hey aska,
i am so worried right now, im not sure what my next step is. i failed a prerequisite computer science course (49%).
i honestly slacked and i understand this but im just confused from where to go on from here. Credit no credit option due date passed and LWD obviously passed. ive emailed the prof asking if i can do anything for him to round up recently but i doubt it. What can i do and what will this ultimately affect?
-lostandworried
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hey there lostandworried,
at this point, there’s not much you can do about the failed course in terms of changing the mark. if the professor refused to round up the mark, you’re kind of at the end of the line.
as to what it will affect: it will bring your marks down on your transcript, sure. your GPA will suffer a little. however, i’m assuming that you’re in first year and this is the only course you’ve failed. if that’s the case, then every other course you pass, do well in, and add to your transcript will just make this course matter less and less. before you know it, it’ll be an insignificant blip in your academic record, as long as you recognize what you did wrong and ensure that the same thing doesn’t happen again.
what you should be focusing on now is next steps. so you failed comp. sci. lots of people do it. i know that in a society that encourages you to base your entire self-worth on numbers (grades being no small part of that), failing a course can prompt a full-on identity crisis. what i want you to remember, though, is that you are completely in control of your future. you recognize why you failed, and that means that you understand what you have to do next time in order to succeed – and that is amazing.
now you have a few questions to answer: do you still want to do a computer science POSt? if so, when are you going to retake this comp. sci. course (in the summer, next fall, etc.)? how will that fit in with the rest of the classes in your schedule? if you don’t think that comp. sci. is a good fit for you anymore, then what do you want to do? what prerequisites exist for that program that you’re now interested in?
if you do decide that you want to retake this course (either to get in to a comp. sci. POSt or not), i would recommend seeking out help to make sure that you are successful this time around. the academic success centre is a really wonderful resource. whatever it is you think is holding you back from being successful, the academic success centre probably has a workshop to help you surmount that.
if you’d like to discuss where to go from here in terms of taking courses, POSt planning, etc., i’d highly recommend you make an appointment with your college/division registrar’s office. they can help you talk through all this and come to a solution that makes sense for you.
cheers,
aska