make it seem like calculus is a breeze. My junior son in high school is now having issues with pre- calculus. I guess math isn’t in their genes. What a way to wreck their self esteem or maybe this is just a wake up call. Anyway thanks again.</p>
<p>i’d recommend skipping study edge and the pay tutoring services. there are so many free tutoring resources for that class that its pretty much inexcusable to think you have to pay for it.</p>
<p>edit: to elaborate on my comment about panning out: its not that calculus is a recurring theme, but that calc 1 is relatively easy and forgiving class. if he cant succeed in calc 1, he will be torn up in clac 2 if nothing changes dramatically about his study habits. if he makes it out of the sequence, and just didn’t do well because he isn’t good at math, then hopefully the rest of his grades will reflect that. but there isn’t really anything about studying and learning calculus that is fundamentally different than the other classes he’ll take (which i would posit are harder). the textbook is actually very descriptive, and as i mentioned above, there are a lot of resources available to him if he needs help. there is also an element of extra credit if he’s taking it in a non-honors section.</p>
<p>readalotmom, don’t know if this will be helpful as my son is only a senior in high school, but he dual enrolls at University of West Florida and is currently taking calculus as well (actually calc 2). He has always been great at math but did not keep up with the assignments as they weren’t due until the end of the quarter and ended up completely confused and failing the class after two tests. He missed the cutoff for withdrawal and had to buckle down. Unfortunately he can’t fail as if he gets an offer of admission from UF it could certainly be rescinded if he fails the class!</p>
<p>When your son retakes the class you may want to check out a book that seems to help my son, “The Humongous Book of Calculus Problems” by W. Michael Kelley. The author works the problems and writes notes in the margins and sometimes comes at things from a different direction than the textbook, building on simple steps to get to the more difficult ones. Also Amazon has a few others that get good reviews as well. </p>
<p>Good luck to him, just looking at the problems gives me a headache. Don’t understand why we can’t just stop math once we can figure out useful things such as our gas mileage, lol.</p>
<p>I am convinced that if he really gets to it next semester and does all the problems joins Studyedge goes to all the reviews, and study sessions he will pass the course.</p>
<p>My son goofed off the first 2 weeks amd he got an F on the first test. After then he buckled down joined studyedge did all the problems and got a b+ on the second test and just took the third test last night. He says he thinks he did well on it.</p>
<p>I say studyedge not tutorzone only because it is across the street from campus near the Swamp Restaurant. So it is very convenient it does cost $75 per month but this covers all of his classes.</p>
<p>reiterating: there are tutors available on campus for this class which are paid for by tuition. studyedge should not be the first thing you do when looking for help in this class.</p>
<p>aforautumn true there are tutors available. But what we have found is the depth and the detail that studyedge goes into each subject has been amazing.</p>
<p>I am sure the UF tutors are perfectly fine. But do they do test reviews, study hours, online prepping. I dont know I am asking.</p>
<p>I believe tutorzone is also very good. They are further away from campus.</p>
<p>I agree, off campus programs are more comprehensive–I don’t mean to discourage it outright.</p>
<p>The on campus resources are, however, extremely underrated, such that I try to make a point of mentioning them when I can. its really not worth it to go to studyedge if you’re just having problems with the homework or specific concepts. the free tutors are perfectly capable of helping with that. paying $75/mo should be reserved for instances where you basically need to be taught the basics from the ground up.</p>