I'm thinking about dropping a course (AP Comp Sci)

[Xylitol]

I'm doing "OK" in other classes
Chemistry - A
PreCalc - B+/A- (Not 100% sure because my teacher puts the curve on grades directly into the gradebook without telling us)
(Some Elective) - A
British Literature - B+/A- (Might change because of the essay I turned in)
Spanish III - B
Study of Visual Art - A-
Comp Sci - C
I go to a private school

First semester, I got a B in the class (Bad for an AP course). My parents said that I should just go through with the class and try my hardest since it looks bad to drop a course after 2 weeks of it. Now, it's 3rd quarter.

Half of my teacher's students believe that he is a crummy teacher although I have to admit that he is an intelligent person (Masters from Stanford).
I'm part of that 50%.

Now onto the part that I need help with - How bad is it for a college to see that you dropped a class? Would colleges only see that I had a B first semester or would they also see that I quit the class with a C second semester. Also, my school makes people who take AP courses to take the AP exam.

In case this is important, I am not applying to private universities - Just my local State universities.

 

[theeedude]

You need to ace the AP test to redeem yourself.
You are doing OK, unless you are Asian, in which case a C in CS would be a disgrace on your family.

 

[Xylitol]

Originally posted by: senseamp
You need to ace the AP test to redeem yourself.
You are doing OK, unless you are Asian, in which case a C in CS would be a disgrace on your family.

I just had a major argument with my parents
My parents are... asian

 

[mugs]

If a college saw anything, it'd be something like "withdraw passing" or "withdraw failing." Your school wouldn't give you a grade for a class that you dropped.

I think you should finish the class though. Finishing the class will benefit you more than the C will hurt you - at least if you plan to pursue a degree in computer science.

It may not be the case that your teacher is bad, it may be the case that you just don't have an aptitude for computer science. But don't let that discourage you, there are plenty of people who don't have an aptitude for computer science who have successful careers in the field - most of them are highly paid consultants. I'd say of the people I graduated with in my C.S. department, half of them weren't terribly good at it. And that's only counting the 1/3 of the original class that didn't change to a different major.

 

[mugs]

Originally posted by: Xylitol
My parents are... asian

Hah, I almost asked... I had a hunch.

 

[Xylitol]

Originally posted by: mugs
If a college saw anything, it'd be something like "withdraw passing" or "withdraw failing." Your school wouldn't give you a grade for a class that you dropped.

I think you should finish the class though. Finishing the class will benefit you more than the C will hurt you - at least if you plan to pursue a degree in computer science.

It may not be the case that your teacher is bad, it may be the case that you just don't have an aptitude for computer science. But don't let that discourage you, there are plenty of people who don't have an aptitude for computer science who have successful careers in the field - most of them are highly paid consultants. I'd say of the people I graduated with in my C.S. department, half of them weren't terribly good at it. And that's only counting the 1/3 of the original class that didn't change to a different major.

Oh I forgot to mention:
If you finish up a class, my school forces you to take the AP exam
Thanks for the advice though

 

[AgaBoogaBoo]

Sounds to me like you got a good teacher, who is weeding out kids who shouldn't be in CS. These are the teachers that make the biggest impact in the lives of hundreds of students.

I had a teacher that dropped the first year AP Comp Sci teachers that went on to the second year class from over 100 to 8 - these were the ones that really wanted to do it and not just dream of coding some crazy game in the future. Most of them thought they were geeks until they took the class.

My recommendation: First year CS will teach you a lot even if your grade isn't the best, I would stick it through and not give up. When you leave the class, you'll have realized it gave you a lot of logic that couldn't be had by just doing math alone. If you want to major in something in engineering, take this class now so that it's easier for you in college, or so you can test out of it. If you leave now, it'll be a W/F, right? If so, since you're applying to local state universities, you should be fine. Might be better in the end having taken it with a C than not at all.

 

[SacrosanctFiend]

You can drop high school classes? That's news to me.

 

[AgaBoogaBoo]

Originally posted by: Xylitol

Originally posted by: mugs
If a college saw anything, it'd be something like "withdraw passing" or "withdraw failing." Your school wouldn't give you a grade for a class that you dropped.

I think you should finish the class though. Finishing the class will benefit you more than the C will hurt you - at least if you plan to pursue a degree in computer science.

It may not be the case that your teacher is bad, it may be the case that you just don't have an aptitude for computer science. But don't let that discourage you, there are plenty of people who don't have an aptitude for computer science who have successful careers in the field - most of them are highly paid consultants. I'd say of the people I graduated with in my C.S. department, half of them weren't terribly good at it. And that's only counting the 1/3 of the original class that didn't change to a different major.

