To drop or to accept something lower then i want? College course decision!!!!?

Question

I have been working for a 3.7 all semester and i need to maintain above a 3.5 for my graduate progam that I plan on attending. I have straight A's in everything excpet for my calc class and last week I notfied my instructor that I was going to drop the class if i got anything below a B on my exam due to the fact that I am sturggling wiht a C+... today i went to pick up my exam and got a C- on it and have a week till the final and he basically told me that it was impossible to get anything above a C...
but then lectured me that IT would be ridiculous if i dropped the course becasue it is a required course for the college and I have already done the work.

My responce? I was gonna just take Calc I and calc II over the summer and get them out of my way. I have till tomorrow to drop the class and I need immediate help. What is your opinon. Stick with the C and deal with something lower then a 3.5? Or throw away months of hard work?

My teacher is crazy and I have repeatidly asked him for help and showed him my concern about my grades. When I went to get the test today he said that people put to much empahsis on grades and not enough on learning concepts. I have been in his office 6 times getting help and he knows i have a tutor. I mean I am not a math major but how much more can I give?!?!? It isnt too late to drop and I wont lose a dime becuz at my college you pay one sum for a range of 12-18 credits. anything lower you pay less anything high then 18 u pay more. Luckily i have 18 credits. I wouldnt lose a dime.. but would lose alot of time i spent studying

Answer 1

My first thought upon reading your question is: What makes you think you will do any better with this course if you take it later?

One key consideration you need to think about is: Will this show up on your transcript as 'withdrew passing'?

If so, down the road you may have to explain when getting into your grad school why you withdrew from the course. I work in college admissions, and I can tell you that I have asked that question before. Did a student simply 'give up' on a course because it was too hard....or did they hang in there and fight it out? Admissions committees will weigh the fact that you had all A's in every other course except one.

With that said, should you choose to withdraw, you had better bank on getting an A or B in the course or it will look bad to an admissions committee someday. I am not trying to discourage you to not drop the course, but sometimes you can't be good at everything. It sounds like you are really trying to do well in the class, so perhaps this course, no matter when taken will always be a struggle for you?

I think it is admirable that you are concerned for your grade, however unless you see a very clear reason as to why you are getting a C right now....and how taking the course in summer school will make you get an A, I would just ride this out and fight hard to maintain a strong C. Beg your prof to let you do extra credit work....he may say No (as many do), but it never hurts to grovel a bit! ;-)

One final thought. In four years of undergrad degree, there is no way that one C will drop your straight A 4.0 GPA to a 3.5

Good luck with your decision.

Answer 2

First of all, let me say that getting a C isn't such a bad thing and won't end your academic career! It's perfectly natural for students to excel at one thing but not another. But in the end, it's not going to kill you, nor your overall GPA.

If you were failing or getting a D, then it would be a different story. I might say that you're in over your head and would be more justified to drop it. But with a C, that's not really a problem.

Even if you were a math major, one C won't be the death of you. And having a straight A average doesn't mean you'll always get straight A's.

Fact is, upon graduation, your grades won't really matter to an employer. They'll be far more interested in your simply graduating. So I think you're being far to nitpickey.

And FYI, taking classes over summer could be even harder because at most schools, the summer sessions are shorter, but we need to cover the same amount of material as during the regular year (Fall, Winter, and Spring).

Answer 3

Well, you wouldn't be "throwing away" months of hard work if you took calc in summer school--you'd start off ahead by applying what you already know, and maybe you'd understand the material better the second time around (or if it's taught by a better professor). And, if calc was all you took in the summer, you'd be able to focus all your time and energy on just that one class.

Thinking long term, if getting a C in this class will prevent you from getting into the grad program you want, I'd drop it and take it in the summer. But if you just don't want a C on your transcript b/c you've never got one before, I wouldn't do all the semester's work over again to spare my transcript from one C.

Answer 4

A "C" will not kill you. You have four years of credits, and you are saying that one C is going to pull you down from a 3.5? How much is that class weighted?????