I'm in first year commerce and i just finished first semester.

I took university very lightly because in hs i didnt study much and still managed to maintain high 80s. I realized the hard way that uni is very different. Anyways, I failed CALC 1F03 and I got 2 D's in other courses. All in all, my average right now is 59, which is 4 percent below the average i need to make it to second year (63-66) which is a 5.0. I did the math and that means i need to get a 70 average this semester to maintain a 5. Also, i left my calc exam 90% blank because I actually felt sick and they did not let me rewrite it because they are very strict about rewriting exams so yeah that sucked but it is what it is - i dont think i would have failed if i got the chance of rewriting but thats over so now im focusing on the future. I just have a couple of questions:

1. I will need to take 2 summer school courses because i need to make up for the math 1F03 i failed and not doing math 1M03 this semester because 1F03 was a prereq. How much do summer school courses cost and are they easier/harder/around the same?

2. It says on the notes for business II that a CA of 5 on a minimum of 24 units needs to be met. After summer school, I will have 30 units. Does this mean they will only look at all my required courses and electives until a minimum of 24 units is met? Or will they look at ALL the courses i took?

3. Does IF03 count as a mandatory business course (it is the highschool equivalent - only those that did not take calc are taking it)?

Hello! I'm in first year commerce as well and I can probably help you for a few questions! From what I heard from Academic Advisors and upper Years , each summer school class is about $1000 and it is quite intense as it's only about 6 weeks long. This meaning a heavy course like math would have 6 hours of lecture time a week. My friend who took 2nd accounting in summer school said he would go in twice a week, (he chose night classes) so like a Tuesday and Thursday. He would have his tutorial from 6-7pm and his lecture from 7-10pm (this was twice a week!). It would be very fast paced and you would really have to be on top of your work and keeping up with everything.

I am not entirely sure if Calc 1F03 is mandatory, but I would think it is since you were mandated to take it if you didn't have the calc in high school.

I HIGHLY RECOMMEND you talk to one of the business academic advisors, you can make an appointment on Oscarplus (super easy). I already had 2 appointment this year and they are super helpful with everything and they know all this info. This year they accepted too many Commerce kids and they are probably going to try to ween some out this year so if you want to stay in the program, GO SEE AN ACADEMIC ADVISOR!!

If you struggled in first term, maybe you can look into taking a reduced course load in term 2 to focus more on getting high grades to push you into second year. Right now you should focus on getting high grades in your courses so you can move on to second year (even if it means dropping some tough courses).
But you should definitely consult your academic advisor before taking any decision (or making the wrong one).
And if you take 2 courses each term in the summer OSAP will cover you. But again, 2 courses is somewhat heavy for a spring/summer term (manageable but you need to study hard).

I recommend seeing an Academic Advisor. They are very helpful, especially for situations like this. They have access to your grades and student file, so they can see exactly what situation you're in and be able to give you in-depth advice.

Academic Advisors for business:
Lori Hill
Lori Johnston
Barb Pegg
Angela Fortino

To make an appointment with an academic advisor, book using OSCARplus or call 905-525-9140 ext. 24433.

Office hours are:
Monday to Friday
8:30 a.m. – 4:30 p.m.

They also have a drop-off box outside their office door for after hours drop offs.

http://ug.degroote.mcmaster. ca/contact/