Hi! I’m a first year looking to double major in IR/Econ. I am doing okay in my IR reqs, all things considered, but I am failing mat137, like, big time. I’ve spoken with a registrar, and I just want to know, in your experience, is it possible to recover in a full year course from failing in the first term? Or should I drop and retake in the summer? Also, do you know of any reputable tutors that could help, outside of the math learning centre?
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hello friend,
IR and econ! a classic combination. very aoc of you.
i’m glad you’ve spoken to your registrar— that’s always a smart move when you’re in a less-than-ideal academic situation. if you’re open to it, you might also consider booking an appointment with a learning strategist, who might be able to help you identify any challenges in the way that you currently study for math. you can then develop a plan with them to tackle those challenges.
i’m assuming that a recovery looks like a mark of 60+ in the course, since that’s what’s required for entry into the econ major? i can’t predict how easy it’s going to be to recover in a full year course if you’ve been failing the first term, since a lot of that will depend on how badly you’re failing and what the structure of the course looks like. if there’s more weight in the second half of the course than the first, there’s more hope for a recovery. what i can tell you with some certainty is that it’ll take a lot of hard work to recover, should you choose that path.
if i were you, assuming you don’t desperately need to devote your time and energy to other courses, i might stick it through for a few more months and see if things get better. you have until february 22 to decide whether you want to drop the course, and that’s some time from now.
you could also technically request a late withdrawal as late as may, which basically means that the course will appear on your transcript with a LWD notation instead of a failing grade. both of those are good options if you don’t think it’s possible for you to pass the course, although i think dropping is probably better than an LWD since the course won’t show up on your transcript at all.
unfortunately, i don’t actually know of any reputable tutors for u of t math. tutors will usually post their numbers on bulletin boards across campus, but alas, i’m not sure these are the times for that right now. you might try asking r/UofT on reddit, maybe? although i always warn people to take what they see there with a grain of salt, since r/UofT is a lil chaotic and sometimes unreliable.
best of luck! i really hope that you manage to turn things around. if you continue to struggle with this decision, you can always head back to the registrar, talk to upper years (if you know any), or seek out trusted friends/family for advice.
thank you for waiting for this answer—a ton of first years are struggling right now and i have a lot of stuff in my inbox to sift through. you’re certainly not alone in this.
if you’re not yet done your exams, i hope the rest of your semester goes well. otherwise, have a good and well-deserved holiday break! if you need me, i’ll be watching the heck out of dash and lily on netflix, because hey, if there was ever a year for a sappy unrealistic christmas series it’s this one. don’t roast me. haven’t we all reverted back to our twelve-year-old selves, anyway?
be Boundless,
aska