Will I be forced to take it again if I want to stay in that program? I also have questions like:
- Will I be forced to switch to another program?
- Will I have to do summer school?


I'm sitting somewhere around 50 right now in engineering math and I have a feeling I might fail...but then again switching to another program may be easier for me.

You'll just have to take it again. I have a friend who failed a requisite for linguistics and just took it the next year, I'm assuming its the same for Humanities as it is for Engineering.

Originally Posted by Dumbo

Will I be forced to take it again if I want to stay in that program? I also have questions like:
- Will I be forced to switch to another program?
- Will I have to do summer school?


I'm sitting somewhere around 50 right now in engineering math and I have a feeling I might fail...but then again switching to another program may be easier for me.

You'll basically get a chance to do it in summer school if its offered. You will not be accepted onto II without a mandatory course and might not get into a more competitive program (all the spots would be taken). If you think you might fail, apply to a second year program that you will get into (maybe a physical science?).

Of course if this course is a prereq for anything in semester 2, you'll be in an even worse mess... do your best - first years, essp Eng, have a TON of resources to help students.

Go see Sally Williams, she'll have a better idea.

Originally Posted by britb

You'll basically get a chance to do it in summer school if its offered. You will not be accepted onto II without a mandatory course and might not get into a more competitive program (all the spots would be taken). If you think you might fail, apply to a second year program that you will get into (maybe a physical science?).

Of course if this course is a prereq for anything in semester 2, you'll be in an even worse mess... do your best - first years, essp Eng, have a TON of resources to help students.

Go see Sally Williams, she'll have a better idea.

Who's Sally?

well if you fail eng math for first term then it will screw with the 2 you will have to take second term. there is still lots of time to do well, the exam is usually worth 40 or 50% so as long as you get really focused you will do fine.

also, math help center in basement of hamilton hall = the reason i did well

Originally Posted by Dumbo

Who's Sally?

Im pretty sure she is the course coordinator (or one of the higher people) so she knows the most

Originally Posted by Dumbo

Who's Sally?

Sally Williams is the undergraduate Academic Advisor.

Anyhow, first year math is offered in summer school, so if you do fail you can take it in the summer and still move on to level II next year.

All of that being said, I tutor first year engineering math, and have a couple years experience in tutoring that course specifically. (Shameless plug, I know).

If you're interested, feel free to PM me on MacInsiders!

I know someone in Engineering who failed both 1ZB3 and 1ZC3 in second semester of first year. He had to take them both again in the summer, and only passed one of them. Now he is taking one of those two (I don't recall which) for the third time this semester. He was still accepted into Level II Engineering but only on the condition that he passes that Calc. course this semester - if he doesn't, then his acceptance to Level II is revoked in January, and I'm not really sure where he goes from there.

Basically, if you fail a required course, they won't just immediately kick you out of the university, but you will be expected to make up for that course pretty quickly. I'm not sure how it will work if you fail 1ZA3 though, isn't it a prerequisite for 1ZB3 and 1ZC3? You might have to apply for a waiver for permission to take those two, but honestly if you fail 1ZA3, you're most likely going to have very similar difficulties in second semester, since the knowledge from first semester is basically built upon.

Yea as previous posts mentioned, if you fail a course, 2 or even 3(try not to :p ) you will not get kicked out of engineering. Math 1za3 is a prerequisite for the second semester math (both 1zb3 & 1zc3), here’s the link (http://www.math.mcmaster.ca/courses/...u rse_id=346). So if you fail math this term you can’t take the other maths in term 2. Again, as the previous posts mentioned, you can get a special permission from the department to take term 2 math if you fail term 1 math.

To be honest I didn’t like math 1za3 in term 1, I enjoyed math 1zb3 much more and got a higher mark in it compared to 1za3. If you like math and are struggling with it right now, go to tutoring and get some help (free tutoring in basement of HH). But if you actually hate math and you think you are gonna fail it then you might wanna drop it and take it during the summer with the other math courses. Math does build up, but here’s the thing. I believe second term math doesn’t really rely on first term math. For math 1zc3 you just have to be good with derivatives (some derivatives at the beginning, then new stuff afterwards like matrices, vector spaces etc..). For 1zb3 it’s mainly integration (anti derivatives), so you don’t have to be a genius in derivatives to do well in this course. Try to just be comfortable with them.

All I am saying is, math in term 2 requires you to practise, (math in fact is mainly practise). The only reason I did well in 1zb3 is because I did all of the homework. And if you feel that you are struggling with something, go to tutoring and get some help asap. Because afterward material (say partial fractions) might build on that thing (ex. Simple integration).

Don’t get discouraged and think of switching because you are not doing well in math, just keep on trying. You are gonna be in similar situations in later years (e.g facing challenging courses), and you have to keep on trying (1. Keep practising, 2. Get help asap, 3. Practise more).

I apologize for the long writing; I just wanted to clear some of the confusion that you have

i just noticed the link i gave you is empty :/ weird... anyways here's the link again: http://www.math.mcmaster.ca/courses/...ou rse_id=346

Study in the library on rainy days, you'll get +2 intelligence boost instead of +1.

Wait, no, that was Persona 4, sorry.

Just on this note, what happens if I fail an elective?