<p>I am taking Calculus for the second time, and I am still doing really bad at it. I just can't seem to be able to get a firm grip on the materials. I tried going to office hours a few times, that didn't help. I watched and read tutorials for help, that help me do the basic problems. But when it comes to more advanced problems, I just ragequit. It doesn't help that my professor just put me to sleep with his crappy lecture. I really can't stand it anymore, and I just want to end it. It feels like mental torturing more than anything else. I am worried that dropping it again will surely affect my financial aid and my profile. But if I don't drop, I can't pull a passing grade, either. I failed the first test already, I'll get my second test back on Tuesday. If I failed that too, it's game over for me. Even if I managed to get a C on it, I can't see myself doing well on the third one.</p>
<p>I am also taking Computer Science at the moment, and it's not any better. I got 75/100 on the first test, and my next test is next week. I don't know how to do the assignment or apply the basic concepts to work. I do get the basic stuff, but anything beyond that is out of my mind. I think I can at least pass this one, but it is not looking so bright, either. I am taking these two classes simply because I needed a degree in CS to become a game designer. However, if I can't deal with things at this level, I doubt I can make the cut to be in the industry. I guess I'll stick with making games as a hobby.</p>
<p>I plan to choosing a different career, but I don't know what I could do. I wasted my time with these math and computer classes, and only did well with English and Japanese. It's really frustrating, and people around me advised me to switch to something else that suits me. But now, I am still in a bind. I don't know what I should do with my Calculus and CS classes. Dropping Calculus is seemingly unavoidable, but I don't know what I could do with CS. It's basically 50/50 at this point. I got perfect score on all earlier assignments, so they saved my score, at least for now. Our professor basically said "I'm going to leave you guys to sink or swim." So we all just counted on helping each other, though they have a clearer understanding of the subject than me and a few others.</p>
<p>What should I do? I am so tired of all this pressure that I just want to drop dead.</p>
<p>Are you taking calculus for the second time as a college freshman who had calculus in high school or as a college sophomore who took calculus once already in college? </p>
<p>If you drop calculus, will you lose your financial aid? If so, can you cope with that, or not?</p>
<p>I am concerned about your remark that you “ragequit.” That suggests that you are badly in over your head, or else that you have extremely low frustration tolerance. You will need to build frustration tolerance for your intended career and for majoring in computer science.</p>
<p>If you are a college freshman, and you can either keep your financial aid without calculus, or get by if you lose your financial aid, then I would suggest dropping calculus, and approaching it fresh next semester. In the meantime, you need to identify a tutor who understands how you think, and who can point you in the right direction. </p>
<p>Study groups are also a really good idea. This may help you get through your computer science class. What topics are you studying in computer science?</p>
<p>Is there tutors you can get?
Can you start a study group?
Can you go to office hours as much as possible?
Have you looked at Khan academy videos on line?</p>
<p>Can you take the math and CS at community college? Then retake or take the next segment in college? </p>
<p>If this is your second bad trip through Calculus, maybe it is time to move on. Plenty of folks change their majors and future plans in college. Or could you come at the game business in a different direction? Not game design but game marketing? Some other aspect of the gaming business?</p>
<p>Whatever, march yourself into your academic advisor’s office, plop yourself into a chair, and don’t leave until you get half an hour of quality time (or just make an appointment.) Stop spinning your wheels, stop wondering what if or shoulda coulda. Find out what happens if you drop calculus and CS or just calculus, find out how this impacts your aid and standing. Don’t speculate, find out.</p>
<p>Since you’re asking-- yes, you need to find a different career (don’t know what you were planning on studying, but if this is your second go-round with Calculus and it’s not becoming clearer, you need to be majoring in something that won’t require Calc. Which means hundreds of other things.)</p>
<p>Stop worrying and get moving. Sit down with your advisor, plot out a viable plan, move forwards. It’s no shame to look something in the eye and decide it’s not for you.</p>
<p>If you were posting that you loved calculus but were doing badly, or needed study strategies, or what-not, I think the group here would be happy to help you strategize. But it sounds like this is your second time taking a class that you hate.</p>
<p>This is my second year in college. I took Calculus last semester, dropped it, and retook it again this year. I might not lose my financial aid, but it will definitely be readjusted. I can cope with that, but it won’t sit well with my mom. The classes are just too frustrating and boring. I learned absolutely nothing from lectures. Right now, we are going over functions and file stream in CS. </p>
<p>I don’t know any tutors, and I don’t like how all of my professors seem to have an attitude when I come and ask them for help. The first time I asked them, they seem very generous and nice. But the second or third time, they always give me weird and frustrating looks, as if they expect me to be able to comprehend quicker. I don’t know anyone in Calculus, so I don’t have a study group. I watched many tutorials, including Khan Academy’s, yes, but even that doesn’t help me a lot. In CS, I do try to ask other people for help, as many of them are also confused like me, so we all try to help each other out.</p>
<p>I liked math back in high school, but when I got to Pre-Calc in my senior year, it started to become ridiculous and vague that I started hating the subject then. I thought I could get by when I find the right professors, but now I realize that part of the problem is also my inability to keep up with the course and study by myself. Now, I just want to stay away from them as much as possible. After I get my second test back tomorrow, I’ll talk to a counselor. But then, there’s still CS that I need to get through.</p>
<p>I feel so stupid and useless, and I envy those who are doing well. I am sure I’m the worst student in class, the only one who knows nothing about what’s going on.</p>
<p>You hire student tutors through Student Services, you should have done that the first day of the semester since you had to drop this class once before.
