Anyone out there survive a D in Math 151 their first semester and go on to get a degree in Engineering?

Looking for Christmas cheer.

I think engineering requires a C....

Take it again.

^ what he said. tbh, calc 1 was probably one of the helpful of the calculus series; but, just choose wisely with myedu next sem on a prof to take it again. also, i can't remember off the top of my head, but you might look at freshman grade exclusion (not sure if it has to be an f, or if it can be a d); if you can do that, it would help your gpa for acceptance into the upper level.

Retake it dude.

Yep... first semester of college. I grade excluded it and made sure I never let anything like that happen again. It can be done. Don't throw in the towel yet.

[This message has been edited by AG_CS (edited 12/26/2011 6:16p).]

Yeah, that's a class you're going to want/need at least a B in. If your second go isn't successful either, then you might want to consider another major.

152 is much harder, in fact the whole 152 semester is really crappy with Phys208 and stuff like that.

There are a ton of people who do poorly in their first semester and go on to get degrees, however there is an even larger percentage that decide to go to something else before their GPA isnt too low to transfer into a different respectable major.

I think that the actual hard engineering degrees only have a graduation rate of like 20-30% from those that start, so if you really dont think you can do it, then dont, you will be in the majority.

[This message has been edited by Randy03 (edited 12/27/2011 9:45a).]

Randy,

Just curious. Which engineering majors do you consider "hard"?

Randy is the smartest man in the world. Nothing is hard for him.

Search his posts going back the last 5 years and you will notice the general trend of Randy's omniscience.

That is why I am curious. If Randy actually thinks some engineering degrees are difficult, I would like to know which ones they are. I thought he would say they are all easy.

And Randy, also mention which one is by far the most difficult.

Traditionally the "hardest" engineering majors are Electrical and Chemical.

It's all relative though.... some people are better at certain subjects or find them more interesting so they do better.

At the end of the day it's not a race, it's your career and what you wish to do with your life. Who cares if it's the hardest or the easiest? Any engineering degree from A&M is a good accomplishment.

You can make a very good living with any of the ENGR degrees that are offered at Texas A&M.

Also, if you struggle with 151 it might be an uphill battle the rest of the way. I found that most people that left engineering did so because of the ENGR112/PHYS208/MATH152 combo semester.

The idea behind the CBK is really to get rid of the people that don't belong or don't want it bad enough to put in the time to move on.

If you didn't do well in 151 try one more time but if it doesn't work out I would highly suggest considering another career track.

Keep your head up, I have friends that made it even after retaking either 151/152. It can be done but you have to want it.

ID and ENTC are in the Look College and I wouldnt consider them to be "hard" engineering majors.

Thats all that I meant by it

Hope that all you haters have a good day.

That is a lot more lenient than I would have imagined.

So Petroleum and Civil are not that easy?

Freshman grade exclude the class, and retake. Like above posters said, if you don't do better the 2nd time... find another major.

Not me, a close relative. I'm in my 50's and got both in and out of A&M when it wasn't quite so...um....competitive.

Thanks for the advice. Any recomendations on instructors for 151?

I got an A pretty easy with Amy Austin. She is very very good.

ENTC and especially ID aren't true engineering degrees, in my opinion (and I graduated with one of them).


I've always heard the degrees put in the following tiers of difficulty:
EE, aero, nuclear, chem, mechanical
industrial
civil

ENTC, ID

I got a D in Kirby Smith's 151 class back in Fall 85. I did not know or consider retaking it and headed on over to Accounting. In hindsight, I should have at least given it another try. 18hrs for a 18yr who never had actually studied was a bit much. I should of taken 12-15 hours and drawn out my stay at A&M. Of course, I should of done that in Accounting also Not sure I would be any better off or excited by being an engineer, so who knows.... It is still a "what if" I think about occasionally.

I said retake it again but I'd like to elaborate.

The key to passing MATH 151 and 152 is the SUGGESTED HW and OLD EXAMS.

Before every single exam, solve ALL the problems on every single old exam. If there's 10 old exams, do all 10 old exams. Do every single suggested HW problem out of the book and buy the solution manual. That calculus book will be your math bible for the next three semesters. It'll be worth your money to get the solution manual. Don't ever think that you're "ready" for the exam and stop studying all the available material for an exam. You may miss something.

Do those things and if you absolutely get stuck, check out the solutions. The profs post the solutions to all past exams. And hopefully that solution will help you with future questions.

It just takes work man. My best friend that I roommed with the last two years of college thought, "Man, there's no way to study for math" and got a 47 (or something like that) on his first 151 exam. I got a 95. I told him to study with me and you'll pass these exams. We both graduated with different engineering degrees but he learned how to study for engineering classes with me. I'm not the smartest guy but I put in the work and wanted it so bad.

Luckily, I struggled in HS with math and science. I even failed a period of pre calculus. It was a blessing though. I was actually college ready because I knew I had to work hard just to even pass.

It'll all be worth it when you get a job your fall semester and you graduate in the spring. And then you walk across that stage to get your diploma and you walk out of Reed Arena literally wanting to cry. If my family wasn't there, I definitely would have.

If you're not ready to put in the work, you're not ready to get an engineering degree. Just the way it is.

[This message has been edited by TheMasterplan (edited 12/30/2011 10:47p).]

[This message has been edited by TheMasterplan (edited 12/30/2011 10:48p).]

[This message has been edited by TheMasterplan (edited 12/30/2011 10:49p).]

Thanks MasterPlan. Cutting and pasting your post for forwarding.