I failed Statistics

[Deleted]

I guess it depends on what comes next. If you fail to learn multiplication you will never understand algebra. So if the next level of classes builds on statistics then she needs to "get" it or she won't be able to pass anything else. 

[whoisjohngalt]

Also, wanted to add:

1.  Not every class in Master's program is a stepping stone for any other classes.
2.  Not every class you take will have a snow-bowling effect either

[Deleted]

Good to know! I don't even have an undergrad so I am just thinking of worst-case scenarios. 

<--- just trying to fit in 

[Deleted]

May 20, 2014 8:03:11 GMT -5 whoisjohngalt said:

Also, wanted to add:

1.  Not every class in Master's program is a stepping stone for any other classes.
2.  Not every class you take will have a snow-bowling effect either

You are right, Lena, but Ava herself said this stat courses was the prerequisite for her fall courses.

[whoisjohngalt]

May 20, 2014 8:12:32 GMT -5 @southernsusana said:

May 20, 2014 8:03:11 GMT -5 whoisjohngalt said:

Also, wanted to add:

1.  Not every class in Master's program is a stepping stone for any other classes.
2.  Not every class you take will have a snow-bowling effect either

You are right, Lena, but Ava herself said this stat courses was the prerequisite for her fall courses.

I missed that part but I still stand by what I said - even if the course is prerequisite, in my experience it didn't necessarily meant that it would be a stepping stone to other classes.

Obviously, she needs to pass that class, I just think that sometimes it's OK to "pass it" without really becoming an expert in one class

[Deleted]

Didn't your new job eliminate 2 hours of commuting per day? What happened to the time? Maybe you were avoiding doing the statistics work because it was hard and you didn't understand it. Definitely get a tutor and try some of the on line modules.

How have you done in math classes previously? 

[NomoreDramaQ1015]

I barely passed my Chemistry classes. Only reason I "passed" Physics 101 is he graded on a super steep curve. I barely passed Physics 102.

Yet I currently work in pharmaceutical research. I would have told you that you're crazy if you'd announced where I'd end up back when I was in undergrad.

My grades in either subject have had no bearing on my ability to get a job or hold a job.

Nobody is perfect at everything, we all have our subjects we struggle in. Several of my biology professors admitted they had to go thru chemistry twice before they passed.

[Deleted]

Calculus was my undoing.  I was a natural in biology and did fine in Chemistry and Physics and the other math classes, but that dang Calculus.  I didn't fail, but it was my only C despite knocking myself out in the class.  It was a pre-req for a lot of my other classes too, but it never really mattered. 

Sometimes I get a hankering to take that class over just to see if I could do better!  I doubt it since I've been losing brain cells for 25 years since then.

[Deleted]

Only the strong ones survive in a contest against beer! 

[The Walk of the Penguin Mich]

May 20, 2014 7:58:07 GMT -5 whoisjohngalt said:

Wow, I would have been kicked out of the program I just finished if I got anything below 76.  Yep, anything below 76 is F in my school for graduate level classes.

that being said, THANK YOU LORD I didn't have to take statistics bc I wouldn't have made it past the first test.  I just don't stats at all.  I don't even know if any tutor would have helped me.

the ONLY reason I passes stats in my undergrad is bc 1 - it was community college, so I don't think it was that rigorous and 2 - a guy in my class spent 3 hrs with me right before the final exam stuffing as much info in my head as he could and I memorized it as much as I could.

Obviously, none of it helps OP, but I just wanted to say that there are some classes that some people just don't "get it" and that's OK.  Try to get through the class any way you can and move on with your life. 

Not understanding one class is not that crucial (usually)

If that one class is a prerequisite for others that you need to take, if you do not understand the principles of it, you will likely fail the others too.  So it is NOT ok.  

Passing grade for my program was 80, which meant I worked my butt off.  All of us did.  I also had professors where their style of teaching sucked.  That meant I had to teach myself from the book and work with other students who were in that program.  It WAS a lot more work, but I squeaked through.  And like Ava....only one professor taught the class.  It was a requirement for my curriculum too.  

[The Walk of the Penguin Mich]

May 20, 2014 9:17:50 GMT -5 minnesotapaintlady said:

Calculus was my undoing.  I was a natural in biology and did fine in Chemistry and Physics and the other math classes, but that dang Calculus.  I didn't fail, but it was my only C despite knocking myself out in the class.  It was a pre-req for a lot of my other classes too, but it never really mattered. 

