What would you think?

[jdif]

I posted this on the Michigan forum but wanted some other opinions.

I have been sloughing away at my pre-req's at Delta College. I had some family issues come up this past semester and probably should have dropped out but felt that I should set a good example for my son and keep pushing through. I was taking Intro to Nursing (got a B+) and Micro. I worked my bottom off and ended up with a C-. I needed a C. I did at least 10-20 hours of homework a week. When I emailed the Prof - as she had not sent my grading paper - as to how she came to my grade I told her I was probably going to quit school now. At 48 and stuggling with finances I could not go through driving 40 mins. one way 2x a week again.

She was sympathetic but wouldn't budge. However - then she told me to take the class again, maybe try another instructor, not to give up, yada,yada, yada and that HALF THE CLASS WAS RETAKING IT and I SHOULDN'T FEEL BAD!

I also took A & P (excellerated) and got a B and C, English Comp I and II and got an A and a B+, Math for meds/C+ (I could have applied myself better on that one), and a Computer class. Oh and Intro to Government - B.

So now I am out for now and feel like I have wasted a year.

Maybe someone could enlighten me but if I were a teacher of anything and half my class failed and had to retake I don't think I would feel too good about my teaching ability . . . .

[AtomicWoman]

She was sympathetic but wouldn't budge. However - then she told me to take the class again, maybe try another instructor, not to give up, yada,yada, yada and that HALF THE CLASS WAS RETAKING IT and I SHOULDN'T FEEL BAD!

I also took A & P (excellerated) and got a B and C, English Comp I and II and got an A and a B+, Math for meds/C+ (I could have applied myself better on that one), and a Computer class. Oh and Intro to Government - B.

So now I am out for now and feel like I have wasted a year.

Maybe someone could enlighten me but if I were a teacher of anything and half my class failed and had to retake I don't think I would feel too good about my teaching ability . . . .

I used to teach college, and I can tell you this. If it came to the end of the semester and it looked like half the class would have to take the course over, I would re-think the grades I was assigning. Sometimes a teacher just has to admit that they didn't do the greatest job making the material accessible. That's a darn shame about your course! If you are serious about becoming a nurse, please don't give up your dream. Look into distance/online courses so you don't have that long commute!

[llg, PhD, RN]

You have to look at the culture of the school and the "history" of this one class. Does the school use this class to "week out" students? If so, it might be expected that a large number fail the class and the teacher is simply doing her job. As painful as it may be, some schools have "lenient" admissions policies and accept many students that don't really have what it takes to become a nurse. Such schools may purposefully include a couple of classes that "weed out" those students that would not have been even accepted at other schools. If that's the case, your teacher might not have been as bad as some people would think based on the number of failures.

While you may have the talent to become a great nurse, your troubles this past semester may have caught you in such a "net" -- a net not designed for you, but that caught you just the same.

My suggestion is to have a sit-down meeting with someone (academic advisor?) at your school and get a realistic sense of the school and its expectations regarding this and other courses. If you think your difficulties with this course will be a one-time occurance, it would be a shame to abandon your goals because of one setback. But if you find that this school is not a good fit for you overall, then it is not for you ... and not worth your further investment.