- #1
jgg
- 40
- 0
Hello,
I've lurked anonymously for quite a bit on these forums, and until now had no reason to register and ask a question.
Background: high school senior with (otherwise) high GPA(3.9) and fairly good ACT score (31) seeking advice and consulting from experienced PF member.
Now that that's out of the way, here's my problem: I regard myself as a fairly good student in math and science (A in Honors Physics, all A's in math classes, currently taking AP Calculus with a mark of 'A', etc.), so I'm growing increasingly frustrated with my situation in a virtual AP Physics C class. I was originally planning to take AP Computer Science, but at the last minute decided "Nah, I like Physics!." I'm now currently bogged down in the latter part of the class with a C, possibly a B (school refuses to specify which grading scale they will use). It's very upsetting. When I e-mail the professor for help, he will sometimes helps, but takes ~1-3 days to correspond. This wouldn't be so bad, as I'm a pretty self-motivated learner who studies University Physics by Young & Freedman regularly, and understands the problems in them. No, no, this part doesn't bother me at all. It's the 'plug-and-chug', sloppy, disorienting messes I suffer through that the teacher calls 'tests.' During these, one will spend 20 minutes mashing buttons on a calculator, trying to figure out what is going wrong, only to realize the teacher forgot to include information. This is happening repeatedly, and my grade is taking a nosedive because of it. The class is administered through a group whose name I don't wish to specify. However, when I called and reported this problem they literally told me that it wasn't their fault, and the teachers under their jurisdiction, well, aren't really under their jurisdiction.
So at this point, I am so heartbroken I have just about ceased working in the class; I no longer have the endurance to suffer through 11-15 pages a week of badly written Free Responses. In all fairness, I am not one of the "I just took a hard class for the first time and got my arse handed to me!" types. I enjoy Calculus, and have been learning math subjects that I like from various books (vague, I know). Like I said, I have great grades other than this one garbagety class, but none of my teachers or counselors know what to say or how to help me. There are other students in the virtual class with me, who go to my high school, but at this point are either where I am, are worse of, or are 'consulting' with each other to make good grades on the tests. I keep hearing myself say "If you can't do AP Physics, you'll NEVER do engineering/physics/math/computer science!", but honestly, the class is horrible, and I don't learn anything. In fact, I've learned much from reading the textbook, and in retrospect, probably just should have bought the textbook and learned from that. Ugh. I still love physics and math, even despite this heartache, but wonder if I will blow my chance of getting a full scholarship and how admissions officers will view a B or C in this class. I'm on break now (and can't enjoy a minute of it!), but I'm talking to a counselor on Monday about leaving this blemish off of my transcript. The worst that can happen at this point, IMO, is losing a full scholarship or my love for math/science (and I don't see the latter happening).
So what I'm asking I guess is
a) has anyone here ever suffered through something so crappy pre-college?
and
b) How did it affect your genuine interest in math and science, if it all?
I've lurked anonymously for quite a bit on these forums, and until now had no reason to register and ask a question.
Background: high school senior with (otherwise) high GPA(3.9) and fairly good ACT score (31) seeking advice and consulting from experienced PF member.
Now that that's out of the way, here's my problem: I regard myself as a fairly good student in math and science (A in Honors Physics, all A's in math classes, currently taking AP Calculus with a mark of 'A', etc.), so I'm growing increasingly frustrated with my situation in a virtual AP Physics C class. I was originally planning to take AP Computer Science, but at the last minute decided "Nah, I like Physics!." I'm now currently bogged down in the latter part of the class with a C, possibly a B (school refuses to specify which grading scale they will use). It's very upsetting. When I e-mail the professor for help, he will sometimes helps, but takes ~1-3 days to correspond. This wouldn't be so bad, as I'm a pretty self-motivated learner who studies University Physics by Young & Freedman regularly, and understands the problems in them. No, no, this part doesn't bother me at all. It's the 'plug-and-chug', sloppy, disorienting messes I suffer through that the teacher calls 'tests.' During these, one will spend 20 minutes mashing buttons on a calculator, trying to figure out what is going wrong, only to realize the teacher forgot to include information. This is happening repeatedly, and my grade is taking a nosedive because of it. The class is administered through a group whose name I don't wish to specify. However, when I called and reported this problem they literally told me that it wasn't their fault, and the teachers under their jurisdiction, well, aren't really under their jurisdiction.
So at this point, I am so heartbroken I have just about ceased working in the class; I no longer have the endurance to suffer through 11-15 pages a week of badly written Free Responses. In all fairness, I am not one of the "I just took a hard class for the first time and got my arse handed to me!" types. I enjoy Calculus, and have been learning math subjects that I like from various books (vague, I know). Like I said, I have great grades other than this one garbagety class, but none of my teachers or counselors know what to say or how to help me. There are other students in the virtual class with me, who go to my high school, but at this point are either where I am, are worse of, or are 'consulting' with each other to make good grades on the tests. I keep hearing myself say "If you can't do AP Physics, you'll NEVER do engineering/physics/math/computer science!", but honestly, the class is horrible, and I don't learn anything. In fact, I've learned much from reading the textbook, and in retrospect, probably just should have bought the textbook and learned from that. Ugh. I still love physics and math, even despite this heartache, but wonder if I will blow my chance of getting a full scholarship and how admissions officers will view a B or C in this class. I'm on break now (and can't enjoy a minute of it!), but I'm talking to a counselor on Monday about leaving this blemish off of my transcript. The worst that can happen at this point, IMO, is losing a full scholarship or my love for math/science (and I don't see the latter happening).
So what I'm asking I guess is
a) has anyone here ever suffered through something so crappy pre-college?
and
b) How did it affect your genuine interest in math and science, if it all?