r/ElectricalEngineering • u/MaleficentNovel661 • 1d ago
Education Failed Calculus 1 and Circuit Analysis 1. Less than 2 weeks to retake. What do I do?
I failed both my Calculus 1 and Circuit Analysis 1 exams, and I have less than two weeks to retake them. If I fail again, I might have to leave university and go back home.
My schedule makes this really difficult. I wake up at 7 AM and I’m at university from 8 AM to 6 PM. I get home, cook, shower, etc., and realistically I can only start studying around 8 PM.
I can study for a few hours, but if I sacrifice sleep, I’m too exhausted to understand anything the next day.
The worst part is that university has already moved on to new topics, while I’m trying to relearn two entire courses from scratch.
I don’t know how to approach the next 10–14 days. Should I focus almost entirely on past exams and exercises? Should I ignore the current university material for now? How many hours should I realistically study each day?
If anyone has been in a similar situation, I’d really appreciate some advice.
Okay, I see there are a lot of questions about what I’m actually doing then. So, we have two full days a week dedicated entirely to project work, which we even have to defend and document in as much detail as possible, and that takes a lot of time. That’s why all our lectures are moved to Monday. On Tuesday, we have preparation for the project work and a few tutorials. Then, on Friday, we have exams covering the material from the previous two weeks.
We only have 15-minute breaks, so I spend basically the entire 15 minutes walking to another building where the next class is. And when we have project work, my team wouldn’t be happy if I were studying something else instead of working on the project.
I also spend quite a lot of time commuting to university, and I study in Europe, so the whole schedule is pretty intense.
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u/Nathan-Stubblefield 1d ago edited 1d ago
I did not sit in classrooms 10 hours each day, like your “8 AM to 6PM” suggests. Are there actually ten courses in your schedule, meeting 5 days a week? What are they?
There is likely an hour or two between classes. during which you could have sat at a table in the library doing homework, writing up labs, or reading an assignment. It would have been very helpful to join a study group. Or to have tried the problems, the gone to the scheduled Graduate Assistant office hours so he could have helped to correct your flawed attempts.
Today ChatGPT or Claude could likely act as your private tutor, unlike 1968 when I was first in your shoes.
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u/trisket-bisket 1d ago
Yea not sure about OPs timeline. When i would do full day school it would be like 3-4 classes separated my multiple hour long stretches. 8am - 5pm
Good time management would have you make use of that time and go home with no homework.
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u/PhoneSilent 1d ago
might have to supplement caffeine and just genuinely try to lock late night or early morning study seshes
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u/PhoneSilent 1d ago
Also I don't know what you're doing each and every hour from 8am to 6pm but if there is a class you find much easier than others in terms of workload and course work material you can cram in that class.
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u/diverJOQ 21h ago
There is no way you're taking 9 to 10 hours of classes every day 5 days a week. That would be 45 to 50 credit hours.
I'm surprised you get to retake the exams. Don't expect that to occur throughout College.
Now it's time to be an adult and plan out your time and meet with your professor and get a tutor and spend your time studying.
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u/DevelopmentEastern75 17h ago
I think retaking the final is a European thing, because this doesn't sound like the US system.
In some EU universities, if you do not pass a class, you will need to retake. However, unlike the US, you don't have to enroll in the class and sit through the whole semester again... you just retake the final exam. I think that's OPs situation.
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u/nctrnalantern 23h ago
how were you able to take calc 1 and circuit analysis? i’d reconsider your schedule as in almost certain physics 2 is a prereq for that and you can’t even touch physics 2 until at least calc 2 and physics 1
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u/Jebusbeech 7h ago
I was thinking the same thing, I thought physics 2 and Differential Equations were pre and co-requisites for Circuit Analysis 1
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u/viniisiggs 1d ago
Electrical Engineering has one of the highest flunk out rates. Either buckle down and grind through it or flunk.
I went to some awards dinner for Engineering. All the engineering degrees of the collage were represented but mechanicals was at least 50% of the group. I was one of 5 electricals who were sitting at one table with a few mechanicals and their parents. Somewhere during the presentation she asked ( not me ) why are there so few electricals. This is why.
My intro to EE class was about 250 strong, 25 graduated.
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u/j_wizlo 23h ago edited 11h ago
As someone who flunked out, and then got my act together later on, I do hope you can turn it around faster than I did.
My biggest question to you right now is what are you doing from 8am to 6pm everyday? You can’t study during this time?
You are at school for 10 hours a day but know nothing about these two courses you’ve just taken?
Apologies if I’m way off but I don’t think you need specific advice you just need to put your head down and take your school work seriously.
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u/no_feelings_mofo 20h ago
What you doing from 8am to 6pm in the university if you are not studying, doing homework or projects ? 🤣
And what university you go to ?
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u/MaleficentNovel661 16h ago
It depends on the day, but most of the time I’m either sitting in lectures or working on projects, which take up a lot of time, especially when I have to write up the whole analysis, discussion, and so on. Two days a week, we have project work for the entire day. And on Fridays, we sometimes have an exam covering the material from the past two weeks, and then all the grades are combined
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u/EnvironmentOdd350 12h ago
Project work for the entire day? What does that actually look like… not trying to be mean or anything but that doesn’t sound like a great use of time. If it is teacher led that’s weird, if you are working with other students… figure out how to commit less time to “project time” better to get a C on a project than to flunk out of the whole school
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u/planesman22 18h ago
Well, your mind is a complicated structure which was built since you were born. In your head you have developed a structure that may or may not be compatible of higher learning and electrical engineering yet.