Sometimes I get a hankering to take that class over just to see if I could do better!  I doubt it since I've been losing brain cells for 25 years since then.

Mine too.  Chemistry, biology, physics.....no problem.  I worked my butt off in Calculus and managed to get out of my undergrad with a C.  Never used it.

Now, ironies of ironies, I met with my advisor yesterday for the program I want to start in the fall and despite the fact that I already took calculus, I may wind up taking it again!  I'm not looking forward to this, because I struggled so much with it before.  But I know I never learned it in the first place and I want to do well.  So be it, I WILL learn it this time.

[bcdfgh]

When you compute your GPA, an F is 0, D is 1, C is 2, B is 3, A is 4. In a graduate program the worse I heard was a D and it was rarely given. I agree that "an F was brutal". Statistics is not for everyone and when you have a professor with thick accent it's even harder.

[Deleted]

May 20, 2014 10:03:31 GMT -5 bcdfgh said:

When you compute your GPA, an F is 0, D is 1, C is 2, B is 3, A is 4. In a graduate program the worse I heard was a D and it was rarely given. I agree that "an F was brutal". Statistics is not for everyone and when you have a professor with thick accent it's even harder.

I don't disagree (a C was the equivalent of an F in the grad school that I attended), but I would think a statistics professor would be most likely to just give the numerical equivalent of the grades averaged together.

I made one B in over 100 graduate hours.  It was an 89.6, and she didn't round up.  Her words will always linger in my memory: "It is a very high B, but a B nonetheless."

None of my graduate professors were really into worrying about my feelings.

[HoneyBBQ]

May 20, 2014 7:44:06 GMT -5 @beerwench said:

I second Khan Academy! 

third.

While I like teaching and helping people learn, graduate school can be trial by fire - they are trying to weed you out. You will have to be torn kicking and screaming from your textbooks to pass. The onus of the responsibility to learn is on you. Just because the teacher isn't likable doesn't really mean squat. Get the syllabus and learn the items on your own. A teacher is there to guide you but the material exists on its own. You need to be your own teacher. Use lectures as a supplement to your own independent education. 

[hoops902]

Stat is hard for some. It's not up to the professor to warn you that you're failing so that you can withdraw. The fact that he told you the highest and lowest doesn't mean you're going to pass because you were never the lowest. Were you near the highest? Were you near the mean?

You seem to equate an F to zero, as in you never got a zero and you showed up to class and did something so that an "F was brutal".  An F means failing, you failed to grasp the concept in the course (in this case statistics). 

College in general, and grad school in particular is far more about you learning the material and the professor acting as a guide than it is about the professor taking responsibility for your learning.  Utilize office hours to get some questions answered.

[Deleted]

Maybe Obama can talk to your teacher and explain how it isn't your fault and that everyone should get at least a C.  The teach can take away some of the A's and make them B's so that he can turn your F into a C..

Oh wait, this wasn't economics class.

[Deleted]

i hated this class

it was my lowest grade in college

professor was so dry it was hard to stay awake 

it is a hard course, and made even harder by some professors

i got out with a b-, and was overjoyed

i support the others....get a tutor, or find a study group for the one class

it is a requirement for so many majors.....

and i dont think i have used anything in the course in my 30+ years since

[The Walk of the Penguin Mich]

and i dont think i have used anything in the course in my 30+ years since

You'd be amazed as to how much it is used. Right now, I can pick up a Consumer's Report and see that even though XXX item is rated highest, at the highest price, that the third rated item is within the error of the metric and is likely as good as the first rated item, for a cheaper price.

I can also pick up just about anything I read (whether it is a magazine, an online article, a research journal or a newspaper) and tell whether something actually SAYS what the statistics say they say.

Look around, you'd be amazed as to how much you use it and you really don't even know it.

[justme]

There's a lot of misinformation and fear out there based on misunderstanding statistics. Most people don't realize that it's so ripe to manipulation, and in some cases calls for someone to interpret the data. That's why I refuse to call it math since in math you should arrive at the same answer regardless of what way you look at it, usually refer to it as English with math woven into it. 

[billisonboard]

Knew of a gal when I was in college.  She wanted to go into a nursing program.  It required a "B" in  Anatomy and Physiology.  She ended up with a "C".  She attempted to get the professor to lower it to a "D" which would have allowed her to retake the class to improve the grade (per university policy).  The professor refused. No recourse. The end.