Oh I forgot to mention:
If you finish up a class, my school forces you to take the AP exam
Thanks for the advice though

How/Why are they allowed to do this? If you refuse to take it, it will not show up anywhere. Look up what the AP guidelines are, and if you're right, stick it to them. We know they have rules and will argue it up to the principal, beyond that, they'll know you're serious. They setup a lot of these rules just to deal with the masses, but if you talk to the right people, you could be fine.

 

[Xylitol]

Originally posted by: AgaBoogaBoo
Sounds to me like you got a good teacher, who is weeding out kids who shouldn't be in CS. These are the teachers that make the biggest impact in the lives of hundreds of students.

I had a teacher that dropped the first year AP Comp Sci teachers from over 100 to 8 - these were the ones that really wanted to do it and not just dream of coding some crazy game in the future. Most of them thought they were geeks until they took the class.

My recommendation: First year CS will teach you a lot even if your grade isn't the best, I would stick it through and not give up. When you leave the class, you'll have realized it gave you a lot of logic that couldn't be had by just doing math alone. If you want to major in something in engineering, take this class now so that it's easier for you in college, or so you can test out of it. If you leave now, it'll be a W/F, right? If so, since you're applying to local state universities, you should be fine. Might be better in the end having taken it with a C than not at all.

I'm not currently sure if I want to pursue a major in something with computers (take the class just in case).
What I'm thinking about becoming is a teacher in a science or math

 

[Xylitol]

Originally posted by: AgaBoogaBoo

Originally posted by: Xylitol

Originally posted by: mugs
If a college saw anything, it'd be something like "withdraw passing" or "withdraw failing." Your school wouldn't give you a grade for a class that you dropped.

I think you should finish the class though. Finishing the class will benefit you more than the C will hurt you - at least if you plan to pursue a degree in computer science.

It may not be the case that your teacher is bad, it may be the case that you just don't have an aptitude for computer science. But don't let that discourage you, there are plenty of people who don't have an aptitude for computer science who have successful careers in the field - most of them are highly paid consultants. I'd say of the people I graduated with in my C.S. department, half of them weren't terribly good at it. And that's only counting the 1/3 of the original class that didn't change to a different major.

Oh I forgot to mention:
If you finish up a class, my school forces you to take the AP exam
Thanks for the advice though

How/Why are they allowed to do this? If you refuse to take it, it will not show up anywhere. Look up what the AP guidelines are, and if you're right, stick it to them. We know they have rules and will argue it up to the principal, beyond that, they'll know you're serious. They setup a lot of these rules just to deal with the masses, but if you talk to the right people, you could be fine.

I want to think that but since it's a private school I have less chances of winning this argument

 

[mugs]

Originally posted by: AgaBoogaBoo
I had a teacher that dropped the first year AP Comp Sci teachers from over 100 to 8 - these were the ones that really wanted to do it and not just dream of coding some crazy game in the future. Most of them thought they were geeks until they took the class.

There's a few different kind of computer nerds - hardware guys, linux guys (I am root!), gamers, programmers... The guys you're talking about probably read about all of the latest hardware, build their own computers, fix their friends' and family's computers, etc. A lot of people think that because they know a lot about computers they'd also be good at programming. Obviously that's not the case.

I'm a programmer, but I don't know about or care about the latest hardware and whatnot, and I only know enough about Linux and Unix to do what I have to do in my job. I actually had to ask other people for advice when I built my current computer.

 

[mugs]

Originally posted by: Xylitol

Originally posted by: mugs
If a college saw anything, it'd be something like "withdraw passing" or "withdraw failing." Your school wouldn't give you a grade for a class that you dropped.

I think you should finish the class though. Finishing the class will benefit you more than the C will hurt you - at least if you plan to pursue a degree in computer science.

It may not be the case that your teacher is bad, it may be the case that you just don't have an aptitude for computer science. But don't let that discourage you, there are plenty of people who don't have an aptitude for computer science who have successful careers in the field - most of them are highly paid consultants. I'd say of the people I graduated with in my C.S. department, half of them weren't terribly good at it. And that's only counting the 1/3 of the original class that didn't change to a different major.

Oh I forgot to mention:
If you finish up a class, my school forces you to take the AP exam
Thanks for the advice though

So take it. It's not going to hurt you if you get a bad score. It'll cost you $75 (or whatever they charge now unless your school pays for it), and it could potentially save you an entire semester in college learning the same things you're learning now.

Edit:
And that semester can make a big difference. At my college, your first semester you took Intro to Comp Sci, then your second semester you took Data Structures, and then after that you could take a bunch of other classes. You were really limited to just a few classes for your first two semesters though, because of prerequisites.

 

[chusteczka]

It may help to focus your energies for the remainder of the term on your calculus and computer science classes.
When you have ten minutes to spare, pull out your CS book and work through the current concepts.
Keep the algorithms in your head as you walk between classes.
Read your CS book while you eat lunch.