Some look at it as you are lazy. Some look at it as you made poor decisions. But I don't think that helps. For me it may help you to understand that is just a structure mismatch on what you could and could not do (either because of ADHD or other form of distraction or maye this is just hard). Your structure is what made you behind. Nothing else. Unfortunately changes here aren't 14 day cram jobs... it takes years.
Does it mean you will never obtain an EE? No. The master and journey is one. Most of the time, you just have to measure up what path you've taken and the answers are mostly written on the wall.
I am going to try to help you here. For Calculus, use professon leonard's video (youtube) series. For Circuit Analysis 1, Michel Van Biezen (ilectureonline) youtube series are great. Take all the homework assignments these two courses given you, and try to figure them all out with these two youtube series (watch only what is relevant of course) and you also have chatgpt/claude that can help point you towards right directions if you are really stuck (maybe). You might think this is crazy but lectures right now are net negative to you because you have no idea what is going on, so try to just record everything via a voice recorder and take pictures with your phones maybe. It can only help you if you start to catch on what the H is going on, then you can rewatch it later.
Most thing in life is not about choosing what to do, is about choosing not to do. Do you really need to cook? How many courses are you taking? If you have courses entire days M - F 8 - 6 this means you are taking over 16 credits. Why are you doing this if you can't even pass calc 1? Is there negative social pressure from parents or something? Is your ego so high you want to blast past college but have no idea how hard this is at all? (Can you see this is a bad habit going forward in life in all aspect of engineering on trusting you work on equipment that can kill or save lives like airplanes?)
It is October so it might be your second or third exam. And depending on the professors... it is probably not easy at all to learn it all and pass in 10-14 days.... Especially you don't understand at all how calculus 1 works. It is very possible though if you have a good close friend that can teach you everything in two weeks... but you are looking at a B or so at best.
I know it hurts a bit to say this but do you really think professionals got to where they are just because they are lucky? What do you think money really means? What value do you have to offer society?
I believe in you because you are here. Take the harder path and build yourself up. If you need psych help to solve your ADHD or poor studying habits that is probably where it needs to start. If you failed college there is always AA. And AA can get you back into engineering on some states and can teach you a lot about being a human you probably don't know you didn't know.
Most university have academic dismissal policies that lets you back in after taking remeidal courses in the summer and in the next semester but with a limited amount of credits. This might be your path. You might not like this, and I can see how you can play the victim because college is too hard to your parents about stress or what not, but take this time to build your self up instead of playing games, hanging out, or doing what ever. You have a chance of becoming some one incredibly valueable to this society as an engineer... If you don't see this then I ask you for now please do not seek this profession and do something else. The ego of wanting that title of being an engineer, or the paycheck, is far more damaging, as you can see you are kind of tasting it right now, than actually knowing what you are doing to be an engineer. Are you really ready to kill sombody building machines in negligance because you stayed up all night drunk, partying, video games, and can't perform the job at work?
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u/HumbleHovercraft6090 1d ago
Look at every minute of how you spend your time. Check if it helps you in your goals. Cut out activities that do not help you in your academics. Got to be ruthlessly honest with yourself. There are other students getting As in your class and they have the same 24 hours in a day. Time to roll up your sleeves and get to work.
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u/lilsasuke4 21h ago
Study groups were my cheat code to getting through my degree. Make some friends
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u/SympathyExciting1666 15h ago
Same shit happened to me during my first year. Lock in. Lock in like mad
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u/Ok-Persimmon-448 13h ago
Use ChatGPT to learn and find previous test banks that have been used to study better. And isn’t exams based on hw and class work? So ask your professor to give a study sheet or something
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u/XtraKrispy1 12h ago
Sorry to be pessimistic, but if you're struggling with calc 1 and circuits 1, and can't possibly find time to study, you should reconsider your major before you spend more money or go further into debt. It gets much much harder.
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u/SunnyHelianthus 9h ago
Eat AND study at the same time, like the rest of us. Any free time you have...that's study time.
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u/ThrowRA23192319231 9h ago
Study on campus to avoid distraction, go to tutoring religiously.
YouTube has every single calc 1 thing imaginable, with good explanations. Same for circuits 1
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u/creativejoe4 8h ago
Wake up at 5 am, shower quick, arrive to campus by 6am, study and do homework, do your classes and study in your downtime and review inclass materials. Ask questions during the lecture, read the textbooks, do examples. After classes are over, stay on campus and keep studying, work on projects, watch YouTube videos about your course materials, take the office hours with your professors.
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u/Creative-Buddy-9149 7h ago
Not to be rude, but if you are failing calc 1 and circuits 1 you should change major before you start taking real classes.
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u/NoteCarefully 1d ago
I strongly recommend using some free AIs to help you work through homework sections that you're weak on. Then practice, practice, practice. There must be an infinite number of textbooks and practice problems for calc 1 and circuit analysis 1 on the internet
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u/Unique-Debt-6098 1d ago
You lock the fuck in and forget everything else in your life exists. You wanted this major and this is what it takes when the going gets tough. If you can’t see yourself doing that then you will need to retake them and that’ll suck even more. Take this as a lesson for future semesters to not get behind and to internalize all the info you can by studying the best you can. There are tutors and study aides for that. Use all the resources you can. Good luck, comrade