In my junior year, I took APUSH and AP Lang Comp. Of my senior year now, I’m taking AP Euro, AP Gov, AP Lit Comp, and AP Bio…
I also currently take AP AB Calc, but I’m struggling so badly I’m hardly pulling a C most of the time; most recently I’ve hit a D. My interested majors in my applications are Creative Writing, Environmental Studies, and Philosophy. The schools I’ve applied to are mostly open-curriculum in that there’s no definitive set of courses I must take; an Economics course counts as a ‘numbers’ course to be required, for example. I understand I’d probably torch my chances at any Ivy if I drop AP Calc now, but I’m pretty certain that a prevailing C/D throughout my whole senior year in the AB Calc would look worse than if I dropped right now?
I’m looking into schools like Wesleyan University, Vassar College, Haverford College, Swarthmore College, University of William & Mary, Georgetown University, Tufts University, Hamilton College, Middlebury College, and others of similar ranking - selective liberal arts schools. Would I be completely screwing myself over?
Are you a senior? Typically, schools advise against dropping core courses. Perhaps you could take a lower level course if you are having trouble? There’s no shame in that. Do you think it is plausible to raise your grade by the end of the year? In my personal opinion, a D looks worse than withdrawing from a class, but some colleges are more generous about accepting C’s if it is after they have already accepted you.
For instance, William and Mary, the school I currently attend says “You can’t spell calculus without two c’s”
http://blogs.wm.edu/2008/07/16/you-cant-spell-calculus-without-2-cs/
It basically suggests one C is fine on the transcript, but two or more, or a failing grade may prompt an explanation. I suspect other colleges may have similar policies. It sounds like you may be in the wrong level class though which may prompt the lower grades. However, if you think you can pull off better grades you could always stick with it and see where it goes
Hey, thanks for the response. I am a senior, and AB Calc is the lowest level I can take; I took other Honors and math courses in the earlier years of my high school. I haven’t been accepted at all yet and I won’t know anything till March.
Have you already submitted your midyear report? Do you know what grade will appear on it?
If you drop you’d need to inform every college you applied to and it would not look great. I’d suggest keeping the class and meeting with the teacher regularly, getting a tutor, asking a friend for help etc.
My midyear report is going to show up as a D. The end of the semester is next Friday, and I have no opportunities to raise it.
My midyear rep would show it, yes. And I already have a tutor for it… I’m kind of a wreck. I just don’t know if it’s better to keep it on my report or drop it.
For many kids math classes play the role of the proverbial canary in the coal mine. It shows there is something wrong, and in time to fix it before any harm is done. As a tactical solution, switching classes might fix your grade but it doesn’t solve the problem any more than dipping a thermometer in cool water takes away the fever.
So what is often the problem? Many students, often in fact the better students, have never learned to study effectively and just get by on native smarts. After they go over the material a few times it seems familiar and they think they “know” it, confusing recognition with recall. In most classes they remember enough for the test and their verbal skills let them pad out essays, but on math tests they find out they can’t recall enough to solve many problems. Unfortunately once they get to college this cursory study approach won’t work even in subjects where it was enough back in HS, since the expectations will be higher and the tests more challenging.
IMHO its better to fix things now than during your 1st year or two of college. There are books and web articles about study skills, worth looking into to understand in more depth, but in a nutshell the answer is found in a pair of concepts called “frequent testing” and “distributed practice”. You break the “recognition vs recall” dilemma by testing whether you actually understand. You can find a lot about “frequent testing” online.
In a social science class you imagine giving an explanation of the lecture you just had or the chapter you just read to a friend. For math/science classes its even easier! There are books for most classes in a series called Problem Solver. For example, the “Calculus Problem Solver” by REA. You go to the chapter matching what you are studying in class, cover up the answers, start working the problems. If you actually know the concepts you’ll be getting the answers right, if you aren’t there are worked solutions. There’s no confusing recognition with recall here, as you immediately find out whether you can solve the problem or not.
It is also well known that practice is best broken into multiple sessions instead of being lumped. If you take a foreign language you know that 30 minutes daily will get you much farther than a 2-hour cram session Sunday nite. If you work some math problems every day you get just this effect. You knew it, you’ve kinda forgotten it, you bring it back and you know it better than ever.