Dropping classes in college

[phillgt2002]

I'm torn on if I should drop my math class. I failed my two tests and my teacher is ghetto and unforgiving. She doesn't get to the point with the lectures and she spews stupid personal jokes to the students there.

Now, I know I could just talk to a counselor there at the school but I just want to know from people that have been through this rodeo or are probably thinking of the things I am thinking of. I'm 18 and I have a ton of time on my hands. I've been planning to transfer to another college which requires a math class for me to do so and I don't know if this community college even has summer math classes. Should I drop it and attempt to take it during the summer or next semester or just continue on? If I fail this it'll take my gpa intro the *******.

 

[Pezzarinho17]

Personal opinion and experience say don't drop out. Maths is such a powerful subject to have a thorough understanding, you will be thanking the decision for years to come. It sounds directly like it will allow you to carry on along your current career path as well. I had a really bad Maths teacher once and I think it makes a much larger impact in Maths class than any other subject that I have studied.

If you can speak to someone at the college about changing teacher they may be able to work out a new schedule for you? If you have friends doing Maths classes with other teachers, why not ask them for an opinion as well?

 

[Dean]

Is it possible to change to another math class with another teacher? Otherwise it might be an idea to go to the dean and talk with him/her about it.

 

[Omnis]

If you're failing, drop it and take it next semester with a better professor. If you think you can get a C, just take the C.

 

[Blitz24]

I suggest finding a tutor or just looking for someone who can assist. The teacher sounds very bad honestly. I have had my share of bad teachers sadly as well. I in 5 years of college and graduate school only dropped two classes because I thought the topics were not fit to me. If this is a required course (like you said), find all ways possible to understand the material. If it can't be done then you may need to work out a 2nd avenue of recourse.

 

[phillgt2002]

Hmm. I'll look into the drop dates and whether I can switch teachers. I reckon it's probably too late but we'll see.

 

[Third Reign]

I failed an exam or two throughout my studies (some professors still thought they had to fail 60% of the class, and I was WoW addicted early on) and in the end hearing the subject a second time made me understand the matter a lot better. But then again taking an extra tour in German university is much more forgiving since tuition doesn't throw you into debt.

If the next semester/year schedule allows you to retake the course without problem I'd opt for a retake. If it completely screws over the schedule then I would dedicate some time to self study and read up on the subject yourself. Math is a very well documented subject and there is tons of great literature. Pro tip for math: reading up on the matter alone does not really help you, understanding an already written proof/solution is completely different from getting there yourself, so get some practice questions to solve, lots of them.

 

[ildd]

I faced the same issue last semester. My professor didn't really know how to teach plus he was always gone... I ended up staying in the class, but I think I should have just redone it. That was with a 60 on both of the first 2 tests(which is a D, while everyone else got 20-40's). Looking back now, I should have dropped.
At my C.C. the date to drop is March 20th. I don't know if your state has a drop limit, but in Texas, you can only drop 6 courses. Take that into consideration, too.

 

[sumbrownkid]

What I learned in my College career that a lot of the subjects you study will largely be self-taught. Classes are just there to gauge yourself to see where you stand and what the class is currently discussing. If you're having trouble and you don't like the professor try to find another professor that is to your liking or a tutor that will help you. Believe me, I was horrible at math in high school but my brothers instilled in me a work ethic that forced me to study at the library for hours until I knew what I was doing.

That's the secret to math really, you just have to put your time into it. Just like with anything else. You did say you have lot's of time on your hands. And I'm sure you can do it. If I can, then surely you can.

 

[phillgt2002]

I'm going to drop it and take it during the summer. I have until April to do so anyways. Can't believe it's almost March!

 

[starknight97]

You should if the teacher is **** . **** teachers is why my education experience of me and many others has been... well... ****. Otherwise I recommend trying to do most of the work at home and get most of your info off the internet and if you can find a way to change to a good teacher do that.

 

[Skyline_77]

As others have said, drop and retake if it's a failing grade.

Where I live there is a drop limit, so maybe look into that.

 

[Agent_47]

I'm torn on if I should drop my math class. I failed my two tests and my teacher is ghetto and unforgiving. She doesn't get to the point with the lectures and she spews stupid personal jokes to the students there.

Now, I know I could just talk to a counselor there at the school but I just want to know from people that have been through this rodeo or are probably thinking of the things I am thinking of. I'm 18 and I have a ton of time on my hands. I've been planning to transfer to another college which requires a math class for me to do so and I don't know if this community college even has summer math classes. Should I drop it and attempt to take it during the summer or next semester or just continue on? If I fail this it'll take my gpa intro the *******.