You hang around the TA room and meet other students having problems and form a study group.
Your prof and TA are correct to expect you to comprehend faster, you passed precalculus in high school so there is no reason not to understand Calculus.
In college, you do what it takes to get the material, you find a way.</p>
<p>Your anger and frustration is palpable.
Your lack of ability to pass Calculus/CS means you need to rethink your major.
What do you want us to say to you?</p>
<p>I’ll definitely switch majors, but now, I still have to deal with these two classes. I just received the study guide for CS from my professor, and I can’t even comprehend a single thing on it. The class has suddenly gotten a lot more difficult after the first exam, and I don’t think I will be able to pass this one. My classmates tried to help me, the professor went over things, and I tried reading the book and tutorials left and right, but all that didn’t help, either! Calculus, I might actually have a lucky chance, but CS is even worse right now.</p>
<p>The two tests are next week, right before the drop deadline on Friday. So if I ended up failing them both, I will have to drop or risk getting Fs. Would dropping two classes in one semester, and dropping one last year, make my profile look really bad when transferring? Now, I am desperately trying my hardest, but the materials just can’t get in! I could cope with a decrease in financial aid, but the bigger issue is how my profile will look.</p>
<p>Either two Ws or two very possible Fs. Which one is worse? I ace the other two classes, so my GPA is at least not going to be godawful.</p>
<p>Withdrawal seems better. This kind of situation isn’t unusual. I hope you can understand this does not mean you are a “loser.”</p>
<p>Why not major in the humanities or languages? Your life will be much better if you study things you are really good at and enjoy. </p>
<p>Have you heard of Howard Gardner’s ideas on multiple intelligences? There are plenty of people who are brilliant in one area but not able to do much at all in another area. Right now, you seem to be beating your head against the wall by persisting with math and CS.</p>
<p>Try to finish college without excessive worry about career. Going through this kind of suffering so you can design games is not worth it. Design on the side. Get a degree and you will have access to many different jobs that simply require a bachelor’s. If you find an area of interest, you can also intern or volunteer to build experience.</p>
<p>I am concerned that you are depressed. I am also concerned that you might have some undiagnosed problem, like ADHD or a learning issue. I hope you will consider visiting both an advisor and a counselor to help you with how you are feeling about yourself.</p>
<p>Things will be fine. You will look back on this in 40 years as a turning point and the W’s won’t bother you at all.</p>
<p>ps It can also be okay to take a break from school to get more clarity, get relief from pressure, regroup, and get your motivation back. It can actually be really helpful. I don’t know how your family feels and hope they would support that if it seems like a good idea for you right now. One of mine left school and it worked out great.</p>
<p>No, switching to P/F isn’t an option for this sort of course.</p>
<p>I will withdraw from CS tomorrow, since I did extremely bad on the test. Calculus, however, is a little better. My professor glanced through the test, and he said I could get at least a C. So, one F, one A, and one C. He said in class that he might drop the lowest test score as well. He advised me to stay in the class and try, I could get at least a C and pass. So in theory, I need to get at least a C in both the next last test and the final exam. </p>
<p>I am considering staying, but I still have some fear about the possibility of failing. On the other hand, having two "W"s isn’t that pleasant. We are going to learn optimization and integrals, I hope I can pull through. Guess I should stay and do my best?</p>
<p>Oh, I am depressed when I am buried in too much work like this. I am considering majoring in language, but I am not sure what kind of job would I get. Most people say a language degree isn’t useful without something else backing it up. I do like the idea of working with people from different countries, though.</p>
<p>Thanks for all of your support and advices so far, guys!</p>
