Advice for Desperate Situation: Failing Maths at University

[usahockey]

It's interesting that you cited weed as being one reason for your problems up until now, and then you also ask about advice for your future in the long term, yet you vehemently defend the future prospect of smoking pot on occasion. Since the first post, you have not even conceded that the weed is a long-term issue, or written anything to indicate that you realize you should give it up.

Don't ask for advice if you can't accept it...and it seems that you can't even accept advice from yourself. In the short-term it is obvious what needs to be done, and you have started that already; study your ass off for exams in order to do the best you can. In the long-term, you know you need to quit using drugs and playing video games. Can you admit that to yourself and then follow through on it?

You can lead a horse to water, but you can't make it drink...obviously nothing that myself or anyone else on here says is going to help you, and you already know what needs to be done. You are the only one now who can kick it into gear and realize what needs to happen.

Good luck, and I sincerely hope you can do it...

 

[LordofDirT]

Of course you should try your hardest on the exams. But if things don't work out its not the end. You have 2 years of student loans left, after that you can take a break for a few years and save money for college. Thats just one of many options.

 

[Gwilim]

It's interesting that you cited weed as being one reason for your problems up until now, and then you also ask about advice for your future in the long term, yet you vehemently defend the future prospect of smoking pot on occasion. Since the first post, you have not even conceded that the weed is a long-term issue, or written anything to indicate that you realize you should give it up.

Don't ask for advice if you can't accept it...and it seems that you can't even accept advice from yourself. In the short-term it is obvious what needs to be done, and you have started that already; study your ass off for exams in order to do the best you can. In the long-term, you know you need to quit using drugs and playing video games. Can you admit that to yourself and then follow through on it?

You can lead a horse to water, but you can't make it drink...obviously nothing that myself or anyone else on here says is going to help you, and you already know what needs to be done. You are the only one now who can kick it into gear and realize what needs to happen.

Good luck, and I sincerely hope you can do it...

It was the particular wording of your reply that I took exception to, for reasons I have already explained. And while my course of action in the short term is obvious, I could still benefit from information about effective methods of study, for instance, it's not something I've ever had to do before. So far I've been looking at the exam questions, then trying to find and read through the relevant chapters in textbooks from the required reading list my friend took out of the library for me, then attempting the questions based on what I've read. I figure there are going to be some things I simply need to learn by rote though, like the derivatives of the various trig function and their inverses, and the tan(x/2) substitutions.

I'm sorry you feel unable to help, but I have found many of the posts in this thread to be helpful. And encouraging, including yours, which is not to be underestimated.

As for the long term, while you are absoloutely correct that I need to avoid the negative behaviour I used to cling to, this on its own is insufficient. Simply not smoking weed or playing video games will not make me a mathematician. I'd need a positive strategy for a way forward, because in the absence of one I will quickly fall back into nihilism.

Of course you should try your hardest on the exams. But if things don't work out its not the end. You have 2 years of student loans left, after that you can take a break for a few years and save money for college. Thats just one of many options.

I'm glad you see many options for me because I don't. I've spent a long time looking for unqualified jobs and completely failed to find one, and even if I did I can't see myself considering it a worthwhile existence. I could perhaps apply to another university even lower in the league tables while working a part time job to save up for the third year. But I'm kind of worried that nobody will give me a fourth chance.

 

[j450n]

I should have known mentioning weed would be a red flag to many, I could have omitted it completely from my story and any relevant advice would have been the same.

this will likely be my last post on the subject unless some opportunity to present something new emerges. If not, I feel I could not add anything to the thread without being repetitious.

With that said, you deserve credit for originally mentioning weed, even though you now doubt whether or not you should have mentioned it. Your first instinct was right. Admitting your problem was an immensely brave thing to do. Don't chicken out and turn back now. You know these words, "each problem that I solved became a rule which served afterwards to solve other problems." What makes you think just because you "know how to do the problem" in your head means you can do it when it counts? To succeed, you will need to demonstrate you can solve this problem every day - forever. This is the fundamental problem you need to continue solving before the solutions to the greater problem begin to reveal themselves.

This is knowing the algebra to be used in the calculus. Don't underestimate its importance.

Simply not smoking weed or playing video games will not make me a mathematician.

I don't intend to pick apart every quote and demonstrate you are incorrect. You are correct about a lot - including this statement above. You could quit forever and be a complete and utter failure as a mathematician. Is there anything in your mathematical background you can use to counter that statement? i.e. a logic term? I don't need to tell you right?

