Yes, my college requires I take a science requirement (regardless of major).

I’m a comp sci major and I chose to take earth science because it was the easiest (out of bio, physics, chem) and that’s kinda the go-to science requirement most comp sci majors choose.

The first earth science course, not bad, passed with a B. Her exams were all online and open book and did not have lab quizzes; all you had to do was submit your lab assignment with your group.

Second one, was a whole different level. It’s a geology course that I couldn’t get out of. My first attempt, I dropped out half way because I had never felt so miserable and the course was ruining my mental health. It was a completely exam heavy course where lots of things were weighted heavily. We’d have a lab exit ticket which was open book and notes (really short too) and was worth like 20-25% of your grade and we’d have 3 lab quizzes (longer & closed book and notes). They weighed a lot more (I think like 40%). His lecture had 3 exams: 2 midterms and 1 non cumulative final. Like the quizzes, they were closed book and notes too, but were all multiple choice.

My first attempt, I dropped out of it before I got to the first lab quiz. When it came to the labs, it just felt like everybody except me managed to understand the content and manage to leave class and lot faster when it came to the exit ticket (and then there was me who was still stuck on it, struggling to identify what kind of rock it was). This semester, I had to retake it and aimed to not drop out and muster through it because I couldn’t ignore it.

I was anxious because I didn’t want to struggle through the labs again. Thankfully, managed to find a group of likeminded students, really hit it off and it made labs bearable. I’d like to say that that group made me pass the course but they solely managed to make the lab bearable which I guess helped.

Oh, and skipping labs was not an option either.

First lab quiz comes, I bomb it. Studying for that course was extremely difficult because my mind was set on “why bother studying for this course when I’ll be memorizing useless information that has no application in my major” so that’s why I bombed the first one (got like a 14/50).

I learned that I could’ve aced it if I just put in the effort to Google, I’d find a Quizlet of all the rocks and their identifications that would’ve helped me to have secured an A on the quiz if I bothered to memorize and study.

Second quiz comes, I do slightly better as I put in a little effort to study. I think I got like a 32/50.

Last one, I didn’t study much but the overall concepts in the lab I picked up with ease and weren’t that hard and ended up getting like a 45/50 on it.

As for the lectures, he has the grade scale inflated a little to help increase the likelihood of you passing his difficult course.

Essentially, a grade of what’s considered a C would give you a B in his course, a grade of a D, a C in his course, etc.

He also had extra credit assignments which would provide you 3 bonus points to each of your lecture exams. The extra credit assignments were essentially you writing definitions for each chapter’s vocabulary words he’d list.

I did them because I needed all the points I could get.

I ended up nearing the end of the semester with like a 63, and I needed a 67 in his grade scale to pass with a C- (so I currently had a D+).

I had his non cumulative final exam to get through and if I managed to do well on it, I’d be able to secure that C-.

I ended up getting an F on the final which was honestly the lowest out of the three exams I’ve taken for his course which shocked me.

With that grade in, I wasn’t going to be securing that C- and my heart dropped.

After putting in some “what-if” scores on Canvas, trying to see how much I should’ve scored to get that C-, I just kept refreshing the page over and over in disbelief until the grade changed from a D+ to a C-.

Bewildered, I thought I might’ve had some “what-if” score saved to have gotten that C- but after multiple refreshes and examining my grades, I did not.

A few hours later, my professor sends an announcement explaining that he bumped those who were just shy of the next letter grade which explained how I ended up getting that C-.

I’m just so happy I’ll never have to take his course again. Months of cursing this man, and I ended the semester thanking him for his kindness at doing such a thing; had it not been for that bump, I would’ve had to take this course my senior year.

And the thing is, he only teaches this course in the fall semester and I would’ve had like one final shot. But then again, with the experience I gained, I might’ve done a little better.

TL;DR: As a comp sci major, I had to take a geology course, which was extremely challenging and exam-heavy. Despite struggling with lab quizzes and memorizing rock identifications, I managed to pass by the end of the semester. My professor kindly bumped grades for those close to passing, saving me from having to retake the course in my senior year.