<p>I just hate it so much. I don’t know what I’m doing. I have tried, it’s not working, I would like to drop it. I’m scared of failing. I don’t mean for this to sound rude, but I’m not looking for advice on what to do to make the class better, or to be told to get help. I am miserable and want out.</p>
<p>It won’t show up on my transcript, it’ll be like I never took it. But is that such a good idea?</p>
<p>3 years science - two with lab (up to Chemistry)
3 years foreign language
4 years honors humanities (English and Social Studies/History)
3 (or 4, if I stay in) years math (up to pre-calc or calc)
3.99 UW cumulative GPA</p>
<p>This is the list of schools I’m looking at so far - I still have three to eliminate from my list:</p>
<p>Baldwin-Wallace
Cal State - Chico<br>
Central Washington<br>
Elon University
Hartt (University of Hartford)
Illinois Wesleyan<br>
James Madison U
Northwestern<br>
Oklahoma City<br>
Penn State<br>
University of Michigan
University of Northern Colorado
University of Puget Sound</p>
<p>I’ve already looked at College Board at the “Am I on Track?” section. The only school 4 years of math is “required” at is James Madison. Baldwin-Wallace, Elon and University of Puget Sound all recommend 4 years; the rest don’t say anything about it. If it really is required, will that be a deal-breaker at James Madison? Will other schools not want me because I’m not taking a fourth year of math? </p>
<p>Can I please drop Calculus with no repercussions?</p>
<p>Dropping it is better than getting a D or an F.
The only really selective schools on your list are Northwestern and the University of Michigan. Dropping Calc means you no longer have the strongest possible curriculum, and will be a disadvantage at these schools. But a D or F would take you out of contention there, so I would say drop.</p>
<p>If you don’t want advice on how to make the class better, i.e. you are that resolute on dropping it, then it seems you have made your decision. I agree with greennblue that a D or F would hurt a lot. A C, not as much.</p>
<p>How much math do you need in order to graduate? If you don’t need a 4th year of math, drop it. You can take Calculus later if you ever need it for whatever it is you want to do with your life. When you really need and want to pass the class, you will find a way to make it work. The key here is truly needing and wanting.</p>
<p>I have a student in a similar situation to Ninnynoddle. This student wants to go to Cal State Chico and has a 3.1 GPA. She has 3 years of math, prior to senior year, which meets the a-g course requirement. If she stays in Calculus and gets a D, does it even figure into Chico’s admission decision, or is it viewed as an elective and not part of the a-g courses used to calculate GPA?</p>
<p>@OP: Is there any other math course you can take like stats? I would say to drop it, but if James Madison and few other schools require 4 years, I would say take an alternative if possible.</p>
<p>I am not familiar with the schools you have listed .with the exception
of Northwestern …but if it is any consolation my friends at Harvard
tell me that a large body of students test into Calculus Xa -
that is Precalculus!</p>
<p>So if you skip Calculus there are whole sets of schools from
Harvard onwards that do not seem to mind the lack of math
background. It could be because they allow for excellence in
the humanities and other areas outside of a math centric
pursuit such as engineering or a core-science.</p>
<p>(just so I am not conveying the wrong idea here- H has Math 55
which is the other extreme for entering freshmen)</p>
<p>Melon15, the Cal State will not see the D in calculus when admissions decisions are made, but will see it when the final transcript is sent at the end of the senior year. I know that for UC, a final grade of D in calculus would trigger a possible rescind. I don’t know if that occurs for Cal State.</p>
<p>Thanks Calgal. It is an AP level calculus class so I’m hoping they will take that into account, and it’s only Oct. so if she doesn’t drop the class then maybe she can improve the grade with tutoring etc.</p>
<p>My son is in the same situation with calculus - struggling - and wants to drop it now. He can get into another AP class for the rest of the year and probably get an A. My concern is how schools will view the fact that calculus was on his list of classes for this year but his final transcript will not show it. He has a 4.0 and is taking 7AP classes this year and band. He will probably have A’s in everything else, but calculus is not going well. He doesn’t need it for anything that he plans to do in the future and it seems ridiculous to continue in something that he does not like or understand. The regular teacher has been out for the year due to surgery and will be back at the end of the month. Right now the 2nd substitute that they’ve had is teaching the class so it’s pretty disjointed. My gut is that he should drop it while he can. Does anyone have any experience with how college admissions would view his dropping calculus at this stage of the game?</p>
<p>When colleges say that they recommend “4 years of math”, I think they just want you to finish pre-calculus instead of stopping at algebra 2 (assuming you start your freshmen year with algebra 1). Many, if not most, HS graduates in the US don’t even have pre-calculus, let alone calculus. The typical applicant to the schools you listed, except Northwestern and Michigan, doesn’t have calculus. You have nothing to worry about.</p>
<p>I dropped Calculus last year, but I already had 4 years of high school math without it. And I’m taking a 5th year of math with statistics this year, so our situations are a little bit different.</p>
<p>However, I personally feel like calculus is a class where if after two months in the class you just feel lost and hate it…then the chances of it getting better are slim. Have you ever had this problem in any other classes? If so…I say you should try to stick it out for sure! Also, depending on what you want to study in college, caluclus may not be of that great of an importance. And if it is, you can always take it again in college.</p>
<p>Do you think you would end up getting a D or an F? Or is your definition of failing getting a B or a C? If it is the latter, then you will likely do fine in caluclus. However, as those before me had said…a D or an F on your transcript might really hurt.</p>
<p>Well, while dropping it is totally fine, the beginning was the hardest part last year. Maybe that’s just me, because this year in Calculus II seems to be going the same way. But still, I wouldn’t keep a senior year class you didn’t think you’d do well in.</p>