quitter or failure

<p>i'm a senior currently taking calculus 2 at my local community college.
however, i'm not doing well in the class. we just took our first test yesterday and im sure i didn't do so great.
my dillema is whether i should drop the class now or continue taking it. the last day to drop is feb 22.
if i quit now then i have to notify all 8 of the universities i applied to that i quit. but if i continue taking the class and i fail then i dont want colleges to think "oh, he already failed a college course. lets take away his acceptance."
but if i fail then when i take the course again then maybe i will be able to better understand the class.
ive never dropped a class or even worried about failing a class. but they might also think that it's a high math class and i'm taking time out of my already filled high school schedule to take the class.</p>

<p>here's a bit of info about me
hispanic, mexican
student body president
ap bio
ap us history
ap english
ap spanish
ap govt
ap microecon
habitat for humanity
california scholarship federation
school newspaper, ads manager
the calc 2 class meets 6:45 - 9:20 on mondays and wednesdays of every week.</p>

<p>the colleges i applied to were
usc
ucla
uc berkeley
nyu
stanford
pepperdine
sdsu
cal poly san luis obispo</p>

<p>--9:20 pm?</p>

<p>10char</p>

<p>ya from 6:45 pm to 9:20 pm</p>

<p>any suggestions, questions, comments, etc
- would definetely appreciate the input. ive asked friends but i think its better to get the point of view of someone who doesnt know me personally</p>

<p>Why don't you wait until you actually receive your test back before making a decision? Even if think you did badly, you really might have done ok...it happens.</p>

<p>I'd stick with it, I've heard it's very very rare for colleges that have accepted kids to repeal the decision based on grades, but if you're on the bubble for a couple of these schools quitting might push you to the reject pile. </p>

<p>In other words, if they have to hear bad news, I'd think it would be better for them to hear after they've made a decision. </p>

<p>Also, you have a while left this semester. I'm nearly certain that no college would repeal their decision if you were to make a low C, would that be attainable?</p>

<p>well my teacher gave us the test key after the test, and i missed a lot/majority of the questions. and i didnt pass the quiz we had a few days before the test. but she also doesn't go over homework so i had to buy a students solutions manual, which shows me how to solve the problems. hopefully that manual helps quite a bit.
to get a low c i think i'm going to have to try really hard. but i think it could , maybe, be possible.
i also dont want the studying to interfere with my studying for my ap tests</p>

<p>Even if you end up with an F, that might be far better than dropping the class...</p>

<p>My son (also a senior) is taking calculus at a college this year too, and he's finding calc 2 this quarter much more difficult than calc 1. So far he's probably hanging onto a B, but it's not easy and it's the first B he's ever gotten, including some upper div. college classes he's taken... and that's assuming he can keep it at a B for the next 5 weeks or so. Not necessarily a safe assumption.</p>

<p>Anyway, I understand how you're feeling. I don't know what the best thing to do is. Would you considering calling a couple of the colleges and asking them what they'd think about you dropping it? I know kids who've done that in the past, and sometimes the school wants to see them finish it, but other times they say it's okay and not a problem. You have a full schedule without it after all.</p>

<p>I know a girl who called admissions because she wanted to drop a science class. She suggested to them that maybe she could do a different science class in its stead by correspondence, and they said that would be fine... and this is a science/math kid with science/math ambitions at very selective colleges. If they didn't think it was a problem, I think you might find a bit more flexibility than you fear.</p>

<p>Short of calling and getting an opinion from an actual admissions officer, I think we'd all be guessing about what's the best thing to do.</p>

<p>Have you asked the teacher if she curves her grades? If you did badly, I bet others did too. If you are good at math, you can probably bring it up. However, it looks like you are taking 8 majors, with the math included. If this is so, I would drop the class. You could write to the schools and let them know that 8 majors was taking away from your ability to focus sufficiently on each subject, (or something like that.) Because, it is......I doubt they would care and, yes, I think an F or a D would be bad on your transcript. BTW what does your counselor say?</p>

<p>
[quote]
Even if you end up with an F, that might be far better than dropping the class...

[/quote]

This is terrible advice. An F will certainly not look good.</p>

<p>Some colleges will factor college courses into your college GPA (not sure if any of your schools do this), and medical schools (I don't know about other professional or graduate schools) require you to submit all transcripts for college courses ever taken.</p>

<p>So if it looks like you're going to do very poorly, drop it.</p>

<p>I say drop it. You have plenty on your plate. A quick email to each of your colleges stating that you dropped this class is sufficient. You don't need to explain why or make an excuse. It shows maturity that you recognize when you're in over your head and make adjustments before it's too late. If you have a pattern of starting things and then quitting them, that's a different story, but I'll bet that doesn't describe you. </p>

<p>Calculus will be waiting for you next year :).</p>

<p>I agree with riverrunner. Drop it. You have plenty of other academic subjects, and frankly those long evenings in class must play havoc with your ability to study for your high school classes.</p>

<p>The fact is, a mediocre experience with community college calculus doesn't get you anywhere in college, anyway. You will probably have to retake it in college.</p>

<p>I second the advice from 'rentof2. Getting advice directly from admissions seems like your best bet here. Don't worry about calling. They are used to getting questions from students.</p>

<p>USCsays that i should drop. i wont need to send them a letter telling them that i dropped and it wouldnt affect their decision on my acceptance. and that they dont like seeing Fs.
UCLA says that i need to send them a letter if i drop and then they will have to review my application again.
Stanford says that i need to send them a letter if i drop and then they will have to review my application again.
Pepperdine says that i can drop and i dont need to send them a letter and it woudnt affect their decision of my acceptance.
Cal Poly says that if i think i can get a c than i should stay and if i sent them a letter telling them that i dropped there was nothing they could do cuz they cant change my application at this point. so when they got my grades at the end of the year, my conditional acceptance could be withdrawled.
SDSU says that i can drop and it wont affect my already acceptance.
UC berkeley and NYU were closed so i couldnt talk to them.</p>

<p>^ just make a decision and wait.</p>