Hey, I dont know how things are calculated here, and it seems pretty complex compared to high school, so I'd just like to know something, if anyone can help me:
For Chem 1A03, if I got 37% on my first midterm (worth 15%) and 18% on the second (worth 20%), what are my chances of passing if my quizzes are BARELY passing and my labs are in the 80s?

I really need help with this, since the last day to drop courses is in 2 days. Thanks!

Its not really complex, its just math. Highschool marks are a mix of math and arbitrariness.

Just do the math, if you got 37% on something worth 15% you only get 5.5% out of that 15, if you got 18% on something worth 20% you only get 3.6 out of that 20% so out of that 35% out of 100% you've only gotten 9.1%. You can take the exact percentage mark of your lab and calculate how much you got out of the percent they are worth an add it to that, same for the quizzes.

You've got 65% left out of that 100 to get so you could technically pass but you'd need extremely high marks on the rest of the course work to make up a large portion of that 65% given you've got less than 10% on your midterms.

Realistically thought if you've done that poorly on the stuff that's worth the most and don't think you'll do well on the final exam then no, you probably won't pass.

Quizzes (2% each, there are 5 so 10% total) and Labs are 15% each...
*sigh*... oh god....
Well, thanks anyways!

Originally Posted by resh.jyoti

Quizzes (2% each, there are 5 so 10% total) and Labs are 15% each...
*sigh*... oh god....
Well, thanks anyways!

So you do .2 multiplied by how much you got on the quiz and you'll know how much of each 2%, then add them up and see how much you got out of 10%.

Same for the labs, .15 multiplied by lab mark and you'll know how much you got out of the 15% its worth.

If you do all this you can figure out how much you'd need to get on the final exam to pass the course or if you can even pass the course at all.

Originally Posted by resh.jyoti

Quizzes (2% each, there are 5 so 10% total) and Labs are 15% each...

On an absolute basis, not including your labs, you've forgone 25.9% of the course.

That means that if you get 100% on everything from here on out, you can still earn a 74.1% in the class.

However, you said that you are getting 80s on your labs, which means you are losing 3% on each one. So you can still pass, but don't expect anything above a 65%.

Realistically, you don't have much of a chance of passing the class.

I don't want to be mean, or a debbie downer, but if you're doing that bad on the midterms, your exam won't be much better (and certainly not too the point where it could make up for the marks you've already lost). You're probably better off dropping the class.

I'm not really sure of the grading scheme... you make it sound like each of the 5 labs are worth 15% but I think you meant the total...I kind of gather that the scheme is:

labs total = 15%
quiz total = 10%
mid term 1 = 15%
mid term 2 = 20%
exam = 40%

then you have a 26 % going into the exam and you need a 60 in the exam to pass and the highest mark you can get is a 66 (unless they do any deals but I heard they don't do that anymore)

I know one person who passed both chem courses while failing all the midterms ... but yeah I probably wouldn't risk it but I don't know your circumstances.

Thanks so much guys, now i know i have to drop it...obviously if i continue to get 80s on labs, and then 50s in everything else, i'll fail, right? (please answer that, even though it seems stupid, i need to know that, and i'm not in an emotional state to do calculations).

the only hard part is telling my parents now.. lol?

*sigh* If I do drop it, what happens then? apparently (because i want to go into psych, neuroscience and behaviour) i can take it in 2nd year again (and hopefully i'll have strengthened my prerequisite knowledge by then, but then i still am one credit short...
A summer course is not really convenient, because I'd have to commute an insanely long way....

Any ideas?

Thanks so much, you guys are awesome .

Originally Posted by resh.jyoti

Thanks so much guys, now i know i have to drop it...obviously if i continue to get 80s on labs, and then 50s in everything else, i'll fail, right? (please answer that, even though it seems stupid, i need to know that, and i'm not in an emotional state to do calculations).

the only hard part is telling my parents now.. lol?

