Hey guys i was wondering if you guys can offer me a few tips about my situation

umm i failed the 1st year eng math which is a pre requisite for the 2 maths i have on term 2
so i did a little research and found out all 3 maths are offered during the summer terms
i was hoping i was able to do this so i have a much easier time with this term (term2) and hopefully bump up my average that was lowered because of the failed math in term 1
my other grades are all alright, mostly 7s

the problem is that i heard that the summer terms do not count? i dont really know what that means and i was hoping how effective would my plan be if i were to drop the 2 maths in term 2, and take it during the summer?
will i have a problem getting into 2nd year if i were to do that?
i booked an appointment with the guidance counselor but it's on tuesday, and i would rather be able to find out if i should drop the 2 maths now so i can get my tuition back

thanks guys!

If I were you I would do the two maths now, I'm in them and so far they seem reasonably do-able. Dunno if you'd want to take 3 engineering math courses in the summer, seems like a bit much.

Not sure what you mean by summer terms not counting, as far as I know McMaster doesn't care when you do the course as long as you do it and have satisfied the prerequisites. Hell they'll even let you do it at another university if you ask.

I believe as long as you have all the courses done before second year and have a cumulative average of 4.0 you'll be fine.

oh alright that sounds great!
well i was confused about this quote i found "Summer school grades are not used in the calculation of points and therefore cannot ever change your program allocation."

and so far even with the fail in math, i have over a 4 cumulative average
my hopes were i spread out my courses in hopes of getting the highest average to get into a program of my choice

thanks for your reply btw, so do you suggest i take the 2 maths now?

I believe that quote refers to the fact that (at least for engineering?) summer school grades won't increase your CA and apparently you can only take summer school courses to complete requirements for your degree (like 1za3). So as far as I understand it you just need to have a CA of 4 for the courses you took this year, I'm just not sure if it includes the course you failed or not but if you say you have 4 so far you should be fine as long as you can maintain that.

If you think that taking the two maths now will increase your average for the year from whatever it is now you probably should. And it would also be a real pain to do all three in summer school.

Maybe if you wanted you could only take one, 1ZC3 seems quite different from ZA3 and ZB3 so far.

Anyway, you have till Tuesday to drop them, so I would see what the academic advisor says.

sounds good thanks alot man

May I ask where you determined these courses were offered during the summer? Im trying to figure out what to take in summer school but I was under the impression that summer course calendar doesn't come out til the middle of March.

Hey kids!

Just thought I'd jump in and clarify a few things.

1. The quote is only referring to the fact that marks you get for courses you take in the summer won't change which second-year discipline accepts you. This means that if you didn't get into, say, Mechanical Engineering because your average was too low, then taking summer courses to boost your average won't change that. Although the marks you get from taking courses (at Mac) are factored into your average, it's just that by the time it matters, it's too late.

2. Patrick is right though. I wouldn't recommend taking three maths in the summer, so if you're comfortable and have permission to stay in the Maths you're registered in now, then stick them out. I'm not sure how it affects your choice of second-year programs though, since all three courses are required.

3. Courses you failed are assigned a mark of 0, which is factored into your average just like any other mark.

4. Spreading out your courses to maximize your average does not work. Admission into second-year programs is based on a "points" system, where the amount of "points" you get is your mark for each course multiplied by the number of units it's worth. So for example, if you have:

Chem 1E03: 4 = 4*3 = 12 points
Engineer 1C03: 6 = 18 points
Engineer 1D04: 5 = 20 points
Engineer 1P03: 10 = 30 points

Total = 80 points

(And so on for Materials 1M03, Math 1ZA3, 1ZB3, and 1ZC3, Physics 1D03 and 1E03, and your two electives.)

Now, when you consider that the average first-year Engineer is taking 37 units of work, taking any less than that puts you at a severe disadvantage.

Jean-Marc, you're right in that the official list of courses offered in the summer isn't out yet, but first-year Eng math is almost guaranteed to be on that list since it's a requirement and always has a high enough fail rate to justify it.

alright thanks guys
i think i'll just stick out with the maths, can't be too hard if you work hard right?

Originally Posted by itsjaykim

alright thanks guys
i think i'll just stick out with the maths, can't be too hard if you work hard right?

Exactly . Just recognize the fact that you need to put more effort in and if you plan well, I don't see why it shouldn't end well

If the first semester math is a requirement for second semester maths, I think you really need to talk to an academic advisor. Maybe look into seeing if you can take one of the maths this semester and then two in the summer? It would really suck if you failed these two math courses because you weren't prepared. Is it possible for you to take another elective to bost your average?

I've seen alot of my engineering friends struggle with first year math. Most of them took the math courses in summer school and it all worked out fine. They got into a second year program that they enjoyed. It was also nice for them to be able to focus alot of their time on math without being distracted by other courses.

Good luck!