Should I drop the class? (how will this affect my admissions?)

Applying to College
1

<p>Hey I’m a senior and although I’ve been doing alright throughout highschool, I’m just struggling heavily with AP Calculus AB.</p>

<p>The first semester just ended and I’m most likely ending up with a C (and possibly, though highly not likely, a D+).</p>

<p>I was wondering if I should just drop the class because I doubt I’d do any better 2ns semester, or should I just keep going on with the class since I’m a senior and my second semester grades won’t affect my admissions too much?</p>

<p>The schools I’ve applied to are the UCs (Irvine, Santa Barbara, San Diego, Davis, UCLA) and USC and Art Center. I have a 3.9 GPA</p>

<p>I have yet to receive a letter from SC asking for my mid-year report (so I’m thinking I don’t have to do one?)</p>

<p>So yea, my counselor suggested me dropping and e-mailing the colleges and sincerely explaining to them how I tried hard but just couldn’t handle it since colleges are expected AP Calculus on my second semester transcript.</p>

<p>On the other hand, my friends say that the UCs, the bulk of what I’m applying to, don’t even consider my first semester senior year grades and it would be best to just stick with Calculus since I wouldn’t have to tell the colleges anything and to just wait and see what happens.</p>

<p>Either way, I’m pretty sure this C may affect admissions to some schools.</p>

<p>But my question is, which decision should I make for things less painful?</p>

<p>Thanks in advance.</p>

<p>P.S. if you need to know my current schedule is</p>

<li>Government</li>
<li>AP Lit and Comp.</li>
<li>Office Aide</li>
<li>AP Calculus AB</li>
<li>Yearbook</li>
<li>Advanced Art/Film</li>
</ol>

<p>SAT Score: 2150</p>

<p>If I do drop I would be replacing it with either Painting or Orchestra (only available classes)</p>

<p>So yea, help me decide please.</p>

2

<p>I say stick with it. Your midyear grades will be sent to the schools by your guidance office, anyway (they are supposed to do that). The schools will know your grade. </p>

<p>What you get 2nd semester doesn't matter for admission (although some schools will revoke admission if you really screw up 2nd semester --- one bad grade, as long as it's passing, shouldn't be a problem). </p>

<p>There are numerous discussions on CC about dropping APs. It is NOT recommended!! It is best to continue taking the class. If you are struggling, that's not such a bad thing --- learning to handle difficult courses is a very important step toward succeeding in college.</p>

3

<p>gatarobo im in the same situation as you right. im planning to drop out of ap physics. when you drop out, how do you report it? mail each college a letter?</p>

4

<p>Supposedly it's just enough to e-mail them.</p>

5

<p>meh, I don't have the option. We drop a class after the first week, F for the rest of the year. Glad I didn't take Calc, so many of my 4.0 friends are in the same boat.</p>

6

<p>Keep the class. It might look really bad if you drop it after getting a C. They might view the dropping of the class as a sign that you can't handle the work.</p>

7

<p>bump</p>

<p>thanks for the help so far. anyway else? different opinions?</p>

8

<p>I say stick with it. I'm getting a C also, 3 Cs in fact..I guess i couldn't handle 5 aps. If you drop an AP course, but one that you have a B in, is that ok? I'm planning to drop ap psych because the class is easy but the teacher gives a ridiculous amount of homework and i hate the class. I had an A but the homework grade brought me down 10 percent.. If i dropped that class i would have more time to concentrate on my hard aps: chem and calc. Would colleges look down on that?</p>

9

<p>keep the class, improve your grade. Actually this is a very valuable experience for you. Valuable does not always mean fun or enjoyable, but if you stick it out AND make some changes you could gain a lot from this. For one, discovering the value of setting a goal and deciding you'll do everything within your power to reach it. You'll have a chance to build up your study skills and habits which will be valuable when you enter college. And you'll have the satisfaction of seeing your hard work pay off. </p>

<p>The first thing to do is review how you got here. Is the teacher not good at explaining the concepts? If so, have you asked for extra help, asked other kids in the class who seem to get it for help, looked for other books other than the class text to explain concepts? And take a critical look at how much time you are really spending outside class working on this. A calculus class in college will meet 3x a week for an hour. The assumption is that for more difficult classes you'll be spending 3 hours outside class for every hour in the class. AP Calculus is a college-level class, so you should be spending 9 hours every week doing homework, reading the text, etc. Are you really spending this much time on it? Too many kids approach science and math classes like they're another class like history or government; with your years of experience understanding textbooks on subjects like these it's easy to do well in these classes with a reading when the chapter is assigned and another quick review before the test. This approach does not translate into math and science classes; they take a lot of study and practice.</p>

