I just finished my first semester of community college and I did terrible with a low GPA of 2.2! I got a B in Introduction to Ethics, a D in Intermediate Algebra, an A in First year seminar, and I withdrew from English! I came to Community college becuase I knew I couldn’t get into a desired four year College or University! I did terrible becuase I missed a lot of school due to illness! I worked a lot too so this took away time to study and get help from a tutor and I probably didn’t do this enough when I did have the time! I also get test anxiety and get depressed from this so this is probably why I do poorly on tests! I’m gonna be getting a smartpen so that I can get better get information from lectures and I struggle with this problem because I have autism and ADHD.The reasons I don’t like where I attend community college is they have no dance events(I missed out on prom in high school and want the opportunity to attend a similar event like this), no extracurricular activities (no science clubs) that interest me,and no classes that really interest me(no classes in Zoology,Meteorology,and Environmental Science). I really hate my life because I hate my part time Job I have, I don’t get to travel or go on vacations, I don’t have any good family, and I don’t have a good diet so I’m always depressed and think about suicide! I wanna be able to transfer to a four year university and Study Meteorology, Civil or Environmental Engineering, Zoology ,or Earth science! I know I need strong math skills to study one of these majors but I did well in most of my math courses in high school and eventually passed and did well on the math standardized test in high school but college math courses are a big adjustment becuase of the pace,the more vital attendance,the more studying,and more self teaching.i wasn’t involved In enough in high school and my Communtiy college doesn’t offer enough! I’ve been told I could make my own organization but it would be hard becuase I’ve never been in a leadership position! My D in Math is high enough to move on to the next math course but lowered my GPA a lot! Should I retake that class or work on a math program provided by the school called EdReady over the summer to strengthen my foundation? Please is there any hope? The lack of family issue seems the hardest to solve and it seems no matter what I do I won’t gain any family by doing so.
Take a breath, and relax. No one is forcing you to complete your degree in four years. Some people take longer than others. That doesn’t mean you have a problem, it means for it takes you longer to complete. In the fall, start fresh. Retake Algebra and take English. Meteorology is heavy in math and physics. I’m finally transferring to a four-year school after THREE years in a community college. I’m going for Meteorology.
@NASA2014 it’s not that I feel forced to complete my degree it’s that I worry I’ll use all my financials aid by a certain point! I know your not perfect either because you commented on one of my other posts and said you did poorly in calculus 1 and retook it and did much better but what should I do about the other things I asked about! I’ve read some of your own threads and you’ve had the same worries that I’m having but not the same experience! A thing I hate about our society is that people think just because I get a bad grade in math,am in a remedial math course,or made one mathematical mistake that I can’t do anything in STEM! You don’t have to be perfect at math do you?i do know you still gotta be willing to learn the math and have a sufficient level of understanding of it to be successful! I didn’t do the greatest in some of my high school years either,how did you do in high school? The reason why I think I’m interested in meteorology is becusse I’m interested in using math,physics,and technology to forecast the weather! I’ve always been into the weather since I was a Kid! Speed, velocity, mass, and other topics are the interesting parts of physics that seemed used a lot in meteorology! paterns in weather and using technology to track them such as geographical patterns,storm patterns, precipitation patterns, high and low pressure, and the four seasons seem very interesting to me! Where are you going to transfer to? Did your community college offer any general Meteorology classes or other classes that you consider fun?
Yes, my college did offer a course in Intro to weather. Although I never took it because it was online only. I’m not sure where I’m transferring yet. I got accepted to University at Albany and waiting to hear back from Penn State anytime soon. Yes, I agree that when you tell people here that you fail or have to take a remedial math course. They automatically think you’re not capable of handling STEM courses. For example, I had to drop Physics because it was super hard and never had taken Physics in high school. I’m dumb for not taking General Physics (algebra based) first then go to the calc based physics. Now that I have the calculus background I may still have problems with physics, but what I’m doing in the summer is to prepare myself. I’m going to ask my parents to buy a membership to the site study.com and learn physics there. They have videos and you can quiz yourself.
I took an Organizational behavior class this semester! I considered it my favorite class at my CC. The second was History 101 and 102.
When I retook Calculus 1, I used to hate it because of the professor I had last semester. I’m very happy that I was able to take it with my favorite professor. He motivated me to continue going while I was struggling with the class. I told him that Chapter 3 and 4 were my weakness when I took it in the fall. Although the reason why It was hard it was because my chapter 2 skills weren’t that good. I remember scoring a 45 I think in the fall for that chapter. In the spring I scored an 89 for chapter 2. That’s because I kept doing problems over and over. He was always there when I needed him.
What is your possible course schedule will look like for Fall 2017? I would consider retaking Algebra again.
I think that you need to talk to a psychological counselor at your school. If you are dealing with anxiety and depression then you need to get this sorted out first. Second, only after this is sorted out, you get the required basic classes out of the way. Then third, only after the first two are sorted out, you get to think about where to go to focus on the specific technology areas that you care about.