 

[IAteYourMother]

Originally posted by: chusteczka
It may help to focus your energies for the remainder of the term on your calculus and computer science classes.
When you have ten minutes to spare, pull out your CS book and work through the current concepts.
Keep the algorithms in your head as you walk between classes.
Read your CS book while you eat lunch.

trust me, if he had that kind of motivation, it'd be spent toward his WoW character, not his CS classes

 

[Xylitol]

Originally posted by: chusteczka
It may help to focus your energies for the remainder of the term on your calculus and computer science classes.
When you have ten minutes to spare, pull out your CS book and work through the current concepts.
Keep the algorithms in your head as you walk between classes.
Read your CS book while you eat lunch.

Hmm I like your idea about always working on it although I would much rather talk with friends and other things rather than reading my book during lunch.
I'll keep that in mind. If it helps me with the upcoming quiz/test, I think that it'll give me enough confidence to stick with the class.

Thanks

 

[Xylitol]

Originally posted by: IAteYourMother

Originally posted by: chusteczka
It may help to focus your energies for the remainder of the term on your calculus and computer science classes.
When you have ten minutes to spare, pull out your CS book and work through the current concepts.
Keep the algorithms in your head as you walk between classes.
Read your CS book while you eat lunch.

trust me, if he had that kind of motivation, it'd be spent toward his WoW character, not his CS classes

I'm looking for serious feedbacks. I dont want this to become a thread with jokes and things like that.

 

[mugs]

BTW, have you posted in the Software forum asking for help figuring out the concepts you're having a tough time with?

 

[mercanucaribe]

Don't get why a B is bad for an AP class.. at my high school an AP class B was equivalent to an A in a regular class.

 

[Xylitol]

Originally posted by: mugs
BTW, have you posted in the Software forum asking for help figuring out the concepts you're having a tough time with?

Yes but I cant take people's time to teach me whole concepts, and I can't understand my textbook much. I've asked simple questions that I have and solutions to problems that my teacher gives so that I can learn from them.
I was looking for a tutor but my parents didn't want me to have one before when the problems first started, and I'm pretty sure that right now in their rage, they'll still say no.

Do you know any sites that have complete guides/information on things in java (by chance although I'm pretty sure that there are none)?

 

[Xylitol]

Originally posted by: mercanucaribe
Don't get why a B is bad for an AP class.. at my high school an AP class B was equivalent to an A in a regular class.

Originally posted by: Xylitol
I just had a major argument with my parents
My parents are... asian

 

[Terabyte]

Don't drop the course. If you spend more energy/time on the class, then you should be able to pull a B, which is not BAD (even though your parents or whoever say it is). I'm currently in college, and I took a intro CS class my first quarter. The entire class was about programming with python. I slept everyday in class, and I got a B. I'm not even sure how I got a B. The logic stuff behind the programs were a bit confusing. I guess I'm one of those guys that build computers, and stuff like what AgaBoogaBoo said

Edit - meant to AgaBoogaBoo haha

 

[Xylitol]

Originally posted by: Terabyte
Don't drop the course. If you spend more energy/time on the class, then you should be able to pull a B, which is not BAD (even though your parents or whoever say it is). I'm currently in college, and I took a intro CS class my first quarter. The entire class was about programming with python. I slept everyday in class, and I got a B. I guess I'm one of those guys that build computers, and stuff like what Mug said

Did you take the AP exam? And what did you get?
PM me if you don't want to post it. I'm only asking this because I think that my school is the only one that makes people take the AP exams.

 

[irishScott]

Don't if you plan to go into a computer oriented field in college. Helps a HELL of a lot with the lower level CS classes. Hell I didn't even go to class for my entire 1st semester and aced the class.

I took APCS in HS (Java version) as well. My average was a C+

Grade aside, I learned a LOT. I also got a 4 on the AP test

Although, as my screename implies, I am nowhere near Asian, and although both my parents own advanced degrees (Mom: Masters teaching and music, Dad: PhD Electrical Engineering) I still didn't get that much flack for it. Especially after they saw my AP score.

 

[mugs]

Originally posted by: Xylitol

Originally posted by: mugs
BTW, have you posted in the Software forum asking for help figuring out the concepts you're having a tough time with?

Yes but I cant take people's time to teach me whole concepts, and I can't understand my textbook much. I've asked simple questions that I have and solutions to problems that my teacher gives so that I can learn from them.
I was looking for a tutor but my parents didn't want me to have one before when the problems first started, and I'm pretty sure that right now in their rage, they'll still say no.

Do you know any sites that have complete guides/information on things in java (by chance although I'm pretty sure that there are none)?

Sorry I don't know any good websites for Java in particular since I'm not a Java programmer. But based on the one thread from you I found in the Software forum (before I stopped looking) about the merge sort, it sounds like your issue is with taking a problem and developing an algorithm, it's not Java-specific.