<p>As for next steps in learning the material, get one of the "Problem-Solver" books for it. These are thick workbooks with hundreds of solved problems on each topic you'll cover in calculus. After reading your textbook you open to the right chapter and then try to solve problems with the solution covered. If you get one wrong the book has the complete steps to get to the answer; read it over until you understand it, then cover the solution and repeat it until you get it right. You do this for 9 hours each and every week.</p>

<p>You may never enjoy calculus, but do this and I guarantee you'll be able to learn it.</p>

10

<p>So counselor pulled me into his office today.</p>

<p>I got a D.</p>

<p>That means my grades are
AP English Lit - B+
AP Calculus - D
Economics - A
Yearbook - A
Office Aide -A
Advanced Art/Film - A</p>

<p>He told me it shouldn't be too bad since I have decent grades in all my other class but I should let the UCs know immediately.</p>

<p>So I'll do that.</p>

<p>This was right after he told me I advanced onto National Merit Finalist standing.</p>

<p>So it was sorta bittersweet in terms of the emotions I felt.</p>

11

<p>Congratulations on being named a NMS semifinalist! Obviously, you are intelligent --- take mikemac's suggestions & maybe 2nd semester will be easier. Use this as an opportunity to figure out how to rise up & meet a real challenge. It will actually help you when you get to college!</p>

12

<p>give calc another shot and give some more effort (unless you already are). it looks good when you show determination (or whatever the colleges call it)</p>

13

<p>dang, I wish I could stay. I forgot to add that the school's policy for AP and Honors courses require a B- or above to stay in the class.</p>

<p>So what I decided is retake PreCalculus Honors in place of Calculus even though I got A's in that class last year. The reason for that is so that I can brush up on my fundamentals as I retake Calculus at a community college in the summer.</p>

<p>So I told that to the UC Santa Barbara admissions counselor and she said it was fine as I had already completed the requirement and since that was the only sore grade last semester. The fact that I'm not applying for a math-related major helped too.</p>

<p>The rest of the UCs wanted me to e-mail them instead of call them so I'll post their replies. I hope its similiar to the UCSB one. I know a lot of people on CC are in my shoes right now and worried as heck.</p>

14

<p>I think that dropping out was the lesser of two evils. If you basically failed at AB, the C semester would have killed you.</p>

15

<p>
[quote]
So what I decided is retake PreCalculus Honors in place of Calculus even though I got A's in that class last year. The reason for that is so that I can brush up on my fundamentals as I retake Calculus at a community college in the summer.

[/quote]
I recommend against the summer class. For one thing, take the summer off and relax before college in the Fall. And you need to keep time free for orientation, etc.</p>

<p>More importantly, calculus will either be required for your major or it won't. If not, why take it? If it is required, then there will be other classes that assume you've learned it (physics, etc). So you really need to learn it. If you struggled learning it in 15-20 weeks in HS how realistic is it to believe that you're going to learn it all in an 8 week summer course? Wait and take it with the other frosh at college.</p>

16

<p>Yea, I understand your reasoning behind it and I know it's true. Though, I figure me being proactive about making the class up would help my case and give me a better chance at avoiding revoked acceptances.</p>

17

<p>For most majors, if you know precalc well, that is more than enough. Calculus is not essential. I have taken AP Claculus and am enjoying it. We have a great teacher. Teacher makes a lot of difference for AP courses in science and math subjects.</p>

18

<p>I sympathise so much with you gator. My daughter, who has always been good at math, struggles horribly with Calc. She had a D (which is a fail at her school) in Calc 1. Unfortunately her high school requires Calc 1&2 to graduate so now she is taking both at the same time. It is a nightmare. I think calc is one of those things that really depends on how your brain is wired - however intelligent you are. She always found math easy till now. As mikemac says I would not do calc in college unless it is required for your major. I know my D is not planning to. I think she may do Statistics to meet any college math requirement though the calc 1 (which she is now passing on a retake with a different teacher) may meet her requirement. Gosh I hope so! Good luck.</p>

19

<p>s.c.mom, my hunch is that your D's calculus teacher is at fault. I don't believe that if your daughter was otherwise good in math, and she did well in precalc, she should have any problem with calc. The concepts in calculus are so logical, I love the subject thanks to our teacher. Unfortunately a bad teacher can mess up a kid who will then start disliking calculus.</p>