*sigh* If I do drop it, what happens then? apparently (because i want to go into psych, neuroscience and behaviour) i can take it in 2nd year again (and hopefully i'll have strengthened my prerequisite knowledge by then, but then i still am one credit short...
A summer course is not really convenient, because I'd have to commute an insanely long way....

Any ideas?

Thanks so much, you guys are awesome .

Yeah, getting 50's on everything else (labs excluded) would still mean you failing the course.

You can always overload for second semester (taking an extra course), so that you'll still finish with 30 units, if a summer course isn't an option for you. In fact, they have a Chem 1A03 course second semester as well, which is always an option.

But you might want to look at what the rest of your courses are like for next semester, if you've got a few hard ones, overloading might not be such a good idea.

Its always an option to stay in Hamilton and take summer courses though. I'm assuming you're in res now, you can sublet a room for pretty cheaply in the summer (or even sign a lease that starts in May if you're planning on staying off campus next year). It might be a better idea, so that you have extra time to devote to Chemistry.

In terms of telling your parents, that could be a bit uncomfortable (especially if they're helping you pay for school). I wish I could help with that part, but you know your parents better than us.

If you do want to overload, following Andrew's suggestion, I believe you need a certain CA for first term. I'm not sure of this, but I think it's only possible to overload in upper years, as you need a full year's CA of 7.0 or higher in order to do it.

EDIT:

"Overload Work: If you wish to take more than the normal number of units prescribed for a Level, you may do so only with the permission of the Office of the Associate Dean of your Faculty. Normally, a Sessional Average of at least 7.0 in the immediately preceding review period will be required if an overload is to be permitted. Additional academic fees will be assessed for overload work. (For further information please visit http://www.mcmaster.ca/bms/student/index.htm.)"

Originally Posted by A.Marlowe

Yeah, getting 50's on everything else (labs excluded) would still mean you failing the course.

You can always overload for second semester (taking an extra course), so that you'll still finish with 30 units, if a summer course isn't an option for you. In fact, they have a Chem 1A03 course second semester as well, which is always an option.

Hi,
Are you sure they have one next semester, because the master timetable doesnt show it... :S....:'(

Originally Posted by resh.jyoti

Hi,
Are you sure they have one next semester, because the master timetable doesnt show it... :S....:'(

Like I said, that doesn't matter because you cannot overload this year, as you need a Sessional Average of 7.0 or higher. Sessional means from September to April.

If you work this year to get a 7.0 average or higher you can take your normal amount of courses + Chem 1A03 by overloading or you can either take Chem 1A03 again next year without overloading. It depends on if this course is required for the program you wish to go into for second year however. If it is, I'd suggest taking it in the summer and making appropriate accommodations.

"Session, for scholarship purposes, refers to the Fall/Winter session. The Fall/Winter session is the period from September to April as defined in the Sessional Dates section of this Calendar.


Sessional Average (SA) is a weighted average based on the grades attained in a session. Overload courses and Extra courses are included in the Sessional Average."

Hi,

In regards to your problem, another solution for making up the course is to take it in summer school/online, etc at DIFFERENT University. Its possible to take a course similar to the one taken here at McMaster at multiple universities. Though, the only downside to this is that on your transcript it is only counted as a PASS, that is assuming you pass the course your taking. If you want to get more information about taking courses at other Universities, go to Academic counselling, in KTH. You can go Monday to Friday from 12:30 (or 1) to 3:30 .
With your parents, the sooner you tell them the better. You can also at least suggest to pay for the summer school course. Hope this helps.

About the overloaded work, the OP doesn't need to talk to the Associate Dean. If you drop a course in term 1 and pick up an extra course in term 2, everything balances out. Just go on SOLAR and fix it yourself. All you'll need to do is pay the balance on your student account (if you drop a term 1 course now, you won't get any money back; so youl'l have to pay for the extra course in term 2)

Overloading is when you take more courses than your degree requires. That's not what this is.