<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>Prereqs can be overrode with the professor’s permission. In my opinion, his best bet is to email the professors directly, ask the professors if they would be willing to give him a shot regardless of the low grade. The professors’ response will probably largely depend on if there is a wait list for the classes he’s trying to get in to; if there is, they might say no since they will be thinking of the other students who do have the prereqs and want to get into the class as well. If there is no one on the wait list currently, then maybe they’ll say yes.</p>
<p>By the way, what do you mean the computer won’t let you schedule? I can schedule just fine now, the only problem is that most of the classes are full by now. Math 151 and 152 do fill up fast, so maybe you can’t get in because it’s full?</p>
<p>Also look into the freshman forgiveness rule. He can retake Math161 this upcoming quarter and if he gets a higher grade it will replace the D in his gpa and help with him qualifying for the other classes. </p>
<p>His advisor is best to talk to about this. Have your son send an email to his advisor asking for advice regarding his situation. Based on experience the advisors can override computer issues and place their students in classes. The advisor can also help your son in completing the paperwork if he chooses to invoke the freshman forgiveness rule. Such paperwork has to be done the first week of school. </p>
<p>Finally the math dept. has free tutoring for their classes. It might be a good idea if your son used their services. If you want to see your son’s grades ask him to show them on CARMEN.</p>
<p>GPA plays into whether you are accepted into an engineering program. It iwould not be a bad thing to retake Math 161 under freshman forgiveness to avoid the bad grade. It’s not a big deal to apply to a major a bit later either. Generally it takes 5 years to finish anyway and schedules often have to be reorganized to accommodate co-ops later anyway.</p>
<p>Definitely have your son retake the course to improve his grade and GPA. It will also give him a stronger foundation to build upon for harder courses. Besides needing a good GPA to enter the engineering program, future employers will also want to see his GPA. Friend’s son, a senior CSE major, had to have his GPA verified before receiving offers from 2 companies and he had interned at both companies with good reviews in previous summers. So GPA will count and since he has the opportunity to take a “mulligan”, he should.</p>
<p>Well, we are in the same boat - for the second time - UGH!!</p>
<p>Oldest son (now 22) started as an engineering major (also CSE) and didn’t do well at all first qtr of freshman year. Struggled through the rest of the year and it was obvious he wasn’t going to make it in engineering. But to apply to any school (he decided on business) he had to get his GPA back up - retook what he could under freshman forgiveness rule and got all of his Gen Ed courses out of the way. Managed to get his GPA up to where he could apply to business school - which he did get into - real estate (which apparently was the only major that his GPA qualified him for). Kept working hard and got into his first choice - Operations Management (and also Logistics) and is very happy.</p>
<p>He is now a 5th year senior and will graduate in March - so it took him 2 extra quarters (he could have possibly done it in 1 extra qtr, but there is a special certification he wanted to get - Six Sigma - and needed 2 qtrs). He also didn’t mind an extra football and basketball season - LOL. So - a happy ending for him - he has 2 job offers on the table!! He managed to dig himself out of a very deep hole, but the GPA still never got where it needed to be to get the prime jobs - I think he has a 3.2 right now.</p>
<p>Middle son just finished his first qtr and it’s deja vu all over again! He was a top HS student and I think the freedom at college was too enticing for him - he ended up with 2 Bs and 2 D+s. He wants to go into Athletic Training and they only take applications once a year - I can’t see any way he’ll be able to apply in March since he’ll need to retake the 2 D+ classes (both prereqs to apply) and to improve his GPA. I’m so frustrated! Oldest son and I have tried to guide him as best we can during the break and have had him email his advisor to ask specific questions about freshman forgiveness rule and to make an appt. If you/your son is not happy with his advisor, find out how to get a different one - the right person can make a big difference! The saving grace for this son is that he did well enough on AP Calc exam to get credit for Math 150 and 151, so those prereqs are out of the way and he has 10 credits (does not affect GPA).</p>
<p>Sorry this is so long, but I feel like we’ve unfortunately had plenty of experience with this. So my advice: 1. retake 161 using freshman forgiveness rule for 2 reasons: to improve his GPA (he’'l need it to apply to engineering program) and to make sure he has a good grasp of the material or else he may have problems in 162. 2. Email his advisor now with questions about how to proceed with FF rule and what courses to take for the next 2 qtrs. 3. Don’t focus on having him finish college in 4 years - yes it’s more expensive but may be more beneficial in the long run.</p>
<p>Good luck - believe me I know it’s not easy! Feel free to PM me if you have any specific questions.</p>
<p>Quick update on the Freshman Forgiveness Rule - there is no longer any paperwork that has to be done. If you are able to schedule that class again then the FF rule is already taken into account. If you can’t schedule a class, then there may be a problem and you need to get in touch with your advisor.</p>
<p>I’m guessing that OP’s son couldn’t schedule Math 151 since he technically passed Math 161. But he probably would have been able to schedule 161 as a retake and it would have worked using the FF rule.</p>