2011-03-17

And Now For Something Completely Serious.

I'm gonna go out on a limb here and say that I don't ask for help a lot; at least not anything beyond the "Help-me-understand-why-people-purposely-watch-Jersey-Shore" sense. But I'll be honest, I'm in a really tight spot right now. First part's pretty long-winded, but I'd appreciate the read.

As you may have gathered in my previous post, I failed Calculus III last semester. It was mostly a combination of not understanding the subject matter itself, how it was presented, and (the majority) my increasing lack of motivation due to disappointing results with every new unit. It sucked, but I accepted the final grade, realized it was mine to earn, and vowed I'd never let it happen again. For context, this grade put me pretty far below my required 2.6 GPA for scholarship money; at the moment I'm sitting at a 2.36, hoping I can bring it back over the edge.

Enter this semester. Differential equations, while closely relating to calc III, doesn't require it as a prerequisite. I'm doing quite well in all of my other classes, but diff eq is just not cutting it. I do fine on the quizzes, do the homework with a fair degree of success, understand the material in class... and then completely bomb the tests (2 so far). Doing some quick math (ironically) after the second grade got back, I realized the very maximum grade I can get at the end of it all is 74, which for my Canadian compadres, translates to a C down here. Realistically, though, a D would be in the works, even if I did ace the remaining test and the final.

So right now I'm facing a dilemma. Today is the last day to withdraw from a class without penalty, but I'd still have to take it somewhere down the line to get my degree (however far away that looks at the moment). I don't know if dropping it now would affect pre-req's for other classes, and in turn, my graduation date; but on the other hand, doing so would see to it that my remaining courses boost my GPA past that 2.6 I need. Furthermore, my study-abroad program in Oxford will consist of calc III (replacing the earlier grade) and another class, which I'm pondering if I can slip diff eq in the slot that'll free up next year because of it.

In short, I'm pretty terrified for my future right now. I don't know whether I should go headlong into this, or enact my plan shown above. And believe me, I hate to be the one doing this to you on what was probably otherwise a decent evening, but I need advice... motivation... Courage Wolf... anything right now.

Thanks.

Dan