Should I retake Calc 3?

Hi everyone,

I recently took Calc 3, and I did really terrible. My final grade was a D; I’m really shocked and depressed right now because I’ve never gotten a D before. I had a really bad math professor; his lectures were misleading and confusing, and his tests did not reflect the homework problems or the materials he “tried” to cover during class (In fact, he has a rating of 1.9 now on ratemyprofessors.com). I thought I could pull through it… but it did not work out. I know D is “passing” according to the academic policies, but it is like failing to me. I’ve already signed up for a Calc 4 class, but I don’t whether I should move on to that class or retake Calc 3. I feel like everything is over. I just don’t know what to do anymore.

Sorry, I forgot to mention that I’m from Case Western Reserve University.

If the university allows you to retake it, I would.

What’s your major?

You have to accept some responsibility for your performance in the class. Did you meet with the professor for help or go to office hours or tutoring sessions? Could you have dropped the class if you knew you weren’t doing well? I would recommend retaking the class because you haven’t mastered the material to go to Calculus 4.

You will have good and bad teachers but you have to make the effort to learn the material on your own or ask for help. In college the responsibility in on you to monitor your performance and not get behind. If there is a problem you have to take the initiative to correct the issue before it is too late. With a D now you gpa has suffered and looks like you really need to repeat the class otherwise you will struggle in your next math class.

Surely if you got a D, you were aware before the end of the semester that what you were doing wasn’t working.

Here are general tips.
http://talk.qa.collegeconfidential.com/college-life/1920853-college-is-a-step-up-from-hs-16-tips-on-doing-well-in-college.html

Also at Case you could go to the Math Tutoring Center http://mathstats.case.edu/undergraduate-programs/math-tutoring-center/

As far as retaking Calc 3, talk to your adviser. If you are in engineering, you may need the material from that class.

Calc 4 doesn’t really build on Calc 3.

Usually the math course after calculus 3 is called differential equations and some students take linear algebra after calculus 3 even though you can take it after calculus 2. I got a D in a remedial math course my first semester of college but retook the math course and got a B+. If i were you i would retake it both for mastering the material and improving your GPA since only the higher grade will be calculated in your GPA (if that is what your schools does). One D isn’t end of the world because I would say more than half of people do fail a class or get a D once or twice in there college career.

Be proud you have already made it this far in the calculus sequence and whatever major you are in (I assume a STEM major) because I’m still in remedial math.