Is it better to drop the course, or stay and accept a B?

[IA700]

I failed the first aerodynamics exam. The score makes it pretty much impossible to scrape an A in the class.

So would it look worse if I withdraw from the class and retake next semester, or take the B+/- that's coming?

I want to get into grad school for aerospace engineering. I currently have a 3.6 GPA, and I don't know if I can afford lowering that.

Advise pls. Thanks

 

[twofish-quant]

I failed the first aerodynamics exam. The score makes it pretty much impossible to scrape an A in the class.

So would it look worse if I withdraw from the class and retake next semester, or take the B+/- that's coming?

I want to get into grad school for aerospace engineering. I currently have a 3.6 GPA, and I don't know if I can afford lowering that.

Advise pls. Thanks

Take the B. The problem with withdrawing is that then you have to retake the class rather than taking something more advanced.

 

[G01]

If you are sure the lowest your grade in the course will drop is a B+/B, then just take the B. it's not going to make a huge difference on your GPA in the long run.

 

[viscousflow]

I want to get into grad school for aerospace engineering. I currently have a 3.6 GPA, and I don't know if I can afford lowering that.

Advise pls. Thanks

I know many people who have gotten into grad school with a gpa lower than that. Remember, engineering is much more than knowing how to take an exam.

 

[physics girl phd]

Questions you'll have to ask yourself...
What are your chances for success on future exams in the course? (What were your errors on this exam, and do you think you can improve and not make those errors on future exams... or do you think you don't have the basics for the course down enough to succeed in harder material?)

Many grad schools have a 3.5 GPA requirement (and the department will have to "petition" the graduate school if they want to submit someone below that), but not all... have you looked into the requirements or recommended preparation for thee programs in which you are most interested?

Then of course, there is the already stated:
It's an aerodynamics course...so how would dropping it inhibit further advanced courses? This also goes into looking at the requirements/recommendations of graduate programs... and naturally if you get A's in more advanced course, some committees MAY slightly overlook B's in lower courses (depending of who your competitors are in the admissions pool).

 

[Choppy]

The only thing I have to add is that it would sure suck to drop it now and then fail the mid-term a second time around. Do you have a solid plan for avoiding this?

 

[IA700]

Thanks for the replies. I'm actually a math major. I want to do something applied for grad school, and was shooting for aerospace, CFD, etc.

Basically, I'm annoyed and frustrated with the class. There's something about how phenomena is being described, that isn't clicking with me. It's just not what I'm used to seeing and I still can't understand it.

For example, I can solve the Laplace equation over a cylinder in its PDE form, but I can't do it using the graphical method to solve it, which is the way its done in class. Its like the math I'm used to was replaced by something else, and that something else doesn't work for me.

I am thinking of dropping the aerodynamics, and later take an undergrad CFD class, which I should be more comfortable with. Any aerospace guys to advise on this? Or anyone really, for that matter. Thx

 

[viscousflow]

I'm not sure what to say man. Math is simply a backbench to describe the phenomena under scrutiny. If you have to drop Aero I undergrad good luck holding out in your Masters program. I'd say stick with it and try to get as much tutoring as possible so someone can put it in a sense that you understand.

Honestly I'd say throw away the math for a day or 2 and just sit back and look at what's going on from a conceptual approach (that's all it really is).

Good luck.

 

[Thermalne]

Stick with it! I was struggling with the same decision in a PDE class last semester. I even talked to the professor about whether or not I should drop and try the next semester. He told me that it won't kill my GPA nor will it kill my chances for graduate school. A B won't kill your GPA at this point and time. Just keep it above 3.5 if you can!