I’m finishing up my freshman year at a local JC. I’m a computer science major and i might have to take Calc 1 for the 3rd time. Last semester I ended up haveing to drop the class because I got too busy with basketball and work. (I work part time at Best Buy but basketball we practiced like 2 times a day plus weight training and I was spreading myself too thin) this semester I started off good getting a 91% and a 94% on my first two test but now here I am with a 74% in the class because I bombed the last two exams. I have the final on Tuesday and if I don’t get at least a 60% I’m gonna get a D in the class and have to retake it next semester. (Only calc 1 open now is at 7am) I’m really praying for a C in the class. I go to most of the SI sessions and I try to go to the MESA lab for tutoring as much as I can and I do all of the homework, but it doesn’t seem to be enough. My question is should I even bother trying for a 3rd time or should I call it quits and change my major. I’m not really interested in anything else besides CS, I just don’t know what to do anymore.
Thought it’d be good to mention that I plan on transferring next year but even if I get a C I won’t be able to get into the school I wanted to.
Do you have to do more than one level of calc? There’s always MIS majors. Less of an emphasis on technical knowledge
Calculus is one subject that you can really improve in by doing all of the problems over, and over, and over, and over, and over again. Working them once probably isn’t enough. You really need to beat the material into your brain.
That you did well on the first tests shows that you are capable of mastering the material. Your later grades demonstrate that you have gaps in your knowledge. So take the class again if you don’t get the C that you need. But change things up a bit. Make the class your first priority so that you do get to every single tutoring session, and that you have time to work each and every problem multiple times until you have the material down pat.
Why not just quit basketball?
3 times is a lot for Calculus I. If you love computers, you can save yourself a lot of pain and suffering by doing IT instead. If you do CS, the math is only going to get harder.
You know what I regret my freshman year of college? I worked. Full-time. Even though I didn’t have to. GPA was still high, but it ruined my chances with one of my college options (Reach School).
Don’t overload yourself. Quit basketball. Quit your job. Focus on your school. If you have a hard time on one class, that means you have to spend more time studying for it. Unless you have no choice but to work for financial reasons, if you have an option not to work, then don’t.
Sorry if this sounds harsh. Just giving you a warning.
It depends. Most computer science majors have Calc. 1 and 2 and Calc. 3 or Linear Algebra. There are business majors that are MIS that allow you work in a computer science field but do not require all the math. I understand the need to work. College is expensive and it is great on a resume when you see a student has paid for a large potion of their schooling. However, you have to prioritize. It is a difficult call but if Calculus is that difficult it might be a good time to re-think the major or get a one on one tutor.
It seems clear to me that you are capable of earning a passing grade in this course. The only reason that you are on the edge now is due to the fact that your time is spent working for funds, playing & training for basketball while also taking hard classes at school.
You need to prioritize your time.
Khan Academy is a free website that might offer some help in the future, but for now you need to drop everything but academics if you want to continue as a CS major.
Look to see if your college has an IST major (not MIS, not CS, but like applied CS). It’s also called “Computing”, “Applied Computing”, “Informatics”… Typically you don’t have to take as much math (calc 1, discrete math).