intellectually gifted with strong work ethic and not really meant for people who are of average intelligence and average work-ethic level?
Let’s face is, only a handful of a people get accepted into good colleges and only a handful of people ever finish even their undergrad programs in the US. College is too expensive and time-consuming for many people who are trying to balance work, family, and school life while trying very hard to survive paying their own bills while paying tuition. As a guy(age 22) who’s a community college student on his 4th year, I just feel like right now, I’m learning it the hard way that college may not be for me due to my lack of motivation and lack of intellectual talent that many successful college grads possess.
I’m already accepted into ASU but I still need this semester and the Summer semester to get my Associate’s before transferring to ASU this fall yet I feel like I’m still being held back by one class, which is Calculus 1. I took Calc 1 last semester but dropped out of the class because I was failing the class miserably and didn’t want to risk tarnishing my GPA and my chances of making it into my Software Engineering Program. Now I’m taking the course again, making a slight improvement of my academic performance in the subject but still not getting a passing grade right now. I failed 2 exams(one F, the other D) while I know I’m about to fail this upcoming 3rd test later today because how behind I am with my understanding of the lecture materials, while my HW grade is great since I turn in nearly all my homework. I still have 1 more chapter test and a final exam after this upcoming 3rd exam but Idk if I still have my chances of passing, which is frustrating since it means, I’ll have to retake the class again for the 3rd time and postpone my ASU transfer process if I don’t pass.
At this point, Idk if I should even bother sticking around in college much longer but at the same time, I’ll just be throwing all of my 4 years of hard work and money away if I drop out of college. I feel like the main reasons why I’m still sticking around in college right now because of peer pressure from my family(I still live with my parents right now) to finish my college education as soon as possible(without any breaks or gap years) and because it seems mandatory these days to have a Bachelor’s to get a good, livable job. I feel like an idiot in college and in my Calc 1 class.
Now before I get told I should re-consider my major, can you tell me which program outside of STEM and medical programs, that aren’t useless degrees that won’t open up much job opportunities for me and that best fits my interest(my interests are in computers and video game software and hardware)?
All of this is just making me stressed out and feel like a failure in life.
First of all you are not a failure. You are frustrated because you are struggling in a particular course for the second time. However, you have worked hard and must have passed many more classes than you have failed over the past four years to be close to finishing your associates degree and get a transfer. Try to reframe your thinking, it’s not all or nothing complete failure, it’s a class. Are there any tutoring resources at your school, a classmate who can help you, or other resources, so you might be able to pass by the end of the semester?
Yes, college is harder for some students than others, and yes some majors or courses are sometimes too hard for a particular student. But that doesn’t mean that the student can’t get through college, they just have to work harder, and maybe adjust their major or goals as they go along. If you are unsure about career paths, go to talk to your advisor or school career center. They may have resources to help you. You’ve come this far, you have the strength to try to fight for it.
@NorthernMom61 There are resources but the problem is, my Calc 1 professor relies strictly on the textbook as his teaching materials and only goes over a few HW problems as his “lectures” and then expects all of his students to self-teach themselves the rest of the materials through the textbook(despite how confusing and tedious the textbook is with it’s explanations of all the lectures). I seriously doubt the tutors are willing to re-teach me all the lectures since they have other students they need to help as well so basically, I have no one or nothing to give me extra help on my understanding of all the concepts but to gamble trying really hard to understand what the textbook is saying on the lectures. It’s beyond frustrating for me.
The tutor’s job is to help you with what you don’t understand. You deserve their services as much as any other student. Is there a classmate who gets it who can work with you? Kahn Academy? Open courseware lectures? I understand that you are frustrated and feel stuck right now. Any little movement in a positive direction might help.
What textbook? Have you tried searching that textbook on Google and YouTube? Its possible that someone else has posted explanations that can supplement your professor’s?
If not, you will definitely find materials if you search the specific topic you are studying.
I can definitely empathize with how you’re feeling. I just about failed (D-) Calc the first time I took it. But, when I retook it with another professor, I got an A-. Different teaching methods can make all the difference.
Can you reach out to other students and form a study group? Can you afford to hire a private tutor for this one class? I know it may sound expensive, but in the overall scheme of things, paying a couple hundred dollars for a private tutor to get you through the one class that is standing in the way of your degree is definitely a worthwhile expenditure and will pay off in terms of long-term financial benefits. Good luck.
