failing?

[bigwong235]

has anyone ever failed in any of their classes? if you have, did it completely wreck you school-wise? i've heard that while the fail goes on your transcript, it wont' affect your cumulative gpa providing that you take the course over again and get a better grade. anything anyone can say to make me feel better?

[iris]

For the majority of schools, if you fail and take the class over again, it will replace the grade and it won't affect your GPA. But you will have an "R" next to the grade on your transcripts. Some grad schools won't care, others will take a look at why you failed. It depends on the school.

[Craig]

Failing a class is not going to wreck you school wise. I don't remember what the policy at UCB is, or if it's changed, but I think you can retake a few classes and replace the grade (if you're so inclined). Don't worry too much about graduate school as most place look mainly on the last couple of years. Most graduate schools won't look at your local schools grading policy, but will impose their own.

Are you failing the CS1 class with Scheme (Lisp) ? They often curve those classes afterwards if that a comfort. Also, those kinds of classes are heavily weed out classes. It's kind of cruel, but I guess it's better to weed people out early. I remember my first semester when I first took a couple of CS classes at my undergraduate university. I think for CS about 70 % of the people originally enrolled failed or dropped the classes.

I guess I can talk about those classes I took that first semester. On a side note, I got stuck in the really shitty teachers because I had to register late.

Well first for the programming class (which was third semester {Computer Organization & Assembly} since I tested out of the first couple of classes). I remember I had a couple of good friends (now) who took the class. One of them failed the other didn't. The guy that was flunked numerically got about 20 points higher than the other person, but didn't turn in the third program. Another guy didn't understand all the material, but turned in all the work and the professor passed him with a "C". I numerically got a "C", but a "B" was posted on my transcript.

The other was a discrete class, well the professor was a prick. I think he still passed people with a "C" who made in the 30s numerically. Unfortunately, thsoe people that made in the 70s also got a "C". He was also an asshole when he was complaining that the class average for the midterm, which was 40 something, was too high. He was really generous about bending school policies to allow people to drop the class after the deadlines. So quite a few people that failed the class were able to get drops if they went to the teacher.

Let me add in my Vector Calculus class just for fun. I think that prick failed like 60% of the class. It was a required class for Electrical Engineering and Aerospace majors. Out of 129 people enrolled, only like 6 people got an "A" (we didn't have a +/- system at the school). Somehow I got a "B". One of my friends who got an "F" in the class bothered the professor. Somehow the professor made the mistake of saying something stupid like "I would let you retake the final if I was teaching the class next semester" just to get my friend off his back. So, my friend got the professor who was teaching the class in the summer to agree to let him take his class and his final. The stupid original professor agreed, probably just to get my friend off his back. My friend got an "A" in that final, but the original professor refused to changed the grade. So, my friend got one of the school officials to intervene and he got a passing grade in the class.

I was also taking Linear Algebra, but no real stories to tell.

[bigwong235]

thanks for sharing craig.

nope, not my cs class. not so lucky. it's my math 1a class. yup, i suck a big one at calculus. there's a very very slim chance that i could pass the class, but that's all dependant on how high of a score i can pull on the final.

i've heard that if you fail a class, that while you can take the course over again to replace it w/a better grade, the fail still stays on your transcript. how bad does that look when applying to grad schools or even just trying to get a job?

[deez nuts]

D0h, bigwong235.

[ism]

A single class won't hurt you too much if you retake it and do well. The fact that you retook it will be on the transcript. At the schools I've been to the GPA calculations were either replaced or averaged with the F. Grad schools will look at that and it may or may not make much difference. Your postgrad life won't be over but it does limit your options. As for employers, in my experience I had enough work experience that they didn't want my transcript at all and took the GPA on my resume at my word. But for the year or two after graduation you'll be a "recent graduate" and there's a chance an employer will ask for it, and if they do, it may become the deciding factor. Of course, there are so many other factors, but you might have to explain it well. Basically, make this the exception and not a pattern. Use it as something you learned from, something that actually improved you.

Honestly though, a withdraw is a much better option as long as you don't abuse it. When the withdraw deadline comes up you should already have a good idea if you're really struggling. Talk with your prof and ask about the chances of getting the grade you want. If you're holding on to a slim chance to pass that's a big sign you should have withdrawn. It will hit you in the pocket but will save your GPA.

[snuffles]

math1a at ucb eh? doh! sorry!! if it makes you feel better, i failed math54 at ucb back in... oh gosh, its been 4 years already! AGH!
anyways, the policy back when i failed for the school of engineering was that if you had a gpa below 2.5 for a semester you were put on AP (academic probation) and you HAD to get above a 2.5 the next semester or they booted u out of cal (and they did it to a couple friends of mind... no pity... the meanies :pissed:). i think the policy is different for different "schools" (i think l&s is nicer...) so just go bug one of those "counselors" and they'll give you the policy. NEways, so IF you failed a course and got straight As in all your other courses, and those courses were worth a lot of units, then you actually could avoid AP and then you're not really in trouble unless you need to take that class for your major to graduate - in which case, just take it over.... but otherwise, i'd suggest taking a light, easy load next semester -- just to make sure you don't get kicked out :) . they don't care if you go on ap every other semester, you just can't do it sequentially. NEways, as for that grade... if you take the course over and get a better grade, the F no longer counts in your gpa calculation but it stays on your transcript :(. No one has ever cared in my case, but i've only been showing my transcript when interviewing for jobs. I've had no problems getting the jobs I applied for so I guess it didn't affect it too much. i'm not too sure how grad schools would look at it, but all my employers have told me i'd do fine in grad school.
For me, failing math was one of the best things that could have happened to me. It made me re-evaluate what i was doing and i realized i wasn't meant to be a eecs major, i stopped bracing myself for cs150 and being an utter pooh and thoroughly enjoyed the rest of college as an ieor (not that i'm saying eecs is a bad major, my brain just wasn't made for it). good things can happen from bad shtuff! hope this helps. good luck!

[amietron]

aren't you glad to see so many people care? :)