I'm a computer science major. I'm taking three computer science classes that are pretty work intensive. Java with data structures, combinatoric structures, (literally, wtfbbq? well, ok, as literally as figuratively goes..), and computer systems are the CS courses. My fourth course is Calculus I. The last two years at college I spent in a core program that was all about a broad liberal arts foundation. I had social science, natural science and humanities. As you can tell from those terms, there was not much "real work" involved. The work consisted almost entirely of pure reading. Well, reading and the occasional essay here and there, but mostly reading.
Now that I've started my CS major, all of that took a very sharp turn in a different direction. The CS courses are heavy with homeworks and require a serious amount of thinking in problem solving to get anywhere. Before all I had to do is read textbooks, and if I did that I'd *know* I'd be fine. Now, one of my classes doesn't even have a book because it's only being offered for the second time ever at my university and they have us read MIT notes (PDF) about mathematical proofs while lectures only partly overlap with the content there.. and that's just one example. Structurally, everything took on a very different shape this semester.
The last day to drop a course without a W-grade ("withdrawn"), is tomorrow, Friday. On top of the four classes I'm taking I work in tech support at my school as well. I'm considering dropping calc and taking it in the summer next year. My calc professor, after I talked to him, strongly suggested I do just this because even though this is an intro calc class, (calc I!), he said that most of my peers are ahead of me because they took calc in high school, while I did not. Under the course/work-load of my three CS classes I've fallen behind in calc and I'm afraid it may ultimately hurt me more than it will benefit me if I stick with it for this semester. That's one side of the coin. On the other hand, I feel it may be "weak" of me to drop out when really, I could probably pull it off with the proper amount of work and effort.
I'm strongly leaning toward dropping the class because I really am a bit lost in it currently and the first mid-term is also tomorrow.
Any thoughts on this? I still have to tell my parents, and I have to tell them fast
If I drop the class, I'll have more time for my three other classes, could perform better in those and as a bonus on the side, I'd have three day weekends every week, (the only thing I have on Friday is calc).
The chief thing I was worried about was whether dropping calc I would set off a chain reaction in terms of what I could and could not take next semester, whether it would effectively bar me from taking other classes required for my major. That's why I talked to the CS advisor today, who assured me that that would not be the case. I could simply take this same calc I class next summer and be done with it. (My calc prof also suggested that if I were to drop the class now, it would still be a great idea to go to whatever lectures I could in order to get a big picture of the class and the material so that the next time I take it, I'd already be ahead and better prepared).
What it boils down to is this:
1. Drop the class and be the kid who's taking only three classes, (would feel weird, for sure :/) but probably enjoy higher grades in all three of my other classes, have more time for an actual social life and take a serious load of stress off my back. I'd still be stressed to a degree, but this would make a big difference in a good way.
2. Go with it, try to work my ass off and play 50-50 where one fifty is success and the other is failure. Given my track record, the latter 50 would more like a 90, if I'm perfectly honest.
Now that I laid it out like this, this is turning into a no-brainer :/
