Hi aska,
I’m a first year in commerce and I feel like I’m really screwing up my first year. I pretty much miserably failed all of my midterms except for one. I’m terrified that I’m going to be kicked out of my program. Math has never been my forte and no matter how hard I study I just don’t understand it. On the other hand, I’ve always been very good at English and Literature. I’ve become very confused and discouraged, I don’t feel as if I belong in commerce. I want a career in business but with calculus being a requirement for second year, I’m not sure I’ll make it.
I’m not really sure what to do or what department I belong to, how does someone really know the program they’re in is right for them?
Thanks for the help,
Confused First Year
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Hello Confused First Year,
I take it you’re in Rotman then? I hate to break it to you, but getting into business without first dealing with Calculus doesn’t seem possible. Sorry!
Anyhow, to make it to second year for Rotman, you need to get at least 67% in ECO100Y and RSM100Y, and at least 50% in your MAT course. You get twelve months to do that, so if you find your grades from this year aren’t high enough, you can even try boosting them in the summer.
Now don’t feel discouraged! Doing poorly on your first few midterms is a pretty common occurrence. I mean, I dealt with two or so inquiries along the same lines of I failed my midterm, should I just drop out and ask McDonald’s to hire me? just in the past week. It’s normal and it’s often a case of needing to focus more and study harder. And, if need be, a few visits to the Academic Success Centre website wouldn’t hurt.
Determining what department someone belongs to is entirely up to them. Personally, I think it’s a matter of a) what the person likes, and b) what the person excels at. Your program is entirely up to you to decide. Have you taken an ENG course at UofT? Try one! You may very well take it here and come to realize that math is actually your stronger point. For now, since you seem so unsure about things, experiment.
Good luck!
aska