<p>Hi everyone, I was hoping I could get some help here.</p>
<p>I am a Freshman at the University of Minnesota - Twin Cities and I just finished my first semester.</p>
<p>My intended major is Computer Science and I am an international student. I was originally put in College of Liberal Arts because I applied late and I am doing everything I can to transfer to College of Science and Engineering.</p>
<p>To transfer, my degree requires a minimum of 3.2 GPA of the following Classes: Calc 1, Calc 2, Physics 1. physics 2 and Intro to Computer Science/Programming.</p>
<p>Now, without blaming anyone, I wanted to say that I finished Calculus 1 with a "C" this semester. It was my first time taking Calc and my professor was Asian, it was a STRUGGLE to understand him so I had to self teach myself.</p>
<p>I am planning on transferring on spring 2016 (sophomore year),and next semester I was planning to take Calc 2, Physics 1 and Intro to computer programming. </p>
<p>Considering that I took a C in Calculus 1 and almost everyone has told me Calculus 2 is way harder, I dropped Calculus 2 and I am retaking Calculus 1 next semester because the school adviser told me the highest grade out of both attempts is counted in your GPA.</p>
<p>Would you suggest me to stick to this or take Calculus2 instead? I just want to maximize my chances and getting another low grade would hurt me, which is why I'm giving Calc 2 another shot. Am I basically wasting my time?</p>
<p>Any advice would be greatly appreciated, thanks!</p>
I have heard that counselors don’t recommend retaking a class unless you don’t pass it (get below a C-). Also, for the technical GPA (the math and science courses) all classes that you take toward a class will be used to calculate it, so even if you retake it and get an A in it, your average for the class will still be a B. I believe for overall GPA, only the highest or maybe the latest attempt is included for the calculation of your GPA.
Also, I don’t believe that you would need a minimum of a 3.2 to transfer. Students will at least a 3.2 technical GPA are automatically admitted to the engineering program to which they applied. After that, they will go on down the list and fill the remaining spots with the other students. In some of the engineering programs, you may only need the minimum 2.0 technical GPA to gain a spot. It depends on the engineering program. I believe that chemical engineering and biomedical engineering are the 2 most competitive engineering programs, and with both of those, students probably do need close to the 3.2 technical GPA in order to gain admission. Have you spoken with an admissions counselor from CSE? If not, I would suggest that you do. They will be able to provide you with the GPA cutoffs for computer science for the last several years so that you can compare it with your technical GPA. You may be right on track and may not need to retake calc 1 after all.
Retaking would probably be a good idea (perhaps with a different teacher, if possible.) Calc II is hard, and I got an A in Calc I. I’m not trying to brag, just trying to be realistic. Is tutoring offered at your school? If so, use it. If the teacher offers office hours, go to him/her for help. In an office hour, you can ask the teacher to re-explain something if you can’t get it in class. Best of luck.