[Deleted]

Mich, I did calculus again a few years ago, just to see if I could do it.  You can go back and learn it, again, but the biggest problem (for me) seemed to be all the "rules" of math that you have forgotten along the way.

I knew how to derivate, but all the algebra rules were the biggest issue going in. 

[The Walk of the Penguin Mich]

May 20, 2014 12:43:21 GMT -5 @atsahsreborn said:

Mich, I did calculus again a few years ago, just to see if I could do it.  You can go back and learn it, again, but the biggest problem (for me) seemed to be all the "rules" of math that you have forgotten along the way.

I knew how to derivate, but all the algebra rules were the biggest issue going in. 

Shasta....my major advantage was that I used a lot of algebra in my job.  So if anything, I am stronger there than when I went though calculus the first time.

[Ombud]

May 20, 2014 9:54:35 GMT -5 The Walk of the Penguin Mich said:

Passing grade for my program was 80, which meant I worked my butt off.  All of us did.

Mine too in grad school at a CSU. Thought it was common until this thread

[mcsangel2]

The 80 is Ava's cutoff too, she said so in her first post (if she fails statistics again, her GPA would go below 3.0 and she'd get kicked out of the program).

[billisonboard]

May 20, 2014 12:42:40 GMT -5 @sroo4 said:

May 20, 2014 12:09:28 GMT -5 billisonboard said:

Knew of a gal when I was in college.  She wanted to go into a nursing program.  It required a "B" in  Anatomy and Physiology.  She ended up with a "C".  She attempted to get the professor to lower it to a "D" which would have allowed her to retake the class to improve the grade (per university policy).  The professor refused. No recourse. The end.

That's a weird rule 

Kinda, but what should be the rule. Should you be able to retake a class to improve your grade in all situations? For example: should you be allowed to retake a class if you get an A-?

[hoops902]

May 20, 2014 12:53:13 GMT -5 billisonboard said:

May 20, 2014 12:42:40 GMT -5 @sroo4 said:

That's a weird rule 

Kinda, but what should be the rule. Should you be able to retake a class to improve your grade in all situations? For example: should you be allowed to retake a class if you get an A-?

If you want to pay for it, yes.  What do I care if someone retook the class a million times? 

[HoneyBBQ]

May 20, 2014 12:56:16 GMT -5 hoops902 said:

May 20, 2014 12:53:13 GMT -5 billisonboard said:

Kinda, but what should be the rule. Should you be able to retake a class to improve your grade in all situations? For example: should you be allowed to retake a class if you get an A-?

If you want to pay for it, yes.  What do I care if someone retook the class a million times? 

Exactly. Universities are there to make money.

[justme]

My school had a rule that you had 3 do overs. Or maybe one? I never used it, but that you could use them and your bad grade would be replaced by the new one if you scored better. Oh, just found the rule. 

Grade Forgiveness is the opportunity to retake a course and earn a grade that will be substituted for the previous grade in the UCF and overall cumulative grade point averages. The use of Grade Forgiveness is limited to two (2) times during a student's undergraduate career. Grade Forgiveness attempts can only be used on courses taken and repeated at UCF. The deadline to apply for grade forgiveness is the withdrawal deadline during the semester that the class is repeated. Students can apply for Grade Forgiveness on myUCF through the Student Self Service Center. Students are also able to apply for grade forgiveness in person at the Registrar's Office.

For the college of business you couldn't get anything lower than a C, so if you got a teacher that gave out C- and you got one you'd have to take it over as they only considered passing a C.

I almost used it when I got a C in a class, there was a program that would have paid for my study abroad but I missed it by 0.05 or less with my GPA because an asshole teacher gave me a C+ instead of a B-. All because he gave me a D for participation (meanwhile I got high Bs or As on all the homework). I should have fought it higher than the dean, when I went to discuss it with him he pointed out all the online thread I didn't participate in - but they had nothing to do with the class! And when I mentioned that I didn't participate in a thread about football because this was a law class and the thread didn't connect to it (I read it) he stated that participation was objective and even if I tried to go to the dean over it he wouldn't do anything. 

[billisonboard]

Three (relatively weak) counter arguments:
1) taking seats from others attempting to take the class
2) retaining some integrity of GPA's and honors graduations
3) screw the over achievers who always have to have an "A+"

[justme]

I would assume that if the school lacked a grade forgiveness option, or you used all yours up, you could still take the class it just would erase your other class. Meaning your C in the class will be calculated in your GPA along with your B in the same class. So doing better will help your GPA, but not erase your old grade from your GPA calculation.