@HMom16 If I failed 3 out of 5 exams(my last two exams being Chapter 5 and the Final Exam) in a class, is it still even possible to pass the course if I still continue to turn in all my HW assignments with my total HW grade being 87% while my total test grade is currently 51%(and will soon drop lower after how mediocre I know did on the 3rd test just today)?
@Grijalva480 I can’t answer that question for you as I don’t know the weighting of the HW and the exams. I would suggest you meet with the professor asap and determine whether it is possible to pass the class. If not, perhaps you can withdraw from Calculus for this term and look for another option.
And that figure includes people aged 65+, who grew up at a time when college was less important, and who are less likely to have degrees.
If you look at the younger generation specifically, which is more informative about current conditions, then bachelor’s attainment is above 30%. In 2015, for example, 36% of people in the 25 to 34 age range had bachelor’s degrees. See Table 1 here:
Have you explored other computer-related careers that don’t require Calculus? Software engineering is a very intense program and really best suited to high achieving and highly motivated students. That’s not the only path into IT. If, for example, you were interested in front-end development you’d be much less likely to have a calculus requirement. Many of the courses might even be in Communications rather than Computer Science. And there’s a big demand for talented front-end developers, including in the gaming industry.
Doing some career exploration first before making a major decisions such as “it’s software engineering or I drop out” might be a good idea. It is doable to get a good job without a degree, but usually requires an even stronger work ethic and lack of a degree does shut you out from most large companies.
@Corbett Well that’s nice to hear. This only just makes me feel like an even bigger idiot and loser that I’m not one of those 30% of US adults with a bachelor’s degree and I’m 22 years old. I might as well just admit that I’ll probably never amount to anything with my life, especially since people my age group seemed to be more college-educated than any other generation.
Or you could – as previously suggested in post #11 above – look into IT careers and degrees other than software engineering that do not require knowledge of calculus.
It seems like you are conflating “college” and “software engineering”. OK, maybe it’s true that software engineering is not the best choice for people with average intelligence and work ethic. Neither is rocket science or brain surgery. However, maybe there are other courses of study in college, and in IT specifically, that are not software engineering.
There seems to be a pattern of thinking prevalent in schools that one NEEDS a 4-year degree in order to be successful. It’s complete garbage. Maybe college isn’t for you after all, that’s fine. Plenty of other things you can do.
Are you sure you failed those exams? One thing no one tells college freshmen is that “the curve is your friend”. If you only get a 50%, that could be a C…
I don’t know if moving on to Calc 2-3 and Differential Equations would be advisable if OP does end up barely passing Calc 1. If that happens, they might consider spending the summer shoring up their Calc 1 knowledge so they don’t have a weak foundation for upcoming courses that build on Calc 1.
College isn’t just for intellectuals. That doesn’t make sense. College is for anyone who wants to learn. You have been at CC for a while, but so what? I spent three years at CC, and three years at a Cal State. I got my degree. There is no time limit. Another poster mentioned the other day that her husband took ten years. My neighbor JUST completed her BS, after a hiatus of 30 years. It doesn’t matter if it takes you a long time.
You have one especially difficult class. You will have to do everything possible to pass it. Go to prof hours, get a tutor, go to the tutoring center on campus. Maybe see if this summer, if you don’t pass this class, you can do an online course and get credit. Talk to an advisor at your school.
The majority of people with bachelor’s degrees in all fields - from art history to philosophy to psychology to physics to chemistry to computer science - are gainfully employed in a job that requires a college degree and pays a middle-class salary. I work in video game software myself, and there are tons of people across software and hardware who aren’t software developers and didn’t study computer science (or any natural/physical science) in college. It takes a lot of people to run a video game company - lawyers, accountants, program managers, marketers and publicists, ethics specialists (yep), designers, HR managers, artists, community managers, and so on. (I myself am a UX researcher; my BA is in psychology, but I do have a graduate degree as well.) There are also a staggering array of jobs at technology companies in general.
But if you are really interested in software development, I wouldn’t let one class defeat you. Spend some time figuring out why you’re not doing so hot in calculus I. Is it difficulty understanding the material, the way it’s presented, that you need to spend more time studying, or something else? There are some reasons that can be overcome (and you can still major in CS; you just have to work harder) and there are some reasons that indicate another major may be a better fit for you.