Anxiety and depression are very common. The medical profession has gotten a lot better at dealing with this. However, this can take time and effort, and requires that you talk to the right medical experts.
Fall 2017 (if I don’t retake Intermediate algebra)!
College Algebra
Triginometry with Analytic Geometry
English Composition
World Civilization I
I might see I can retake Intermediate algebra over the summer becuase it might not be too late to sign up and it may be worth more doing that than retaking it during a regular semester because that’s a lot of time! Another option I have is to work on some of the Intermediate Algebra material om EdReady over the summer to strengthen my foundation and work with some of the tutors at my school on some of the problems so I’m prepared for the next math course!
College Algebra
Trigonometry with Analytic Geometry
Are these separate classes?
I think retaking Intermediate Algebra in the summer will be great. You only have to focus on one course.
Yes they are seperate courses!
My mindset is that I’m not always gonna have An Instructor that I like so I need to make sure I take advantage of Khan academy and tutoring! Did you have to take any Biology courses for your degree? I like Biology but most likely won’t need it for meteorology!
@DadTwoGirls they don’t have personal counselors at my school so I’ll have to find these people In the Communtiy! Is there hope for me? What should I do about extracurricular activities,prom,and fun classes?
No, I didn’t take biology. If you want to major in Meteorology. You’ll need one chemistry course. Mostly General Chemistry 1.
I may take Biology again in the future. As I’m considering in minor in biochemistry and molecular biology.
“they don’t have personal counselors at my school so I’ll have to find these people In the Communtiy! Is there hope for me?”
I think that you should talk to your parents, and should find these people where ever you can. It might take a bit of looking to find the right person. I know of some cases where the first people that a student found was not the right fit.
Yes there is considerable hope!
“What should I do about extracurricular activities,prom,and fun classes?”
I think that prom is highly overrated and you should just not think about it. I never went and never missed it.
Extracurricular activities is something that you can get from your school, but sometimes also from community activities (for example, if there is a community center in your area). Many years ago I participated in a volleyball league at a community center, and it was great fun (although we were not particularly good – winning was not the point).
In terms of fun classes, if there are fun classes at your current CC then take one every semester. If not, I think that this is part of step 3 in the three step program that I suggested in my first post.
@DadTwoGirls what is your background and degree? Most of the fun classes such as Zoology,Meteorology,and Environmental Science are at University!
Do any of you guys feel or Have ever felt lack of family? it’s my grandpa that I don’t have and miss very much because they have passed away!
“what is your background and degree?”
Bachelors degree in Mathematics. Master’s degree in Operations Research.
Note that Operations Research, if you haven’t heard of it, is approximately “applied mathematical solution methods”. For me this is great fun!
What two different students think of as “fun classes” may differ. What you are suggesting as fun classes actually does sound like fun to me also, but yes I suspect that you will need to get out of community college and into university for these.
@DadTwoGirls do you have to be perfect at math to go into any STEM field? I imagine upper level classes in a mathematics program and graduate school are challenging because the math is very abstract? I believe the same would be with a Physics degree! What school did you go to? I know it sounds like I’m asking a lot of personal info but this is best place to learn things from other people!
“do you have to be perfect at math to go into any STEM field”
It depends upon which STEM field, and what type of math. The various sciences vary in terms of how important math is. Most require some math, but not all require perfect math. Computer science is very logical and step by step, which in many ways makes it similar to math. Also, in computer science you typically need to think about how a program is structured in an overall way while working your way step by step through details, which is somewhat analogous to how a mathematical proof is structured. Thus it is more that CS is similar to math in terms of how you approach problems, rather than CS actually depending directly on math.
For upper level and graduate courses in math, you have to be VERY comfortable with basic math. Math is an area where what you learn today depends very much on what you learned yesterday, which depends upon the day before, which … Algebra has to be about as difficult as brushing you teeth.
“same would be with a physics degree!”
Yes, there is a lot of math in physics, at least through special relativity. I considered majoring in physics. I loved harmonic (or other) motion and was fine with special relativity, but changed my mind somewhere in the middle of quantum theory (which I had trouble with).
“What school did you go to”
Bachelors at MIT. Masters at Stanford. I was good in math the whole way through school. I was more challenged in some other areas. I actually think the degree to which I was challenged in foreign languages in high school might have helped me in the long run because I learned in high school something about how to deal with a subject that I found very difficult. Some of the other students at MIT had never had any class which they found difficult, came to MIT and found some classes difficult, and didn’t know what to do about it.
@DadTwoGirls are you saying you never had to practice to become good at math? I assume you’ve always had good grades in school since you got into MIT and Stanford! What all extracurricular activities were you involved In school? How come you didn’t go to Prom in school? I know the prom question is very personal but I wanted to ask to see if people have the same reasons I do! The reason I didn’t go was becuase it seemed too expensive, didn’t have a date or even had friends to go with becuase I changed schools three times throughout my four years of high school,and I have social anxiety! The only part i care about regarding Prom is dressing up and the pictures,maybe not the experience so much!