I’m a little interested in the idea of civil engineering, but I’m unsure if I’d do well. I struggled a lot in High School precalculus and have decided to not take any sort of formal math this year for my GPA’s sake. I find the idea of being a part of the public work’s projects that take place around me to be very interesting, but I’m unsure if engineering program would be good fit for me. I’m self-studying Calc this year and plan on taking that AP Exam. Any words of advice?
I would say no. But see how you do on AP calc. Some folks do poorly on some “types” of math and well in others. So see how this goes. If you still struggle with calc, then it may be a problem with CE.
See how the AP exam goes . . . if it remains a struggle then I’d suggest that engineering will be an uphill climb. Are you working with a tutor? My son does better going that route, and he’s pretty good with math.
@SouthFloridaMom9 I use a tutor when very confused, but otherwise, I try to figure things out on my own. I may change that and see if I fair better.
@HRSMom Thanks for your advice!
A seasoned professor (Caltech, ASU, private sector) told my son that the highest correlate to success was facility with math. Those who were solid did well, those who weren’t, didnt.
What about something like city planning?
I agree that a civil engineer needs to have strong math skills. That said, as noted above I’m not sure if self-studying calc is giving yourself the best chance to succeed. That seams like a subject where you would benefit by being taught in a structured environment.
Yes, city or urban and regional planning will get you involved with infrastructure. You would still want to move forward and take more math, though.
I agree with #5 - if you struggle to learn math with the aid of a teacher, self-study is usually not the cure for that. Four years of classroom math is generally a requirement for college admissions in engineering as well.
Unless it’s BC calc (vs AB) not a good measure of potential success.
Also, how did you do in Chem and Physics, also indicators ?
Suggestions for other careers/majors are in order if math is NOT your thing :
Your handle suggests love of animals,what about zoology ?
http://www.moorparkcollege.edu/teaching-zoo
Or public service such as Public Affairs which is offered at many colleges.
My DD did not have a strong math teacher at her first high school so she really had some struggles in her new high school ‘s math courses. In colleges sh has gotten “A’s” in all of her math classes (which I think are five of them now, cal2, cal3, diffq. linear algebra etc.) and she goes to a very rigorous college and majors in ME. She puts extra time in her math courses, goes to office hours to meet one on one with her professors and takes advantage of the extra study sessions and corporate tutoring nights at her college. (by the way she still has time for fun activities in college). I suggest you take Cal your senior year in high school since many colleges require it now and it helps your admission chances. Attend a college that has both civil engineering and a second major choice that you like as a back-up option. Start the math sequence in college and do some of the things my DD does and see how you do. When my DD was a freshman in high school, an administrator at the high school she attended told her that “she didn’t have a brain that could handle the math and sciences courses required for engineering.”’ Clearly that teacher’s prediction was wrong- sometimes things just click better when in college but it is always good to have a back-up plan.
If OP is a senior, AP exam score won’t be available until July, well after the May 1 college decision deadline.
I think not taking math to protect your GPA is a poor idea…colleges want to see you take 4 years of math classes.
“have decided to not take any sort of formal math this year for my GPA’s sake.” - That’s not a good plan, even if you don’t want to go into Engineerin.
@bopper @colorado_mom I understand that not taking a math senior year sounds very bad, but I already have four high school math credits, and my school decided to drop Calculus this year, and I wasn’t keen on retaking Pre-calculus, so mathematics didn’t make my schedule this year.
@Blevine I appreciate your suggestions, I’ll definitely look into them.
If you don’t want to work for the government then city planning might not be for you. Have you looked at Construction management? Construction management isn’t as math heavy as Civil engineering but still requires maybe one or two calculus courses depending on where you go to school. At many schools, students in the CM major start at College Algebra and/or Triginometry or precalculus and still counts for there degree. I believe CM still requires physics and maybe chemistry. You might still be able to pursue engineering because there are engineers who admit they are not naturally good or struggle at math and have had times where they got poor grades in it and managed to get through all there math, physics, and engineering classes and graduate with an engineering degree. I brought up CM to have something to look into. like @itsv said you can do this If you do what he/she said. These videos below answer your question.
https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=_1T5Elp6FBs
https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=pp4iY1HUkeY
https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=tg0Z–pmPog
Even when you’re done with math your physics and engineering classes all use math. Statics of buildings? Math. Forces on a bridge? Math. It will get very complicated. Also self studying AP Calc as an indicator isn’t great either. That’s just studying how to do the problems but not why. Usually review books and self study skips over the rigorous proofs that really help you understand. You can teach an elementary schooler power rule for derivatives. Understanding how the derivative relates to the tangent line among other things is part of the deeper meaning. If you’re willing to put in the effort then yes stil pursue engineering. Otherwise you may want a less math heavy major.
Can you take calculus online or through dual enrollment?
(You’re right that retaking precalculus would make no sense).
Why has your school dropped calculus? MAKE SURE your guidance counselor mentions it in the school profile because otherwise it’ll impact your application negatively.
OP I strongly urge you to take calculus this year. Many colleges, especially for a student applying for engineering, want to see that the student has taken calculus (whether it be AP, regular or from a community college.). In fact I have had admission reps tell me that “students are at a disadvantage in the applicant pool” if they do not have calculus even if a non-STEM major applicant (Boston College).
Initially my DD was not going to be able to take calculus her senior year since she had transferred high schools and her previous high school was on a different track. The admission rep of the college she now attends told us during my dd’s junior year that this college would not even consider her application without calculus. I explained my DD’s situation and the rep said that my DD should do everything in her power to have caculus her senior year (not self-study). My DD petitioned her current high school to be able to take pre-calculus online through BYU during the summer before her senior year and then took AP Calculus AB.
If you want to give yourself a better chance at certain colleges, I suggest you take calculus either at the community college or through an online program.
@MYOS1634 Self-study is the only option, it would appear. Calculus was already a course reserved for the gifted track (with a few exceptions) and it seems that the course didn’t have enough students for our school to be able to have the course (per district standards).
@itsv I’m not particularly worried about going anywhere beyond my state schools, which already have exceptionally low standards. The average student in my state ends their high school career on Pre-calculus, which I’ve already taken. I do, however, thank you for your concern.
Depending on your financial status, it can be good to be able to look at colleges OOS. Top private universities typically grant good need based aid and may be interested in the geographical diversity you represent (assuming under represented state or rural school or urban low performing school, based on what you’ve said of curricular offerings). Some OOS public universities (but fewer than private ones) may have scholarships for GPA+ test scores. Depending on what state you live in, some of these may end up cheaper than your instate option.
Beside engineering, look into CS and related subjects (Data Science, Data Analytics, Northwestern’s CS+X, UCincinnati’s ITS, Denison’s Computational concentration and Data Analytics, UPenn’s NETS, Penn State’s IST College or SODA major, Indiana U’s and UNebraska’s new schools of computing…)