Got a 73 on my most recent test on Integrals. I never was able to keep up with the work in Pre-Cal Pre-AP last year, so I had to drop by second semester. If I drop AP Cal now, I risk losing my National Honor Society membership. What should I do?
What you should have done is take a math class in line with your ability. If you couldn’t get through precalc, why did you sign up for calculus?
What year in school are you and do you have enough math to graduate? To apply to colleges?
If you can afford to drop, drop. If not, you need tutoring, extra work with your teacher, and lots of practice on your own.
“I never was able to keep up with the work in Pre-Cal Pre-AP last year”
Then you definitely should not have taken AP calculus. I think that @AroundHere pretty much said it perfectly in terms of what your options are.
@AroundHere Senior about to close out the first semester. Calculus is the next logical step after pre-cal, right? I don’t know how many credits I have in math right now. Again I don’t know how much I risk my NHS membership if I drop, which makes this decision more terrifying than last year.
Calculus is the next logical step for those who actually pass precalc. Repeating precalc or taking an alternative math path like stats would have been better for you.
Go see your guidance counselor ASAP and find out your current credits, high school graduation requirements, and college admissions requirements if you are applying to college.
Your NHS membership is the least important thing here. It will have little bearing on your future.
Agree with above posters. I tutored a few calculus students who had a very poor algebra/pre-calculus background and it was a struggle for both me and the student.
If you are on the verge of failing calculus, you should drop it. Otherwise, seek tutoring/extra help ASAP and make sure you are comfortable with the topics in pre-calculus (particularly trig, logarithms).
I was in NHS in high school and it didn’t mean a thing after graduation.
Some tips:
Do extra practice problems. Go beyond the homework problems. Practice, practice, practice.
Get a tutor ASAP. That’s what you should do.
When you dropped pre-AP precalculus, did you take regular instead? If so, did you do fine in regular?
I can see why this would be a tough predicament, and I advise that you talk to your teacher, guidance counselor, or academic adviser of some sort. What would the repercussions of dropping AP Calculus be (besides losing NHS membership)? At my school, a withdraw fail would go on the transcript, but many high schools don’t have this policy. Take it one step at a time. First, talk to an adult that knows where you stand in math and may be able to help with your particular situation. Then you can make the decision of dropping it or not. If you decide to stick it out, some of the above commenters have good suggestions for where to go for extra help.
Good luck!