Rejected by College, discouraged and fustrated!!

<p>I wanted to major in EE in a certain college (the only college on the island so I don't have other options except overseas) but I wasn't accepted because I failed maths. the passmark is a 3, 2 or the best score 1. i got a 4.
This really sucks! I wanted to start College this year so badly! the interviewer said i would have to go back to high school or get in a private program to do maths and come back next year. A whole fricking year...
There is no way I'm going back to high school unless a private program is more expensive.
I'm so pi**ed at myself for not passing maths.
<--- my user name taunts me now.</p>

<p>I am sorry, but let’s face the facts now.</p>

<p>You can’t get into the program, right? But can you reapply without going back to high school?</p>

<p>If you may, get a job, doesn’t matter what it is. Study math whenever you can.
There is no another way out if oversea is a cross-out option already.</p>

<p>You could apply to a different program that is easier to get accepted into. Then do well in that program the first year transfer into the EE program when you raise the grades.</p>

<p>Sorry you didn’t get into your program. The University of North Dakota offers an EE program that is virtually 99% online if your interested.</p>

<p>If you need to study math, try khanacademy.org </p>

<p>He’s a MIT and Harvard grad that creates online tutoring videos for every level of math. His website has helped my tremendously in brushing up on my math.</p>

<p>Only way to learn math is to put in the work. Do practice problems, watch the videos, learn theory, problem solving techniques, etc.</p>

<p>Math based degrees (engineering) are not for everyone. If you struggle with high school math, college level math will not get any easier.</p>

<p>I also use khanacademy and his tutorials are awesome!</p>

<p>Not to be discouraging, but I would start off by considering why you failed math - was it a lack of resources, effort, or ability? I ask because I know that my EE department saw a large number of prospective engineers waste their college careers because they lacked either ability or drive. They either dropped out of the programs (or were kicked out) or else graduated with such poor grades and recommendations that they couldn’t get a decent job.</p>

<p>Make sure that you spend the next year working on your math, and also make sure that a lifetime of hard math sounds both appealing and possible - otherwise you are likely setting yourself up for failure.</p>

<p>If you really care about this goal, then disregard this setback. Thats just what it is - a setback. CC has so many success stories of people coming from much worse situations, making the best of what happened, and shooting for that slim 1%, even when everyone was telling them it was impossible. I was just reading an inspiring post by a WIFE AND HUSBAND who did not graduate high school and spent 10 years without a degree to come back, work through community college, graduate, and then go on to UC BERKELEY - even with poor records in GPA in the past. They both made it in, its absolutely incredible.</p>

<p>Go back, and really know why you wanted to do this. Whatever the case, if its worth it to suck it up and try again, then do it. Engineering is all about failure, learning from them, and then taking the next step with a better understanding. Couple years from now, you will look back and proud of your commitment. I realize its hurtful that this happened, so absolutely take time to mope - its expected - but then get up and get out there.</p>

<p>Study math at home. Go to amazon.com, get some books on pre-calculus and calculus (preferably books meant for self-study, not full-fledged textbooks), and study. If pre-calc is too much too soon, begin with what I call ACT-level math (I have no idea what country you’re in or if the ACT is even heard of there, but buying a book to help you with the ACT’s math portion is the perfect place to start if you can barely remember how to factor a polynomial).</p>

<p>Study the following topics:</p>

<p>ALGEBRA:
factoring polynomials (especially the difference of two squares, i.e. (x^2-4), how would you factor that?)
multiplying polynomials
long division of polynomials
rational expressions
partial fractions
properties of exponents and logarithms</p>

<p>TRIGONOMETRY:
sine, cosine, tangent, cosecant, secant, and cotangent (you need to know like the back of your hand that sine is opposite over hypotenuse, or y/r, etc.)
how to use trig functions to find distances
Pythagorean theorem
trig identities, trig identities, trig identities
radians, radians, radians</p>

<p>ANALYTIC GEOMETRY:
graphs of equations
slope of a line, slope of a line, slope of a line
polar equations and their graphs
parametric equations and their graphs
conic sections, their graphs, vertices, etc.</p>

<p>SEQUENCES AND SERIES:
infinite sequences and series
representing a repeating decimal as an infinite series
geometric, harmonic, telescoping, and alternating series</p>

<p>CALCULUS:
the limit concept
the epsilon-delta definition of the limit (optional)
slope-secant line
slope of a function, the derivative
derivatives of polynomials, rational expressions, etc.
derivatives of exponential, logarithmic, and trig functions
antiderivatives
definite integrals
Riemann sums
the integral as area
derivatives and integrals of polar and parametric equations</p>

<p>Study these topics, DO AS MANY PRACTICE PROBLEMS AS POSSIBLE AND GRADE YOURSELF AND SEE WHAT YOU DID WRONG ON PROBLEMS, and you should drastically improve your math performance.</p>

<p>thanks guys.
I’ve been thinking and I came to the conclusion that’s its better if I get a year to brush up on my maths and physics than go to college, find that EE is too hard and then be kicked out. i guess i could wait another year.</p>

<p>A year can be rewarding.
Maybe you change your mind and instead apply for computer science, or liberal art major!</p>

<p>Computer Science? Liberal arts? NEVER!
Engineering is the only major for me. Can’t see myself doing anything else.</p>

<p>Computer science is pretty much engineering.</p>

<p>not to be a jerk but why do you think eng is definitely for you when you aren’t good at math?</p>

<p>einstein10 asks a very good question! Majoring in engineering would be really hard if you were struggling in math the entire time.</p>

<p>LOL I am very polemic, and I love critical thinking. I am very talkative, and presentable. So my parents always thought I would become a lawyer and I did share the same hope. My teachers used to recommend me that route too.</p>

<p>But instead I move to engineering and science, and I hope I won’t change my mind anymore.</p>

<p>hahahaha Come on man. Engineering is not a special thing. It’s just applied science and applied liberal arts. Engineering is an effort of everyone. You can’t do engineering without those folks doing budget, cleaning the floors, or preparing dishes for you. </p>

<p>There are 40 years old parents return to school to major in engineering, or non-engineering. </p>

<p>I am serious.</p>

<p>OP - Is it possible to take general-education classes elsewhere to transfer them later, in the meantime brush up on the maths, and reapply later? I do not know of your situation’s specifics, but that would be the best way to maximise one’s productivity.</p>

<p>I only struggled in maths because throughout HS I always thought of maths as a very hard subject. by the time i started to apply myself and realized that I could understand maths if i studied the right way…it was a little too late.
I know for sure that once I get the maths this time around, I can survive engineering in college.</p>