Not sure what to do as math major?

Transfer Students UC Transfers
1

<p>Struggles I've had aside, I'll try and get to the point. My GPA is a 2.93 at the moment and as long as I've done alright it should be just above the 3.0 mark after this semester. I've literally gotten C's in all of my major prereq's except for Calc III (got an A) and I'm waiting on Linear Algebra's grade this semester right now (which feels like it'd be a C as well). I'm not really sure where I'm going wrong here and why I chose this path. I generally love to do math, but I am a very poor test taker and unfortunately they don't put much weight in homework (have gotten 97.5% on my homework overall in my Linear Algebra (proof based) class but am carrying around a 68% testing average at this point. I study, but my professor surprises me all of the time. I am getting good grades in my physics classes. The one I am taking right now is proof based and I am doing really well. Unfortunately, I don't really have any interest in physics outside of watching documentaries or reading Richard Feynman books. My goal when I got to CC was to transfer to a great university but at this point I am considering whether I should even bother to apply to UC Riverside and UC Merced because I have a fear of being rejected. I have spent three years here and after this semester I really can't undo what's been done because I have no more math or physics classes to take after this semester. I have been considering on applying to the Cal States and I am equally worried about getting into those as well...my counselor told me CSU Northridge would be a fit for me because I'm in the area...but then I think of graduate school prospects and it all seems too bleak to me to continue on unless what I've done can be made up for with research and good grades in my upper-divison courses. Most of my C's were due to lack of studying and high-unit semesters where I tried to micromanage my math classes because I also tried to be an honor student, which was a lot of work and gave me less time to focus on my major courses. What I want to know is...should I even continue? It's one of those things where you want to do this for the rest of your life but there's another thing out there that you're better at and comes without much struggle but you'd end up hating it...</p>

<p>My parents want me to finish my pharmacy pre-req's. My counselors say to switch my major to Chemistry or Biology...I hate those two subjects, but I am pretty good at them. I have a fear of what I should do next if I get rejected by all the universities I apply to because I have a bad GPA as well as bad grades for my major. I figured I could do pharmacy because I could make money that way, but I've constantly been going down lists of majors and just could not see myself doing anything else. I don't know, though. Reality is starting to sink in sadly. I know I'd have much higher grades if I did another major, but I like to solve problems (not interested in becoming an engineer, though). They won't let you retake C's here. I wish there was a do-over option for getting C's, but I never really grasped the whole fail it or drop it and get a W mentality. Never 'quit' any class.</p>

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<p>Congratulations on not dropping any courses, this pervasive drop, get a W and take it again next semester mentality is a major reason why classes are so hard to get at CCCs and why it usually takes longer than two years to be eligible to transfer.</p>

<p>If you do not like Chemistry or Pharmacy you should not major in them even if you are good at them because you do not want to spend the next 40 years doing something you have no interest in.</p>

<p>You are in a very difficult position with the thing you like doing the most not being something you can get good grades in. I am pretty sure that UC Merced and UC Riverside would accept you, particularly if you can get your GPA up to a 3.0. If you are in the CSU Northridge service area they will definitely accept you since you would have priority over applicants from other service areas. You will definitely be able to transfer to a four public university and have a chance to get your BA or BS.</p>

<p>If you are getting good grades in Physics you might want to consider that as a prospective major rather than Math. There is a lot more Math involved in Physics courses when you start taking upper division Physics courses and Math based problem solving. Also, Physics majors are competitive for most of the positions that a prospective employer would hire a Math major for. UC Riverside has a highly regarded Physics and Astronomy Department.</p>

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<p>Seems like they could reduce this problem by putting students who are repeating a course previously attempted (whether failed, passed, or late-dropped) at the back of the queue for registering for the course in subsequent terms. I.e. someone trying to take a course previously attempted can only register at the beginning of the term after everyone taking the course for the first time has had a chance to pre-register (and those trying to take a course previously attempted go to the back of the wait list behind the first timers).</p>

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<p>^ I strongly agree. I think that there should be some mechanism so that those trying to repeat a class have to wait until everyone else who wants to take it and has not had an opportunity to take it so far has had a chance to register for the course. If students who drop numerous courses and take a lot of Ws were put in a situation where they might not get a chance to take the course again they would not drop courses so casually.</p>