You are right that you need a strategy. You also need to execute the tactics. The strategy is the thing you start working on after you have a goal. Assuming your goal is to become, say, a professional mathematician, perhaps a good strategy would be this: make lifestyle choices that are in line with my long-term aspirations. Tactics could include:
n hours of study every day; attending a seminar or conference or audit a course once a semester; making monthly updates of my progress on a certain website or finding a peer to keep updated; never smoke weed again... etc.

No one can make these up for you, the only tool I have to help is advice. When I am stuck on a problem and none of my professors or live friends can help, I hope you will be able to offer advice to me.

You cannot control whether or not someone will give you a 2nd, 3rd, 4th, nth chance. "except our own thoughts, there is nothing absolutely in our power."

jason

 

[Gwilim]

No real request for new information in this post, I just wanted to share my progress.

Tomorrow I have the calculus 2 paper, algebra 2 the next day and divisibilty & congruence the day after that. Amazingly, I feel confident of passing all of them. I need 50% in each exam to pass. About 60% of the marks in the calculus paper are given for differentiating/integrating various functions in various ways, and another 40% seems to be about limits and convergence of series. The differentiation/integration I'm sure I'll be able to do perfectly, I can quote the formula for integration by parts, the chain rule and the product rule for derivatives, and the derivatives of all the inverse trig functions including the hyperbolics. Limits I am less well versed in, my understanding is more or less entirely intuitive, I could tell you the limit as n tends to infinity of any of the functions asked of me in the past papers, but I couldn't show you my workings, hopefully though this will be enough to get at least some of the marks for these questions. Limits of series again I'm a little shaky on but I think I understand the basic ideas behind the convergence tests I'm required to know and am hopeful of getting at least some of the marks for these questions. Algebra seems mostly to do with comparing coefficients and complex numbers, both things I am comfortable with, and I have already spent a week learning the ins and outs of divisibilty & congruence. I can't be absoloutely certain I'll do well enough, as I would have been had I spent a more reasonable amount of time studying, but I don't think that success is beyond my grasp. Results day will be interesting to say the least.

 

[maverick_starstrider]

Wow, I'm surprised how many people have such a sheltered view of marijuana. You do realize those 50's mental hygiene movies were a load of crap right? A young guy who smokes pot and plays video games instead of doing his hwk? Oh my god, alert the media, he's doomed unless he purges his life of the vile cannibus. And wow all these not so well informed opinions about marijuana use (even apparently infrequent, social marijuana use) dooming one's academic potential? Would this stuff still be coming out if he had said he likes to kick back and have a beer while playing video games instead of doing work? The problem here is clearly lack of motivation and a tendency to procrastinate which is a perfectly common problem in those with or without substance abuse problems.

P.S. I actually don't do drugs but I think you peoples understanding of the actual danger of a drug like marijuana is COMPLETELY at odds with anything resembling the actual dangers. I mean people do get through university just fine and get good marks despite going out drinking multiple times a week

 

[bravernix]

Would this stuff still be coming out if he had said he likes to kick back and have a beer while playing video games instead of doing work?

Not likely, if only for the obvious reason that smoking marijuana is illegal (at least in the US). If you are working towards a real job, i.e. you are in a PhD program and want to work in a government lab eventually, good luck getting hired if you get caught and have a criminal record for something so silly. Also, if you actually read the thread you would see that smoking pot has caused the OP a great deal of trouble (getting expelled from school, among other things). There was really no reason to bring up a week old thread just to post a poorly thought out reactionary response.

 

[TMFKAN64]

A young guy who smokes pot and plays video games instead of doing his hwk? Oh my god, alert the media, he's doomed unless he purges his life of the vile cannibus.

Well, he's doomed unless he gets off the couch and gets to work. And I don't mean for just a few weeks before finals.

There are many people who enjoy video games, beer, and even the occasional joint and manage to be productive when they need to be. Unfortunately, the OP doesn't seem to be one of them.

Not everyone needs to quit all of their vices. I think the OP does though.

 

[Vanadium 50]

The OP himself called it a "crippling addiction". Why are we the bad guys for taking him at his word?

 

[maze]

So, who is going to tell him that the dot is differentiation?

Ouch! That sucks.

