(no subject)
Wow, I've never gone through as much shit with anything as I have with deciding what the fuck to do at school. I emailed my Policy professor from last semester to beg for some guidance. So I'll put that here so I don't have to describe my problem all over again.
Dear Dr. Lens,
Hi, I'm Rachel Miller. I was in your Policy class last semester, I'm not sure if you remember me. I have been planning to go into Policy, and I was recently talking to a friend who dropped out of the advanced standing program last November. She told me that the microeconomics class required her to know calculus, and that even with two tutors, she had been failing. This worries me very much because 1) I didn't know a microeconomics class would have such complex math in it and 2) I have NEVER been strong in math and have never taken calculus. I took precal in eleventh grade as my last high school math class, and barely scraped by with a C. Having made mostly A's in high school, this says a lot. I didn't take math again until my required College Algebra class my junior year of undergrad, and I did not learn anything in that class half as complex as what I'd learned in precal. So basically I haven't had anything CLOSE to calculus since junior year of high school, and I did not do very well in it.
This has me very upset because I have looked at the other practice methods and none have appealed to me. The placement I want so badly is policy, and the classes for policy look so much more interesting to me. So I feel like my only two options are 1) go into Clinical or AGPP and be miserable but able to get through or 2) go into Policy but suffer such an intense struggle with one class at the expense of the others, the ones that I would like more and would be more relevant to what I'm considering doing after graduation.
As you can see, I'm really stuck. I've been looking on the website for a course description of microeconomics so that I can see if it is really as bad as my friend described it, but I've had no luck finding anything. So I was hoping that because your focus is on policy, you might be able to provide some more insight into this. I don't want to spend next year (and possibly the rest of my life in social work) miserable because I took the wrong path...but I also don't want to jump into something over my head and risk my opportunity to succeed in all my classes next year. My struggle with calculus would take most of my time and mental energy, and I can't afford to lose all that from my other classes. Honestly, I'm afraid of burning out and flunking out...but the thought of doing something more clinical just to avoid this possibility makes my skin crawl. It's just not for me.
Again, if you can provide any insight into this (including what you may know about the microeconomics class), I would be extremely appreciative. I would also be happy to sit down and talk about this with you in person if you'd like. I just have a tendency to cry when frustrated and I wanted to save myself the embarrassment for at least the initial presentation of my problem so I could get it out to you somewhat clearly!
I know this is a lot to throw at you at once, and I really appreciate your taking the time to listen. I just think the direction of my entire future depends on this decision, and I feel stuck.
Thanks again for your time,
Rachel
I mean damn...calculus. I would NEVER take a job that requires regular use of calculus from me, so I don't care to put myself through hell to learn it. And the thing is, it's not a calculus class. So it's not even about learning that. It's about learning how to evaluate the effectiveness of programs and policies using it. Which implies that you should already know it, and they're just going to teach you how to apply it. I'm so fucked.
Dear Dr. Lens,
Hi, I'm Rachel Miller. I was in your Policy class last semester, I'm not sure if you remember me. I have been planning to go into Policy, and I was recently talking to a friend who dropped out of the advanced standing program last November. She told me that the microeconomics class required her to know calculus, and that even with two tutors, she had been failing. This worries me very much because 1) I didn't know a microeconomics class would have such complex math in it and 2) I have NEVER been strong in math and have never taken calculus. I took precal in eleventh grade as my last high school math class, and barely scraped by with a C. Having made mostly A's in high school, this says a lot. I didn't take math again until my required College Algebra class my junior year of undergrad, and I did not learn anything in that class half as complex as what I'd learned in precal. So basically I haven't had anything CLOSE to calculus since junior year of high school, and I did not do very well in it.
This has me very upset because I have looked at the other practice methods and none have appealed to me. The placement I want so badly is policy, and the classes for policy look so much more interesting to me. So I feel like my only two options are 1) go into Clinical or AGPP and be miserable but able to get through or 2) go into Policy but suffer such an intense struggle with one class at the expense of the others, the ones that I would like more and would be more relevant to what I'm considering doing after graduation.
As you can see, I'm really stuck. I've been looking on the website for a course description of microeconomics so that I can see if it is really as bad as my friend described it, but I've had no luck finding anything. So I was hoping that because your focus is on policy, you might be able to provide some more insight into this. I don't want to spend next year (and possibly the rest of my life in social work) miserable because I took the wrong path...but I also don't want to jump into something over my head and risk my opportunity to succeed in all my classes next year. My struggle with calculus would take most of my time and mental energy, and I can't afford to lose all that from my other classes. Honestly, I'm afraid of burning out and flunking out...but the thought of doing something more clinical just to avoid this possibility makes my skin crawl. It's just not for me.
Again, if you can provide any insight into this (including what you may know about the microeconomics class), I would be extremely appreciative. I would also be happy to sit down and talk about this with you in person if you'd like. I just have a tendency to cry when frustrated and I wanted to save myself the embarrassment for at least the initial presentation of my problem so I could get it out to you somewhat clearly!
I know this is a lot to throw at you at once, and I really appreciate your taking the time to listen. I just think the direction of my entire future depends on this decision, and I feel stuck.
Thanks again for your time,
Rachel
I mean damn...calculus. I would NEVER take a job that requires regular use of calculus from me, so I don't care to put myself through hell to learn it. And the thing is, it's not a calculus class. So it's not even about learning that. It's about learning how to evaluate the effectiveness of programs and policies using it. Which implies that you should already know it, and they're just going to teach you how to apply it. I'm so fucked.