I had a teacher like this once. I dropped the class and took it the next semester with a different teacher.

 

[phillgt2002]

Well, this is odd.

I dropped the class.

I can't cant take it during the summer so I have to rush through two math classes next Fall and Spring. The school listed me as a part time student even though the semester ends May 6th and it was March 3rd when I dropped it. That may some other things apart from school.

Whatever, at-least I get more sleep!

 

[Jet Badger]

I'm having a similar dilemma right now. Second semester is coming to an end and I completely lost any motivation in continuing the studies altogether. The speciality I chose is Automotive electronics and I know that's what I want to do. The problem is that the studies are not focused on anything related to the subject and don't seem to become in near future. Last semester we had such classes as Automotive constructions and basic electronics and had the exams from maths, physics and electronics. Now this semester we don't have a single class relating to what we're supposed to be studying and will have a psichology exam at the end of the semester! Next year 2/3 exams will be Law and Economics aswell. It's extremely down-putting for me as I have zero interest in any of the humanitarian/social sciences. I agree that the knowledge of those subjects is useful and I don't mind attending those classes. But when those subjects are the only thing that the studies are focused on, while the stuff that's related to the suggested profession is either non-existant or pushed far into the second plane, it becomes an issue for me. I think I'm just wasting time there. What's the point of spending 3 years when at the end you only get 6 months worth of knowledge of the actual subject? All those useless, unrelated projects and papers that you have to stamp one after another with no real use.

Maybe college wasn't the best option for me...

 

[Third Reign]

I'm having a similar dilemma right now. Second semester is coming to an end and I completely lost any motivation in continuing the studies altogether. The speciality I chose is Automotive electronics and I know that's what I want to do. The problem is that the studies are not focused on anything related to the subject and don't seem to become in near future. Last semester we had such classes as Automotive constructions and basic electronics and had the exams from maths, physics and electronics. Now this semester we don't have a single class relating to what we're supposed to be studying and will have a psichology exam at the end of the semester! Next year 2/3 exams will be Law and Economics aswell. It's extremely down-putting for me as I have zero interest in any of the humanitarian/social sciences. I agree that the knowledge of those subjects is useful and I don't mind attending those classes. But when those subjects are the only thing that the studies are focused on, while the stuff that's related to the suggested profession is either non-existant or pushed far into the second plane, it becomes an issue for me. I think I'm just wasting time there. What's the point of spending 3 years when at the end you only get 6 months worth of knowledge of the actual subject? All those useless, unrelated projects and papers that you have to stamp one after another with no real use.

Maybe college wasn't the best option for me...

Common University/College procedure is to focus on the basics first and provide a thorough understanding of those first. Anything engineering related requires good understanding of the underlying physics, and math is the language used to describe this. I finished my MSc in Physics, my Bachelor semesters where all boring basics compared to specializations I was able to take later on.

But law and psychology in an engineering educational plan does seem rather strange...I would try hitting up your mentor and discuss this. In popular fields of study, these methods could be used to weed out the unmotivated.

 

[Omnis]

Another word of advice: DO NOT. DO NOT, DO NOT retake a class you failed and dropped. DO NOT retake the class until you've made a revolutionary change in your approach and have committed to PRE-LEARNING everything covered in the class. Trust me on this one.

 

[Jet Badger]

Common University/College procedure is to focus on the basics first and provide a thorough understanding of those first. Anything engineering related requires good understanding of the underlying physics, and math is the language used to describe this. I finished my MSc in Physics, my Bachelor semesters where all boring basics compared to specializations I was able to take later on.

But law and psychology in an engineering educational plan does seem rather strange...I would try hitting up your mentor and discuss this. In popular fields of study, these methods could be used to weed out the unmotivated.

Maths, physics I agree hands-down with as those are the basics of engineering. The policy the college seems to be doing is "same array of classes fits all" with sometimes some appropriate classes thrown in. And in my eyes it's pointless. Next year during the summer break we'll have to find an unpaid "job" related to our profession and will have it as our practice. Not sure how it's in other countries but here it's common practice. So during the studies we pretty much waste time with psichology, law and economics and pretty much get all of our knowledge from a college-unrelated company that we have to find a spot in ourselves on our time off-college. At the same time I could just find myself a job as an apprentice in some shop and go from there as there's no government controlled approvation institution for automotive mechanics (such as in the US for example) and you don't need a certificate to legally get a job in the industry. Ofcourse it's not as easy but then no employer looks for freshly graduated students either.