<p>Hi, how's going? I was a freshmen at UCSC and got dismissed recently because of poor academic performance. I was a biochem major.</p>
<p>So, I just wanna give a brief explanation. (I have posted what went wrong in detail at another forum in case you want to know.)</p>
<p>I got 2 bad grades when I was there, 1 F in Calculus and 1 D in Microeconomics. I studied really hard, 40hr/week and went to discussion sections, MSI, and office hour. But still failed to pass all my classes while I'm on probation. Its just ridiculous that I didn't pass Microeconomics because I have a B+ on all midterms, but didn't pass my final and the instructor drop my grade to a D. (It also part of my fault because I didn't take friends warning that he got a really bad rating, 2.4 to be exact.)</p>
<p>I didn't slack off or anything..The day I see my provost she says I can come back after 3 quarters after I improve my language skills since English isn't my 1st language. So basically, I got her word that I have an option to go back. In fact, I still have access to UCSC student portal.</p>
<p>I'm thinking about switch my major to Economics. Quiet honestly, I feel like a number when I was there and seems professors didn't care much on students success. I'm fear to get kick out again because of careless of faculty. I know I'm a better fit to private smaller schools where I can get more attentions/help from professor. But I'm also concern about the financial situations I'm in. I'm in doubt whether or not to go back, and if I do go back what should I do to keep this from happening again? </p>
<p>“For current UCSC students ONLY, preferably sophomore+ standing.” So, I’m breaking the rules. But if you want feedback, you might open the possibilities a bit.</p>
<p>I’m barely a freshman at UCSC, but I want to comment on why you felt like a number. If it was your first year there, the classes are usually huge, and you really have to shine for the profs to notice you.</p>
<p>Well I’m transferring there this fall so I don’t know how helpful I can be but wouldn’t Economics still require the calculus series? You may want to choose a major that is less heavy on math unless it’s needed for a career that you’ve already chosen to go into.</p>
<p>If you want to go back into the same majors program, the only way to really improve your grades is to study more and get more tutoring I guess. For calculus at least, the type of teacher made all the difference to me but I don’t know who the best math teachers are at UCSC. You may want to consider taking lower division classes at Cabrillo college while taking your upper division classes at UCSC, since Cabrillo is a community college so the classes will probably be smaller meaning you can get more attention from the teacher.</p>
<p>@smoalem, I see what you mean. I moved to this country at 2006, well I speak and write English for couple year. Perhaps my language skills isn’t up to par at UC, but I’m definitely improved a lot throughout the years in H.S. I failed Cal cuz I didn’t practice and I thought I can wing it given I’m asian and studied math back in home country. I spent way too much time on writing papers. (I literally need 10hrs to write a rough draft.) Fail is fail, not trying to make it sound excused. </p>
<p>My concern is…If I DO go back, will the class sizes get any better? Am not trying to scare new freshmen on this forum, but there are prof flunks you no matter how hard you study. Make sure look up ratemyprof…</p>
<p>Even with best chem prof, like Roland, expected failing rate is 20~25%…(She said it in class) thats roughly 120/476 didn’t pass. Just imagine this number on schlei…Kinda off topic.</p>
<p>Seriously, do you guys think I should go back?? The only reason I can’t consider private or smaller LAC colleges because the price tag. I’m fear to get mess up again and the fact that I did study 40hours/week.</p>
<p>hmmm… well im probably in the best situation to give u some advise on ur current predicament…</p>
<p>well first off, you must understand the harsh reality of your situation. Biochem is one of the toughest major at UCSC. I am a biochem major myself, and i understand the difficult situation you find yourself to be in. English is also my 2nd language, and the science classes and math classes doesnt really need you to be that proficient in it. If you are not able to pass through the calc and general chem series without a breeze, then the bio organic chem and physic series will be very impossible. My best advise for you is to change your major to business econ and just go from there. Econ doesnt require the level of analytical thinking and critical comprehension that the sciences classes have. As far as getting teachers attention and class sizes, this will improve over the year as your upper divs will be much much smaller.</p>
<p>@ clockwork7kl Thanks for your input. Yea, can get away if I major something easier like business/econ, no offense to ppl who majoring it. But you do realize social sciences majors tends to have heavy reading/writing later on? Or am I right? I just HATED writing godam papers. Well to me math/science isn’t hard if I do enough practice. I got A & B on gen chem. Just didn’t pass cal 1st quarter cuz I thought I can wing it. </p>
<p>But thanks for your advise bro, I’ll see if economic any easier. Will I be good if I do Economic? The fact that I got a D in Microeconomics really discouraging…OK I’m not gonna mention this prof name…But you got an idea how I feel to drop from B+ to a D…</p>
