Ever failed a class in college?

I've never failed a class but I once got dead on the pass rate - 50.0% (MSc pass rate). If I'd been just a fraction lower I'd have been in deep shit.

I seem to remember my cousin getting whacked in Calc III. Now he is a chem professor at one of the most elite schools in the country. It happens to the best. Another person I knew failed Calc I the first time through (and trig in high school). He went on to get an MS in physics from Carnegie Mellon, and last I heard he was a senior physicist at Lockheed.

Calc III. Took it again WITH A DIFFERENT PROFESSOR and got a B+. Sometimes you just don't mix well with the prof's teaching methods.

I failed thermo.

its hard.

I did better in summer.

summer good, but you miss out on fun summer stuff like naked chicks everywhere.

its called sacrafice, kinda like what a government might do to its people so it can have an excuse to go to war and steal oil that it uses to raise its living standard and stay in power. School is EXACTLY the same.

...except you're the government, naked girls are the innocent people, and the war is hard work.

other than that, ITS EXACTLY THE SAME.

Flagpole Willy wrote:

No way brother. I did better in college than high school even. My freshman year of college, I was getting a D+ going into the final in a Psychology class. My parents had never pressured me to get good grades in high school or college, but when I told my dad on the phone that I had a D, he said, "Flagpole, you can NOT get a D in a college class. You'd better study your ass off to bring that grade up." I knew he was serious because he never spoke to me that way. I studied my butt off, got a 97% on the final and ended up with a B- in the class due to the heavily weighted final. I never put myself in that position again ever.

great story, and shows the discipline, "man-up-ability" and courage of a distance runner.

great

i never failed a class but like another poster said, i was always aware of my grade and the final day to drop the class without getting an F. i just plain didn't like school and did as little as possible to get by but still graduated with a 3.13. my lowest grade was a c i believe but i did have a few W's on the old transcript. the closest call i can remember was going into the final lab of my biology class. i had a very low c- and you didn't get credit with a d. i managed to squeak by on the final by cheating a little, haha. ah, school... what fun.

I got an F in one and 2 D's last semester due to depression/injury/family problems. Very crappy semester for me, pretty much have to get all A's and B's now and retake those classes to get into grad or med school, I'm a sophmore so I still have time.

I failed Introduction to Martial Arts Weaponry (yeah, it was a real class) because I didn't go to the final. Straight A's and one half credit F...awesome!

I failed a class my freshman year. Ended up graduating from undergrad just missing academic honors. About to finish up grad school after 1 year, and just earned All American Academic honors for cross country.

1 class is nothing...you can bounce back.

Flagpole Willy wrote:

when I told my dad on the phone that I had a D, he said, "Flagpole, you can NOT get a D in a college class. You'd better study your ass off to bring that grade up."

Your dad called you "Flagpole"?

As a civil engineer undergraduate running track and cross country I failed fluid mechanics and made a D in two other classes. I was hurt and spending 3-4 hours in the training room daily. I was depressed and started skipping classes and just not caring. I retook fluids and got a B and graduated with about a 2.7 gpa. But I did well on the LSAT and because I was an engineer and running track I got into 5 out of the 6 law school to which I applied. The point is grades aren't everything and you can recover from a bad semester.

Never failed a class and never dropped a class all the way through 6th year degree and start of doctoral work.

Dreamed about it many times and still have those nightmares today, almost 35 years later. Even worse than the slow motion, through the rooms of a house, up the bridge and hills on all fours dreams before a race.

Never failed but got awfully close in Chemistry, Geology, Geography, and Physics.

I guess you can say I'm not a science person.

ray wrote:

Dreamed about it many times and still have those nightmares today, almost 35 years later. Even worse than the slow motion, through the rooms of a house, up the bridge and hills on all fours dreams before a race.

Wow, you have back to school dreams too! I find myself back in grammar school, HS, college, or grad school many

nights. Not sure what it means, but I guess I was traumatized (or at least greatly influenced) by many years of school.

I never failed a class, but got a D in calculus my first year, which probably was a big contributor in keeping me out of med school. So I became a dentist, and now I work

normal hours, have plenty of time to run, make a decent living, and the emergencies I deal with are not matters of life and death. Sometimes it all works out. Don't despair.

Admittedly motivated mostly by fear, but fear always motivates me in races too.

i'm at work right now...

here is my personal email:

maxleverage@netzero.com

i will check for your reply tonight.

I haven't even come close to failing a class so far. Academics, no matter the subject, have always been a strong point for me though. I'm particularly good at taking written exams for whatever reason, and because those account for the vast majority of your grade I do pretty well.

but got a D in calculus my first year, which probably was a big contributor in keeping me out of med school

I understand, I was premed when I dropped organic chemistry because I got too far behind. I had an A- average overall and was in honors chem and honors math. Took organic chem next fall along with physical chem, total of 3 honors classes and aced them all.

I say anyone who drops a class because they are doing poorly in it is a wimp. Take your lumps like a man, OR better yet, put yourself in a position to not have any lumps.

Call me a smart wimp, then. No one gets into med school with bad grades, but a "W" they can live with. If you gamble on turning it around and you are wrong, you are f@cked as far as grade point average goes.

If losing the battle you were unprepared for is "being a man" when you could have withdrawn, regrouped, and conquered the second time around, then your stubbornness will lose the war.

Life is all about knowing how to choose your battles wisely, so you win the war.

In college, knowing what strategy will work in a given situation is what counts...20 years later no one cares whether you were embarrassed to withdraw from a class, all that matters is did the cumulative gradepoint average at the end get you where you wanted to go.

Of course, with some people or some careers, they don't care what your grades are.