I didn't do too hot on my Chem and Calc exams too, so you're not alone.

Aw man, I'm sorry to hear that. It's alright though, we'll both do -amazing- on the final. :)

Um... Surely you can talk to the school or the professor about retaking it? That's a really stupid reason to fail a midterm, they've got to give you another chance.

I am gonna talk to the prof about it, aye. I don't think they'll give me a retest, but I'm gonna see if he can bump up the midterm a few points, provided I do well on the final exam.

Wow . . . that sucks. I always have fears about that sort of thing happening . . . that and mis-aligned answers on multiple choice stuff. (miss one and then you're all out of sync -though, TBH, I'm pretty comfortable with multiple choice otherwise)

Can't say this has actually happened to me before though . . . I think it ma have almost happened a few times, but either I caught myself or the instructor did while I was submitting it. (a fair number of High School and College -community college- teachers I've had will glance over the completed work as it's handed in . . . stupider stuff like no name is another reason for doing that -that's something I've never had a problem with though . . . I'm disorganized at times, but not THAT bad ;) )

Flexibility of professors in situations like this (and actual face time without difficulty -and actually knowing their students, etc) is one of the reasons I like the community college atmosphere so much . . . sure, it still varies a lot from class to class and instructor to instructor (let alone school to school), but there's still a lot to be said to the environment in general. (some weak points too, of course, and other strong points like vastly lower cost and lower pressure/stress)


Personally, I've never really ruined a class by failing a major test (or tests) before . . . it's a bit more black and white, actually. Either I can keep up with things and do well (As and Bs), or I get into a rut at some point (especially early on), it snowballs, and I just never catch up -at which point I face the decision of trying to force myself forward and get a mediocre passing grade at best (with the cost of a ton of stress and still big risk of failure), or cut my losses and try again later -and typically excel that time, and refocusing more on other things. (other classes and/or home life stuff or looking for work, etc)
Granted, not having a huge monetary weight hanging over my head (being in CC and not university) certainly helps a ton too.

This exactly happened with my 2nd semester of Calc . . . aced the first semester, but the changing class dynamics, structure, and policies of the other professor, combined with my struggling with writing intensive classes on top of that (where the class structure was also kind of hard on my weaknesses), and I ended up dropping it after things fell apart. (almost pulled it off, did semi-OK on the first exam and only somewhat behind in homework, but then I got sick AND got called for jury duty, and ended up effectively losing over a week of class -closer to two- and things just fell apart there)

Though, admittedly, a big part of my doing so well that first semester of calc was I absolutely loved that professor's teaching style, grading style, personality, etc. SO engaging and fascinating . . . and fun in an intellectual/geeky (and somewhat goofy) sort of way. (and I realize one can't rely on having that sort of experience all the time, but at the same time, there's no denying that it's better in every possible aspect -more enjoyable, fundamentally better learning experience, better retention, and better performance/grades)

Actually, I think high school (public, mind you) kind of spoiled me in this respect, as something like 90% of my teachers were like this, and the ones that weren't were still OK (except one or two cases where I realized I had to get out of the class and went though the counselor to address the issue -dodged some real bullets there). Transitioning to college, with the increased self-structure and responsibility/accountability required on top of all that made it kind of a nasty shock in some respects. (contrary to the stereotypical "geeky intellectual kid" experience transition from HS to college)

Hmm . . . most of my elementary and middle school teachers ended up being close to that as well. Part of it is probably my own personality, but there's definitely something well beyond that. (especially since I knew of a number of other teachers/classes at those schools that totally wouldn't have worked for me -especially in middle/high school; and I had some friends with personal experience in those situations)

Also a shame that several of those awesome HS teachers ended up leaving . . . but given it being a new school with a bunch of associated flux in the district (and then the economic mess that followed just after I graduated), it was kind of unavoidable. (some were younger and more open to moving on to other things, and others were very experienced long-time teachers who lacked tenure -yet still defaulted to a higher union-prescribed paygrade, so kind of a catch 22 there, unfortunately)
Not always the most well liked either (some were tougher in some areas, or less likable to the average student), but for cases I personally had a deep appreciation for them. (partially because I'm more intellectually inclined . . . and geeky, and introspective, and whatever . . . I'm well above average intellegence -damn, that's hard to say without seeming immodest and conceited- and, whatever combination of that is responsible, I appreciated the quality and significance of what was being taught and how it was being taught more than most of my peers, though not most of my -admitedly smart/geeky- friends -and the teachers knew I got that too . . . and also knew I had some problems and faltered with my work in spite of my obvious aptitude, and it wasn't always easy to explain why, but that's another story :p )





Wow, OK, that went way beyond what I'd intended. (hell, I don't think I actually made that eloquent of a distinction about why HS worked so well compared to college before right now)
Oh well, hope that was at least somewhat on-topic and maybe helpful . . . and not totally awkward and weirdly overthought.

Haha naah it's fine, and somewhat relatable! The prof definitely helps a lot, like the guy I jave this year? He's waaaaay better than the lady I had last year by far . But yeah the leap from high school to uni is one of the many parts of adjusting to that new level of responsibility. And a big part of that is being able to deal with failure and move on. Which, for the most part, I hope I've learned.

Thanks for the concern, I do appreciate it!