<p>P.S. I’m worried how I not let this happen again after I change my major.</p>
<p>Yeah, I think the advice to go to econ is stupid considering your situation with still learning English. It’s much more reading/writing intensive. The only exception I can think of is that it’s still very important to know how to write a concise lab report for biochem. </p>
<p>However, I’m confused. In your old thread you said you studied very very hard for all your classes, but here you said you thought you could “wing it” with calculus? If that’s the case you really ought to stick with the sciences, if it was just a lack of effort.</p>
<p>Leave UCSC for now and go to community college for one or two years, then transfer (either back to UCSC or somewhere else). Use that time to improve your English and academic skills in a lower stakes environment, and start taking your education more seriously. When you transfer as a junior, you’ll be taking upper division classes which are smaller and thus give you a lot more individual attention. You’ll save a lot of money, too.</p>
<p>If you couldn’t pass one of the introductory level econ classes, why do you think you would be more successful as an econ major? Not trying to sound judgmental or harsh here, but if you want to make something your major, you better be good at it. Class sizes do get smaller as you move up though (from freshmen to sophomore, etc.). My average class size my freshmen year was about 400 (almost every class for my major-Ecology and Evolution-was in Unit 2), and now that I’m entering my senior year my classes have been getting smaller, with probably 100 people max (and even those are the super general classes). So yes, class sizes do get smaller, but in order to reach that point you have to be able to make it through the lower division classes where you are a lot of the times, just a number (unless you take the time to develop a relationship with your professor, which is how I was successful in a lot of my larger classes). Biochemistry is the hardest major on our campus (with the year long Biochem 100 series being the hardest series our campus offers). But people are able to pass the classes, with the dedication. But without being able to pass calculus, you probably wouldn’t do so well in the upper division classes. The only way to get the small class size that you seem to want now without the huge price tag is to go to a community college. Figure out if you actually would be able to make it with an Econ degree, and improve your English skills (because you will need to be pretty proficient with English as a Biochem OR Econ major).</p>
<p>Thanks Liesel, Hadrian, and aquafina. I think I will get better as I move on. I understand if I struggle at low-division classes, I probably won’t do well in upper division. I flunked cal mainly because English pulling way too much time than I spend on Cal. In fact…1st quarter I only did HW required by the professor and that was it. And I missed 2~3 HW assignments and few classes lol…I know its bad, but then again I thought I can wing it.</p>
<p>Well put it this way, I was a lazy irresponsible idiot in 1st quarter. And 2nd quarter I got stuck with a really MEAN guy. Looking back its so ironic, 1st quarter being irresponsible—>probation----->studied my ass off 2nd quarter----->stuck with a mean guy----->drop my B+to a D---->dismissed----->all my hard work in hs worth nothing now.</p>
<p>Anyways, I’ll figure a way out. I’m taking classes at CC now, having a 4.0 is easy at CC. I will try apply to private/smaller LAC after a year or two, see if they give me good aid package. If not…well, UCSC will be my last card. Saddd, but what else I can do…?</p>
<p>Econ is just going to get more difficult. If english isn’t your first language, you are probably going to have a more difficult time with the readings and problem sets in the upper division courses (econ 100a, econ 113, etc).</p>
<p>Also, don’t blame the professor for “being mean.” I see SOOO many professors getting a bad rep at a college just because some students don’t study, they don’t go to class, or they just don’t put in the effort. If you had a B+ and dropped to a D, then a huge red flag should be raised. I have a very difficult time thinking you can drop that much in an introductory macro econ class for a final. Most of the material is cumulative. Even if your professor decided to only test you on new material, then most of the procedures/graphing/ and intuition remains the same. Also if it was an absurdly difficult final, there shouldn’t be a reason scoring that low (the test would be curved in such a case anyways).</p>
<p>I’m sorry if that above portion seemed like a direct attack, but sometimes you need to share responsibility when your grades are low. Anyways, have you tried taking some accounting courses? See how you like those before you decide to go into business econ. There’s also plenty of other majors out there that you can talk to advisors about.</p>
<p>Also regarding the whole private college vs public: If you can’t get financial aid at a private college, then it’s not a realistic idea. I understand that UCSC has large classes, but you need to leverage your resources more. Intro classes have a LOT of students (I think my Econ 2 class had 400 or more). My Econ 100B class only had about 120-150. Although those numbers may seem high (they are compared to private schools), we have a LOT of TA’s with a LOT of office hours. Even professors are available to talk after class or in their office. There are also section/discussions you can attend.</p>