Sawahash, I know how you feel. My father got a fricking MASTERS in Chemistry (no matter that he hasn't used is degree in ages and has honestly admitted to my cousin, who also graduated in Chemistry, that he hated the degree), and I had to do Freshman Repeat of CH 101. Unfortunately, it wasn't ever the fact thatI couldn't ask him for help, but more that I was just being a dumbass the first semester of college.

You need to honestly tell him what you said in your first post. You worked really hard, made stupid mistakes (not realizing what state your grade was in during the semester). How does the rest of your grades look? If you had a good semester otherwise, try to fall back on that idea.

Good luck. I still have a lot of trouble "manning up" and just talking to my parents about stuff in an adult manner. It's tough, for me at least. My dad's just a bit intimidating. My mom, I've gotten a bit closer to her actually since I've been gone to college.

5/10/2006 3:10:37 AM

who did you take, i would HIGHLY recommend taking Dr. Hendrickson if you decide to retake it again here at ncsu. Otherwise take it at a community college somewhere and get it out of the way, just remember there are more important things in life than a damn chemistry class.

5/10/2006 4:20:54 PM

I don't want to scare you, but a lot of the cell biology, biochemistry type stuff that you have to take later on in your biology degree is more intense than 101.

However, I don't remember 101 being too relevant to the rest of my chemistries, so hang in there. One of my old roommates was a tutor and her kids did really well in 101 and 201, so you may want to get one.

5/10/2006 8:19:17 PM

yeah, hendrickson hooked me up with the C- when i'm pretty sure i didn't earn it.

5/11/2006 9:39:05 AM

i know this is after the fact
but back when i took chemistry they had a tutorial service in dabney, and if SI wasn't helping out enough maybe the tutorial service will help

good luck telling your parents... i guess my only suggestion would be to make sure they know you are upset about getting the D and that you really tried and you're not just shrugging it off ... maybe they will take pitty

5/11/2006 10:48:53 AM

Well my biggest fear of all was last semester when I failed that class and my calculus class they told me that if I didn't make a B in both of those classes they wouldn't let me go back. I haven't gotten my calc grade back but I'm not as worried about it. I just hope my parents see that I did do better this semester and maybe I can pull that "three's a charm" thing and I've already signed up for the class again with hendrikson....there goes not having a friday class

thanks for the advice

5/11/2006 1:00:36 PM

become a lesbian!

5/11/2006 1:13:46 PM

hahaha, thanks, that made me laugh...

I'll let you know how it goes after my parents find out....I'm thinking on just telling them I passed all my classes (which isn't lying) and then just try to dance around the chemistry grade...that probably won't work

but if no one hears from me for about a week, you might want to call the Conover Police and file a missing persons report

5/11/2006 2:00:37 PM

no really... if you go home with some dyke, your dad won't give a shit what grade you got in chemistry!



...It worked for me!

[Edited on May 11, 2006 at 2:18 PM. Reason : s]

5/11/2006 2:13:37 PM

seriously, not to be a dick, but if you are having problems with freshman classes you might want to consider a major switch. most ppl i know that had to retake those courses ended up in humanities down the line.

5/11/2006 2:21:23 PM

Quote :

"They ended up finding out when the school mailed my class schedule/degree information to my house over the summer."

They don't do this anymore.... This happened a few years ago when I first came to NC State. I was still in that "I breezed through high school with little effort, so college should be the same" mentality.

5/11/2006 3:20:51 PM

yeah they do. they still send out the transcript in summer, i'm pretty sure.

5/11/2006 3:21:49 PM

^oh.... I just assumed they didn't b/c I don't hear about grades from my parents anymore. Probably b/c after that little fiasco, I pulled it together. Except I failed ECE331 this semester.... but I'm about to fix that.

5/11/2006 3:26:27 PM

C walls are the devil.

5/11/2006 3:51:50 PM

There's never been any grades to come to my house. Just take them out to a nice restaurant and tell them there! If they get mad, tell them to pick up the check!!

5/12/2006 12:00:35 AM

Just out of curiosity, for those of you that had that "highschool was a breeze and I don't need to study in college either" mentality and received a poor final grade in a class because of it, wouldn't failing or doing poorly on the first test be an indication that you actually do need to study? Or were you lulled into a false sense of security by performing well on said first test?

[Edited on May 12, 2006 at 9:05 AM. Reason : ]

5/12/2006 9:03:40 AM

Quote :

"Well my biggest fear of all was last semester when I failed that class and my calculus class they told me that if I didn't make a B in both of those classes they wouldn't let me go back"

sounds like mom and dad don't really want you in school too much.
if they really try and keep you from going to school, there are ways around them.

5/12/2006 9:15:27 AM

sounds like their attitude is they won't pay unless she gets good grades

sounds fair to me

5/12/2006 10:25:48 AM

^Agreed. I am paying for my own college and it's no big deal. And if I don't go to class, fail a test, or really mess something up (rarely) I don't feel bad about it because I'm not wasting my parent's money-since it's my fault, it's not their place to foot the bill. Everyone looks at it differently though.

5/12/2006 10:52:27 AM

^^i don't agree with the "won't pay unless she gets good grades" school of thought. i agree 100% if the person is getting poor grades because of lack of effort, etc. however, if a person is truly putting forth their best effort in a class and still can't pass...i would hope the parent would be understanding.

