u/Character-Context-79

hi! for reference, im a senior thats an aspiring bme major. im taking c mech with no calc bg (im taking calc bc rn) and no physics bg. naturally i expected it to be very hard and was ready to put the work in for it, but i didnt expect it to be THIS hard, nor for my effort to be THIS useless, in the long run.

we did unit 2 (dynamics) first, and i got a literal 21% raw, 51% with the curve. i thought i was just stupid, but his own p1 students from the year before (now in c mech with me) were getting 30-40's as well. regardless, i was very determined to do well on unit 1, especially bc another 20-30% curve was expected (per his words) on the unit 1 test.

so im doing the worksheets, labs, reviews, etc, and every assignment is relatively simple to complete. i even got an 80 raw on the practice test for unit 1. the issue is that the practice test, assignments, NOTHING he gives us, is equivalent to the real test rigor wise. i learned the night before the test (yesterday) that he apparently makes our tests using the MIT ver. of C:Mech to make the ap exam feel like a breeze (which i can confirm works, bc our assignments are almost always previous collegeboard frqs and theyre a cake walk).

today i took the unit 1 exam.. the mcqs were manageable conceptually and mathematically, but the frqs were fucking awful. the 2 frqs on the practice test were both 3 parts and all conceptual. the frqs we were given as assignments all asked the same thing (max height, total time, voy and vox). however, the frqs on the real thing were 5-6 parts each, nearly all calculus/mathematical, were far more advanced conceptually than we ever discussed, and left out WAY more details than our practice assignments did. he also threw experimental design on there which no one expected bc he didnt mention it as a concept on our test (nor has even brought up experimental design since early september). each frq was about 4-5 pages f2b in length on the real thing.

aside from needing to study the MIT version of C:Mech to pass this class, are there any other resources out there that will help me succeed in his class? we follow a quarter system and depending in my score i could be stuck with a C for the quarter which really makes me nervous, esp for my major of choice. this class in general makes me think bme is not for me tbh 😭 im just nervous for whats to come, i cant drop the class, and i WANT to do better in it, but i genuinely do not know how.

i have gotten mixed responses so im coming here to ask this.. for some context, im probably going the BME route bc it doesnt seem like any other degree fits what i wanna do. my schools range from safety state schools (florida) to competitive t50's, to t20's, to t10+

- i have taken precalc (4), csp (3), and chem (3) for my "stem classes", as thats all what was available for me at the time.

- while i got A's in both csp and precalc, i did Not get an A in chem. i had a burnout period event that tanked it to a B. this is the only B i have

my other aps: apush, lang, gov, i all got 4's in.

csp i took sophomore year along apush as my first aps and i really just didnt care for the class, chem was more of a fluke run and i plan to retake the exam in 2027. but my main question here is: do i still submit the 3's in csp and chem? i dont want them to think i failed them if i dont turn it in, especially chem. i just dont really know what weakens my application more: not submitting the 3, or choosing to.

(gonna try to be as vague as possible here for privacy reasons)

im a rising senior who is considering the idea of applying to colleges via NCM this year.

my mom, who is my primary caretaker and has primary custody over me, makes $52k a year, and receives no other benefits like snap, etc. i can back this up w qualifying for free school lunch, free SATs, and exclusion from common app fees. this is because these 3 things only consider the primary caretaker of the family. qb, however, requires the information of both parents, no matter how much they contribute or exist in your life.

my dad, who i see maybe once or twice a year and never talk to, makes around 100k a year. the most he provides is $900 a month for child support ($225 per kid, and there is 4 of us), and maybe he'll contribute some $25-$50 for birthday money and christmas, and iirc he paid for my glasses which was about $100 (since im under his name for it), but that's just about it. he does not pay for anything else im aware of.

obviously, a ~152k income for family of 5 is basically an auto reject from NCM with no context. is it selfish/appropriate to want his income off of my name? if it's for the better to have his name removed, is that actually possible?

any and all help is appreciated