 

[Gwilim]

Not likely, if only for the obvious reason that smoking marijuana is illegal (at least in the US). If you are working towards a real job, i.e. you are in a PhD program and want to work in a government lab eventually, good luck getting hired if you get caught and have a criminal record for something so silly. Also, if you actually read the thread you would see that smoking pot has caused the OP a great deal of trouble (getting expelled from school, among other things). There was really no reason to bring up a week old thread just to post a poorly thought out reactionary response.

I've actually been caught by the police twice thanks to utter carelessness, but neither time did I get a criminal record for it. Also the thread may be a week old, but the situation is ongoing.

And while I'm posting here, I'll give an update. The exams are over, and I should be getting my results back within a month. I don't know what I can do in the meantime, I have smoked since but I really feel that I should be trying to do something else with the time other than wallow in my lack of purpose and let my depression continue its advance. Once the results are back however, that won't be the conclusion, since there are also the resits in August to work towards, and even if I have passed every module that I've sat in these past few weeks, I have a couple of failiures to redeem from the January exams.

But since everyone still seems to want to talk about weed and whether or not it's the devil, I'll say this. Sustaining my habit was a bigger problem than just being incapacitated by the effects of the weed. Having failed to get myself a social network it wasn't as if I was just calling up the campus dealer and picking up, or that I mantained the habit because of peer pressure. I used to travel to another city where I did have contacts, which would be a 6-8 hour round trip, and the real cost was more than the cost of the weed itself, thanks to public transport fees and the neccessity of feeding myself during that time. If I do get back into university, I'll do my best to have a social life (as a lower priority than my academic success), and it's likely that if this happens I'll eventually find myself in a situation where it's offered to me. And I can't predict now whether or not I'll refuse it, but if I don't I'll remind myself of the costs involved in habitual use. If I can succeed in becoming a more rounded individual using it as an existential crutch should no longer seem appealing and the negative effects should be mitigated.

 

[j450n]

I've actually been caught by the police twice
I have smoked since
I can't predict now whether or not I'll refuse it

If I can succeed in becoming a more rounded individual using it as an existential crutch should no longer seem appealing and the negative effects should be mitigated

If I were to try to connect you to the career in "academic mathematics" from your first post, I wonder what kind of crazy, squiggly line it would take.

Kerouic said it was a foolish, hEarth'side notion that one could follow a straight red line but I think you would make even him beg for a little structure.

Let me tell you this, no one from academia is coming to pluck you out of your world. You need to cross the desert and make it to them. No one here is trying to stop you from making it and you've been given solid advice on how to survive the journey. Do whatever you want - just try not to call so much attention to yourself next time you find yourself in a "desperate situation."

You decide your own level of involvement.

jason

 

[Gwilim]

So, an update on this. I received my results a few days ago, with the following results in the modules I took over the summer, which I was preparing for when I started this thread:
Divisibility and Congruences 59% pass
Algebra 2 50% pass
Calculus 2 47% pass
Probability 1 42% pass
Differential equations 36% fail
Dynamics 30% fail
Where the pass mark was 40% and 20% of the marks for each module were given for homework assignments in which I automatically received no marks. Even taking that into account, these are percentages I would have been horrified with a few years ago, though given the circumstances I am fairly pleased with them. Neither of the modules I failed this time round were core modules, however some of the modules were sat in January, including the core modules algebra 1 and calculus 1, the former of which I had failed quite miserably. Therefore the overall decision of the academic board was 'Fail', meaning I have no further oppurtunity to resit any of the modules or enrol on any course at the university. However, there is the oppurtunity to appeal against the decision of the board, to be allowed, for instance, to sit supplementary examinations in August to redeem the failed core module. An appeal may be made on the grounds of there being exceptional circumstances which would have affected my performance in the exams, and a reaason must be supplied as to why I did not make the board aware of them at the time. I don't think the board would be particularly sympathetic to hear about my issues with illicit drugs and computer games, though I feel these were symptoms of my problem rather than the problem itself, which I would term 'bad philosophy' though it would perhaps be better expressed in conventional terms as 'depression'. I am not inclined to seek medical treatment for such issues so there is no way of my proving this. If anyone has any advice on how I might go about constructing such an appeal, it would be much appreciated.

I also no longer view my alternative prospects quite so bleakly. Although I could not obtain gvernment loans for another 3 full years I think I have proved myself capable of passing at least the first year of a university maths course without outside support so long as I have access to a well stocked library, especially if I had adequate time to prepare, so an option would be to enrol in another university, sitting the first year externally while looking for paid work to help fund a second and third year.

