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talbamonti

5-Year Member
Joined
Dec 13, 2012
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6
Already received my offer of appointment and accepted it... Doing very poorly in calculus this semester (college) though, and am considering withdrawing. I have a tutor right now, but it not helping too much...what should I do?! I don't want to jeopardize anything...
 
I would stick with it and work hard to get the grade up. At least you will have some foundation in Calc. going into USNA. If you are in danger of failing then maybe drop the class, but it will be just as hard or harder next year. Good luck.
 
I'd say you better suck it up and get good at Calc real fast. If your tutor is not helping----get another, if you have to go back to the beginning of the semester and learn it all over again, then do it. If you have to kiss off weekends for doing endless calc problems, then do it. Whatever it takes, you need to get the job done. Consider this your first military mission and it is.

If you can't hack calculus now, how are you going to with upperclassmen running your butt into the ground, sports until you drop, and a ton of classes like Chem, English, foreign language, Physics, ad nauseum? You think Calculus is going to easier at the Academy? It is not just something to slide through and think you are done with it either, as you are going to be using it constantly in your science classes for the next 4 years. Man, you are living in doo-dah land. You need to kill this dragon right here and now.
 
I'd say you better suck it up and get good at Calc real fast. If your tutor is not helping----get another, if you have to go back to the beginning of the semester and learn it all over again, then do it. If you have to kiss off weekends for doing endless calc problems, then do it. Whatever it takes, you need to get the job done. Consider this your first military mission and it is.

If you can't hack calculus now, how are you going to with upperclassmen running your butt into the ground, sports until you drop, and a ton of classes like Chem, English, foreign language, Physics, ad nauseum? You think Calculus is going to easier at the Academy? It is not just something to slide through and think you are done with it either, as you are going to be using it constantly in your science classes for the next 4 years. Man, you are living in doo-dah land. You need to kill this dragon right here and now.


Spud might be dishing this a bit harshly, but he is correct, Calc at the SA's is tough, they also do not allow you to use your TI-83, you have to use a $3 drug store calculator.

With respect to the appointment, that is a tough one, I can only speak about what I was told when my DS was appointed to USAFA, that Calc is a class they look at when you turn in your final transcript. The reason for this is that it is a hard class and is indicative of how you might or might not perform when you are admitted. As far as I know, C-, D, F, and even W's will get someone's attention. C- and D is considered deficient, with F's being a red flag. I don't know how this applies to USNA, but I suspect it is similar, you might want to talk to your liaison about this.


Good Luck.
 
I am in the exact same boat right now, don't give up, work hard to improve yourself now because it is just going to become more of a challenge! That's the way I'm looking at it. I know how you feel and good luck
 
At USNA, dropping core classes or not at least passing them is not an option. Taking an extra year is not an option. That's what makes it so tough.

Stick with it. If you're working hard and your other grades are good, it won't hurt you in terms of entering USNA. What you learn from the experience of persevering will definitely help!
 
I would add that Calc isn't just hard, it is fundamental to every Engineering and most Science discipline classes you will take moving forward.

Mechanical Engr - Dynamics; Electrical Engr - Fields; ChemE - Fluids; Physics - YES to all; Math - hardly goes w/o saying. The first time I saw the 3 consecutive integral signs, I knew that I wasn't in Calc I anymore.
 
I would add that Calc isn't just hard, it is fundamental to every Engineering and most Science discipline classes you will take moving forward.

Mechanical Engr - Dynamics; Electrical Engr - Fields; ChemE - Fluids; Physics - YES to all; Math - hardly goes w/o saying. The first time I saw the 3 consecutive integral signs, I knew that I wasn't in Calc I anymore.

At 2/C parents weekend had the opportunity to sit in on my DD's quantum mechanics class...:eek:

I had a friend who majored in math. He changed when he realized he hadn't seen an actual number in some months...

Now back to our reqularly shcedule broadcast.
 
Everyone so far is on the money; it is time for you to get your focus on calculus and get the grades up to respectable. And yes, it is like this at USNA; you get boxed with nothing you can use as an escape hatch. Since calculus is a core course and occurs early in your curriculum you can't circumvent it by majoring in English. Get a new tutor if you have to or find someone among your peers who really is slashing the course. As often as not the problem is quality time spent working on the course or discovering which small bit of information you missed that has you stymied. You have about two months to pull it together, so just do it! Best wishes.
 
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