So, I’m a rising senior and want to major in mechanical engineering. I’ll apply to various competitive schools. I’m worried having a c in physics looks extremely bad. In my defense, it was a dual enrollment class, my first physics class, and a short six weeks class (the professor was trying to squeeze everything in 6 weeks). I want to show that I’m still interested in physics because I genuinely enjoyed the class. What can I do to show that I still have a passion for the subject?
Start with the fact that ‘passion’ isn’t the top priority: for engineering what matters most is the confidence that you can handle the material. Is a summer school physics class possible? What about in the autumn?
The summer class option is not available. I already signed up for my autumn classes; one of them is “C programming for engineers”. I won’t be able to take an engineering course until the spring semester. I’m thinking about taking a Coursera course for the summer.
You asked what you can do, and IMO getting a strong physics grade onto your transcript will be more useful than ‘programming for engineers’ or an ‘engineering’ course. If you have no summer options at all and your schedule for the autumn can’t be changed then there isn’t much that you can do but excel in the classes you are taking.
Note that most, but not all, engineering programs are direct admits. A C in physics is a red flag for an engineering program, so you might want to research colleges that allow you to choose engineering after acceptance (or transfer in after admission to the general college).
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Okay, thank you so much for your advice!