 

[tiny-tim]

An appeal may be made on the grounds of there being exceptional circumstances which would have affected my performance in the exams, and a reaason must be supplied as to why I did not make the board aware of them at the time.

I don't think the board would be particularly sympathetic to hear about my issues with illicit drugs and computer games, though I feel these were symptoms of my problem rather than the problem itself, which I would term 'bad philosophy' though it would perhaps be better expressed in conventional terms as 'depression'.

I am not inclined to seek medical treatment for such issues so there is no way of my proving this. If anyone has any advice on how I might go about constructing such an appeal, it would be much appreciated.

Hi Gwilim!

An appeal is a non-starter without "exceptional circumstances".

You can't have it both ways … if you're not affected badly enough to seek treatment, then you won't prove "exceptional circumstances".

But isn't about time you told your GP or a counsellor about your situation anyway, whether you appeal or not?

It's free, and it can't do any harm …

 

[Gwilim]

Time for another update. I made the appeal, and it was succesful, insofar as I am going to be allowed to sit supplementary examinations. They will begin in two weeks, and I'm going to have to redeem all five failed modules to pass the year as a whole. This will be a tall order to say the least, but I'll give it my best shot. Since I will have to sit so many exams in such a short period of time, I have been given the option of sitting some modules during the next academic year. With only two or three subjects to cover I could be confident of passing them all, but to be honest I'm sick of waiting around to keep covering old ground when my peers are all graduates now. On the other hand, I need a degree and if I blow this absoloutely final chance then it would become an even greater struggle in the future. I have ten days in which to make the decision. My rate of progress over the coming days should help make it clearer what to do.

I did some research into the possibility of doing the first year of a degree course somewhere else externally while working if the appeal fell through, but it turns out that would actually be more expensive than being a full time student. As such, I'm lacking in contingency plans. If anyone has any ideas I'd be much obliged.

 

[tiny-tim]

Since I will have to sit so many exams in such a short period of time, I have been given the option of sitting some modules during the next academic year.

Hi Gwilim!

If they've given you this option, it's because in their experience they consider you need it.

You're not the first person they've found in this position.

They're the experts.

And they're on your side.

Trust their judgment … take the option.

 

[Gwilim]

Hi Gwilim!

If they've given you this option, it's because in their experience they consider you need it.

You're not the first person they've found in this position.

They're the experts.

And they're on your side.

Trust their judgment … take the option.

I think you're right. I'll try and defer as many modules as possible until next year. That means biting the bullet and spending another year at home, but there are productive things I can do with the time other than attending university, i.e. taking a course at the local college and working part time. I think being 'on my side' is a bit of a stretch, I'm still convinced I'm just a number to a faceless beaurocracy, but that's entirely reasonable. Anyway thanks for the response, that cleared up any doubt as to what I should do.

 

[Gwilim]

Another update.

Tim, I'm really glad you gave me that advice, I stayed home and studied and recently got my results back. Now in typical fashion, thanks to getting my dates muddled up, I missed one of the exams. Having passed every other module, however, I have been given a final oppurtunity to sit the missing module this August and return to the university next year. I am confident that I have more than enought time to revise. Hopefully the road gets straighter from here on out.

 

[tiny-tim]

Another update.

Tim, I'm really glad you gave me that advice, I stayed home and studied and recently got my results back. Now in typical fashion, thanks to getting my dates muddled up, I missed one of the exams. Having passed every other module, however, I have been given a final oppurtunity to sit the missing module this August and return to the university next year. I am confident that I have more than enought time to revise. Hopefully the road gets straighter from here on out.

Combination of …

Woohoo! ​

and …

D'oh! ​

Anyway, I hope you got some useful stuff done this year,

and pob lwc for August! ​

 

[mal4mac]

Definitely go and see your GP and a University counsellor and say exactly what you have said in this thread to them. The latter might help you with the appeal.

Why not work for 3 years and take courses at the Open University equivalent to taking a full first year. Then you may be able to apply elsewhere to take the final two years with a grant (or you could just continue with the OU.)

Of course you have 'chosen' the worst time to go looking for a job for many decades! So you may have to live on social security while doing the OU courses. If your GP thinks you are depressed you may even get a 'disabilty' bonus.

 

[tiny-tim]

it's all sorted now!

Definitely go and see your GP and a University counsellor and say exactly what you have said in this thread to them. The latter might help you with the appeal.

uhh? what appeal?

you're a year out of date!