<p>OP, I sent you a PM with some information you may find useful for studying Calculus. It is information we found to help our son, who has a teacher that is not very good at explaining the concepts. He was able to improve his grades dramatically after he looked at this info.</p>
<p>Thank you Frolic for the useful link, I’ll use it the best I can.</p>
<p>Now, I got my test back today. Instead of a C, it was a 50%-F. I thought he was honest when he said I could get at least a C. It’s past the drop date and I just have to stay in the class and follow through anyway I can. He basically stabbed me with this kind of ********!</p>
<p>The chance of me passing is getting slimmer, again.</p>
<p>You need to get a one on one tutor to work with you 2-3 times a week. Ask the math dept head if they can recommend a senior math major or get a grad student. Pay the money for help it will make a world of difference. Don’t delay, get help now. Good luck.</p>
<p>I think you made a wise decision to withdraw from one of your two troublesome classes and stay in the other, so that you can devote more time to the class you are continuing in. Changing majors also seems to be a good idea, in order to find something that you enjoy more.</p>
<p>Even though you are angry with the professor about your test grade, don’t show it. Instead, take advantage of the fact that he advised you to stay in the class. Go to office hours and explain that you really want to work hard to get a passing grade in the class, and ask if he has any suggestions. Perhaps he can point you to a student tutor whom you can work one-on-one with for the rest of the semester. </p>
<p>Math really builds upon itself, so try to devote a lot of time to the class, so that you can go back to re-study the material from the beginning of the class until you are comfortable with that, and move on slowly from there.</p>
<p>Stop worrying about your ultimate job. Majoring in language is well-respected, and so are many other majors. Your career does not have to match your major.</p>
<p>It may be too late to drop, but is it too late to withdraw with a “W”? Just wondering.</p>
<p>@Sacchi No, it wasn’t. If I was smarter, I’d have dropped them both instead of gambling and jeopardizing my GPA. Asking him for help is like asking a brick wall to move. It is a waste of time. I couldn’t get a tutor due to my time schedule conflicting with their available time, so I try to spend as much time watching tutorials as I can. Going back to the beginning? Well, yeah, definitely, especially with final in 2 weeks.</p>
<p>@califoniaaa It doesn’t matter even if I don’t change, I still need to get over this.</p>
<p>@compmom Yeah, that was 2 weeks ago. I only have myself to blame now. </p>
<p>We have a test on optimization today, which I was completely unaware of. Last week, we learned a new section on integrals, and as usual, I couldn’t understand a single word he was saying. I left early to watch the tutorials on my own, that was probably when he announced the test at the last minute. I guess I’m just doomed to fail. I need to ace the next last test and the final to pass. How am I going to do that? I don’t know. I think it’s a good life lesson for me, anyway.
Sorry to rant, but I just want to get this anger off me.</p>
<p>I’m really sorry you’re going through this. I can see that you’ve been working on resolving this for a while, so that tells me that you’re a persistent kind of person. </p>
<p>The one thing I would like to tell you is please do seek IN PERSON help. Online tutorials are great, but you can’t ask them to re-word an explanation, you can’t have them check over your work, and you can’t have them watch you do a problem and catch your mistakes. If your professor/TA is busy/unhelpful, find a tutor. And not just the ones offered by the department/tutoring center-- check with math majors independently and individually and see if any of them can make time for you. If you’re persistent enough (which I think you are), you CAN do this. </p>
<p>Also, what about your classmates? You said the CS class would work together. What’s so different about Calc? In all of my classes there’s always at least a few of us who even just talk about our homework/review concepts before and after class. If we’re there a few minutes early, we’ll clarify what we learned last class and wonder what we’ll learn next. I don’t think there’s really any class out there that doesn’t have talkative, sociable students. Just try and find them. </p>
<p>Good luck to you. I really hope you can fight your way through this.</p>