5/12/2006 11:14:46 AM

ha my brother was really good in chemistry etc


i took chem at wake tech and got it transfered since I knew I was gonna do bad here at state it's definately a lot easier!


my parents pay for my stuff too but they dont have my account information to look at my grades...they know if they just ask me I'll tell them but I usually call and tell them b/c I'm so excited about a grade or something

[Edited on May 12, 2006 at 11:18 AM. Reason : s]

5/12/2006 11:18:02 AM

I'd definitely get a tutor. Make flashcards, practice all of the time, look at your flashcards every night before you go to bed, etc. I don't think that you should automatically discount your major. Perhaps you just need a tutor to get you moving and then once your confidence is restored, you can move on to other things. However, if you don't like your major and you find that you're interested in other stuff, maybe you should consider a change. Don't do it just because of one class you're having trouble with, though. I know that it's going to get more difficult, but perhaps it will become more interesting, too?

5/12/2006 11:33:52 AM

My major is biology education...and I got a B in biology this semester so it's really just the fact that Chemistry is my weak subject.

And following on with the if my parents don't let me go back to school, they won't let me live with them anymore, so basically if they don't want me to go back I'm screwed, and I hope I have a close enough friend that will let me live with them.

I'm thinking of just telling them that I passed all my classes and if they say with what, I just tell them that I didn't make below a C- in my classes, and hopefully they just won't ask to see, or go look and see...

5/12/2006 12:07:55 PM

^^^^ you can pay for her if you don't agree

^ be adult and tell them you worked hard but got a D
if your other grades are A and B it shows you did study

it'll will be ten times worse if they find out you lied

5/12/2006 1:59:56 PM

Seriousy, don't lie about it. It's stupid, and not worth it. If you're honest from the get-go, I can practically promise shit will go better.

5/12/2006 2:04:21 PM

I can't believe you're even considering lying.

Quote :

"^^i don't agree with the "won't pay unless she gets good grades" school of thought. i agree 100% if the person is getting poor grades because of lack of effort, etc. however, if a person is truly putting forth their best effort in a class and still can't pass...i would hope the parent would be understanding."

the reason I don't agree with that "we're paying; you damn well better get good grades" mentality is because I don't think parents should pay for all of a kid's schooling. If you're having to pay tuition/fees or rent or some other key part of being in school, it means a hell of a lot more to you, you make wiser choices about money, and you mature faster (well, hopefully. I did.)
To be fair, it sounds like OP's parents might not accept that their kid isn't stellar in all subjects - that's a parental shortcoming, and there's not much she can do to change it.

Quote :

"sounds like their attitude is they won't pay unless she gets good grades sounds fair to me"

If mom and dad/dad/mom are/is paying for your schooling, it shouldn't be conditional. Either they want you to be in school, or they don't. I understand some parents take the "We're paying so you don't have to work, so that you can get better grades" route, and while I can see why they say it, I think it's bullshit. Is your kid so dense and have such poor time management skills that they can't work AND go to school? Maybe you should have spent that money somewhere else, then.

Quote :

"And following on with the if my parents don't let me go back to school, they won't let me live with them anymore, so basically if they don't want me to go back I'm screwed, and I hope I have a close enough friend that will let me live with them."

Do you live with them during the school year? I thought you were from conover or something.

5/12/2006 3:03:46 PM

No I don't live with them during the school year, but if they don't let me go back to school, they aren't going to let me live with them either. This means I won't have a place to stay unless I can get a friend to take me in until I can save enough money to find my own place.

5/12/2006 4:45:27 PM

Quote :

"highschool was a breeze"

I don't understand this myself ... I took the equivalent of ~30 college credit hours both my junior and senior years of high school. Even in smaller school systems, there ARE options if you are ambitious enough.

At some point you are going to have to break away from being completely dependent on them / them being in control of you ... I hope it's before you receive your degree. Try talking to them over the summer ... I'm not sure what your past history with them is, (nor is it my business), but the trust factor here seems really screwy.

Anyways, sawa, send ambrosia a PM if the parents DO cut you off. She can get you on the right track for talking care of financial aid/insurance/etc. I seriously hope there's a better resolution to all of this.

5/12/2006 6:38:41 PM

good luck with this

hopefully they'll understand where you're coming from

5/12/2006 6:59:37 PM

Quote :

"My major is biology education...and I got a B in biology this semester so it's really just the fact that Chemistry is my weak subject."

so you're retaking some basic sciences...doing mediocre in others...and you want to teach kids about said subjects?

just tell them the truth and get on with your life. so you suck at science...big whoop. they'll get over it eventually.

5/12/2006 7:07:16 PM

I haven't read the entire thread, so I don't know if somebody already said this.

You break the bad news, right? Then you immediately follow up with the good news; you just saved a bunch of money on your car insurance by switching to Geico.

5/13/2006 12:59:51 PM

Yeah baby, yeah!

5/13/2006 2:12:17 PM

ch101 is one hell of a weed out course.

5/13/2006 3:20:38 PM

i made a B in ch 101, and im a senior.. hadn't had a chem class since 11th grade

its not THAT hard

5/14/2006 11:01:39 PM