I have a dilemma. I started community college in Los Angeles, California on Fall 2016. I have been full time in long semesters, have taken from 12-17 units each semester and I have also taken classes in winter and summer semesters. In winter 2018 I had to drop a class because I got sick, that’s the only semester I had to take off. My major is math, and I want to be a math teacher and professor one day. I have worked so hard since I started, handling two jobs and full time school. Despite that, I have been able to maintain a 4.0 gpa. I have done more than 100 units because of all the prerequisites I had to take. I have a total of 3 Ws in my transcripts. Last fall 2019 I had to get a W in a class and I was told I might have to pay back the financial aid money I got, but if I took winter class this year, I would be fine because it counts towards fall. So I decided to take a class that I already withdraw before. I had to quit my jobs in order to do so, and I have dedicated my whole time to this class. Despite everything, I’m still not getting this class and I have failed two tests already. I don’t know what to do, because I don’t know if it would be better to get a second W or an F. I feel like getting a W again in the same class, it would make me look like a double quitter, even though I only have less than a week left for the class. I Love math and it is very frustrating for me not understanding this class and not being able to memorize everything in such a short time. I feel like I should get a W so I don’t affect my gpa but I don’t want to look like a quitter, even though I know I am not and that I tried and worked very hard in this class. Anyone can relate and give me some advice? I would highly appreciate it. Thank you!
Normally, a W is better than an F. Ask the financial aid office about the W vs. F. Will one or the other be better for you with that?
Have you met with your instructor about the difficulties you are having with this class? I know it is late in the term, but you need to do that. Yes, you will need to take the class again at some point, so it is best if you start to find out where you are going wrong.
Thank you for your reply happymomof1. I talked to the instructor and he said If I’m not getting it, that I should take it again in a regular semester. I talked to financial aid and they said either way it wouldn’t affect me. My dilemma is because I feel like a double quitter if I get a second W in the same class, but the instructor said it’s not good to get a bad grade in a class that counts towards my major.
I would also think that a W is much better than an F.
What is the class? Is it a math class?
At your school, does a decent letter grade (ABC) erase a W? Assuming you want to transfer to a 4-year, do you know the policies re: W?
@DadTwoGirls the class is linear algebra. The instructor suggested that I should not show a bad grade in my transcripts, specially in a math class because that is my major. I feel so frustrated because I love math, but I really can’t memorize all the theorems and proofs in this class. I ended up getting a W. I talked to the instructor, a counselor and an advisor, and they suggested the W is better. I just feel like a dummy for not getting it, but everyone tells me everyone goes through a bad class, and this is mine for sure.
@lookingforward grades don’t erase Ws unfortunately at my school. I already got accepted in a 4 year university, and I called them to ask and they said it doesn’t affect if I retake the class and pass it. I will retake the class in the spring semester again.
I will admit that I did not find linear algebra all that difficult (I was a math major). However, I really did not “get it” until I needed to use linear algebra. It was years later that I took an econometrics class that made heavy use of linear algebra. I had to spend some time looking at my old linear algebra book, and looking at my econometrics book, and carefully working through what was actually being done. What did all those numbers in the matrix mean? What did all the various multiplications and additions mean? Why was it so much easier to summarize this using matrices?
After using linear algebra for a while I found that I “got it”, and was able to understand why is was useful and what it actually all meant. This did however take a while. I will not claim to remember all of the details 40+ years later.
You might need to similarly take some time and find some real examples that you can work through. This can be a time consuming task and might need to be done when you are not otherwise consumed by other work.