<p>I am a concerned parent of a freshman at Ohio State, my son is in pre engineering for computer science and engineering. When he signed up for classes in autumn he wanted to push himself in math so he took accelerated math 161 the one thing he forgot or had not learned yet is that he is no longer in high school and he actually has to study. In high school (a good one) he never had to work hard he loved math and it came easily for him he tutored many other kids . Well he did not do so well in his first quarter of math. My son was 6 points away from a b going into the final but he completely tanked the final, this dropped his grade to a d. He knows what he did wrong and seems determined to move on and do better. Here is the problem. My son scheduled the next math 162 all was fine until he received a e-mail saying he might not have the pre recs to move on. We as parents thought he should reschedule for 151 or 152 a lower class but the computer will not let us and all school offices are closed until the day the kid goes back. My son wants to go to school continue on 162 and hope the math department will not after a couple of weeks say he is in the wrong class and pull him out. Also if the school insists on him dropping to 151 than he no longer has the pre rec for physic 132 (he did fine in 131) and he might be forced out of 132. This in turn screws up the last quarter he would not have space for physics and then he could not formally apply to his major until after next fall semester. So I guess my question is should he continue on as he did not know he shouldnt or the first day go to guidance counselor (not thrilled with counselor)and be at the schools mercy ? He really wants to be in 162 to prove to himself that he can. Sorry for the long post any thoughts
David</p>
<p>He needs to discuss all of this with an academic advisor. Since he didn’t do well in the accelerated math series it seems that he shouldn’t be in that series if there’s another series more suitable. </p>
<p>He needs to understand that he’s not in HS anymore and his classmates in the accelerated math series especially are likely at an overall higher level than he’s used to. He also needs to realize that he needs to study and do the HW. He should have had clues to this as he progressed to the final.</p>
<p>I don’t think it’s a good idea to stick his head in the sand an pretend that everything’s proceeding swimmingly in his math course despite his grade and despite the email he received. Some colleges don’t consider a D a passing grade in required major courses and they must be retaken or have another acceptable substitution. He needs to get in to see the academic advisor as soon as he can to see what his options are.</p>
<p>Do not continue on as if he didn’t know. It’s would be a lie since he has received an email telling him is ineligible for the class. Even if he truly didn’t know, it would be unlikely that he would be allowed to continue if the pre-req. wasn’t fulfilled with a satisfactory grade. If the univ. allowed that there would be hundreds of other kids trying to do the same thing.</p>
<p>My S2 thought he had everything lined up to graduate in May(has enough hours) but while completing his senior summary with his advisor three weeks ago was told that one of his electives should have been a “writing intensive” class which S2 somehow had missed along the way and adviser had not noticed it until now that he’s about to graduate…ugh. Because of this and having to do a required internship, he’ll have to do summer school and won’t get his diploma until Aug.<br>
I too made a D in a “must have” class my freshman year of college. Had to go to summer school to catch up. </p>
<p>This is all to say that stuff like this happens all the time at colleges.
So I doubt that they will bend the rules for your S. Trying to game the system will prob. hurt him in the end. I would have him see an adviser on the first day of class to get his schedule worked out so he will be on the right track.</p>
<p>Please don’t let him fail the second time. He should go back to math 151 or 152. He can take Physics 132 in Spring quarter.</p>
<p>D1 was a physics major who did fine in part 1 of a 3 part physics for majors sequence. She took part 2 and its math pre-req simultaneously and almost crashed and burned in both classes! I wouldn’t suggest taking that second physics part without the solid math background, even if he did well in part 1.</p>
<p>Given that they appear to be enforcing prerequisites, he ought to repeat Math 161 or take Math 152 to cover the material (presuming he has AP credit for 151, which is listed as a prerequisite for either 161 or 152).</p>
<p>Physics 132 lists at least concurrent enrollment with Math 153 or 162. Since it involves electricity and magnetism, which is relatively [math</a> intensive](<a href=“Maxwell's equations - Wikipedia”>Maxwell's equations - Wikipedia), it would be a bad idea to take it with insufficient math background.</p>
<p>The “good” news is, if he takes Math 161 or 152 in the winter quarter and delays Physics 132 to the spring quarter, he merely falls back to the normal sequence (for students entering without AP credit) from being one quarter ahead (due to AP credit). It should not be a problem assuming he does not get D or F grades again and pays attention to the schedules and course sequencing.</p>
<p>It appears that the 151 … Sequence is calc 1-3 in four courses, while the 161 … Sequence is calc 1-3 in three courses. I am unsure of how their quarter system works so I do not know how long each course is.</p>
<p>I believe that their system will not allow taking 151 courses because he has taken a 16x course and may not allow the 162 meaning that he should repeat 161 (I agree with uc here). He could try adding 161 to see what happens.</p>
<p>It appears that the usual calculus sequence is 151-152-153-254 (four quarters for freshman calculus and multivariable calculus). The accelerated sequence is 161-162-163, with optional honors versions. There is a higher level of honors course in 190-191-264. Descriptions [here[/url</a>] – note general comment 3 at the top of the page, as it may be relevant here.</p>
<p>Presumably, the student in question has AP credit, since AP credit allows for skipping 151 (and 152 for a 4 or 5 on BC) and taking 152, 161, or 190 (see [url=<a href=“http://www.math.osu.edu/counseling/advanced_placement.html]here[/url]”>http://www.math.osu.edu/counseling/advanced_placement.html]here](<a href=“http://www.math.osu.edu/counseling/calculus_options.html]here[/url”>http://www.math.osu.edu/counseling/calculus_options.html)</a>).</p>
<p>It looks from [url=<a href=“http://www.math.osu.edu/courses/syllabi/]here[/url”>http://www.math.osu.edu/courses/syllabi/]here[/url</a>] that 161 is not offered in the winter quarter, so if the student has to repeat the course, he needs to take 152.</p>
<p>Just to make things more complicated, The Ohio State University will switch from the quarter system to the semester system in fall 2012.</p>