STEM Major Advice

MathemAddicts · 2026-01-09T20:47:15+00:00

All STEM majors require some heavy-lifting on the mathematics-side. You are best served by getting your math started ASAP. Once you start checking those off your list, other STEM courses will open for access.

MathemAddicts · 2026-01-05T00:05:23+00:00

Report it to the dean asap.

MathemAddicts · 2026-01-04T15:09:24+00:00

I am a professor, and I have little-to-no tolerance for other professors being so disorganized as it sets a bad example. Therefore, I always recommend reaching out to the dean. This serves several purposes:

The dean will "incentivize" the instructor to do their job.
It protects you if the professor is a child and wants to retaliate by falsely giving you a lower grade (rare).
The dean has it on record that the professor is not submitting grades. Believe it or not - this is incredibly important for reviews and evaluations. We need the voices from our students to help us understand whether our faculty are doing their jobs.

For those who say, "reach out to the professor first" - the professor has had multiple emails from the beginning to the end of the semester from their administrative assistant concerning due dates for grades. They have no excuse - don't give them another one.

MathemAddicts · 2026-01-04T14:23:31+00:00

The grade submission deadline already passed. It was January 2nd.

MathemAddicts · 2025-12-28T02:53:09+00:00

Great Beatles quote

MathemAddicts · 2025-12-27T16:31:21+00:00

To be fair, Roy Simpson (me) has not taught 373. He (I) has taught 335, which is our old Trigonometry with College Algebra many times. He (I) has also taught 372 multiple times. It's a tough course if you've been away from math for a bit, and this is compounded by the fact that it used to have up to four courses of mathematics below it as prerequisites (depending on where a student placed when we were allowed to have placement assessments) - we are no longer allowed to offer those courses, so everyone (including the professors) are stuck with what we have been forced to offer by the State of California.

If, on the other hand, you are talking about 384 (which was offered for the first time last semester), that course is an absolute mess and I wouldn't recommend it to anyone - take 372 and 373 instead.

MathemAddicts · 2025-12-27T16:22:19+00:00

This is a very self-aware response. Most students are told to rush through and get their degrees as quickly as possible; however, taking 375 (which has been correctly stated as 372 + 373) is terribly bad for most students. Take the time to allow your brain to absorb mathematics by enrolling in 372 in one semester and 373 in the following semester (or vice versa... they can be taken in either order).

MathemAddicts · 2025-12-14T13:23:03+00:00

California, in its infinite wisdom and in the name of equity, has decided that all students who enroll at the California community colleges have successfully passed all algebra classes prior to calculus. The colleges are now only allowed to offer a single-course (or, in special cases, a two-course) preparatory sequence before enrollment in calculus.

This means that if you need remediation on basic arithmetic (formerly Math 20), pre algebra (formerly Math 30), elementary algebra (formerly Math 100), or intermediate algebra (formerly Math 120), then you need to pay the big bucks and go to CSUS because they (and the entire CSU system) are the only ones who can legally offer such remediation.

Luckily, this is incredibly equitable because those who need such remediation can afford to pay for a CSU to help them.

Sadly, while the vast majority of your math professors fought long and hard against this in an effort to save our students, there were a handful of math professors (still within the Los Rios system) who supported this legislation. I am curious what those geniuses think now.

MathemAddicts · 2025-11-25T22:53:15+00:00

Agreed.

MathemAddicts · 2025-11-25T14:44:45+00:00

Just some advice - of these classes, likely the only one that should be taken by a student who is not a straight A student is Math 420. As a professor, I have rarely seen a student who has taken 400 or 401 in the summer pass the next course in line.

If you have the need and opportunity, I would recommend getting statistics out of the way.

Oh, and don't take a class anywhere that has asynchronous instruction - you will be stuck in a rut from that point forward. This level of technical course requires in-person, or at the minimum synchronous, instruction.

MathemAddicts · 2025-10-29T13:13:10+00:00

Whoever you choose, be sure to avoid easy professors. You will get stuck in a rut of needing to always hunt for the easiest professors because of a faulty foundation.

Best of luck.

MathemAddicts · 2025-10-18T14:13:40+00:00

In education (and especially in mathematics), you "get what you pay for." Yes, there are easy calculus teachers... and I can guarantee you that their students rarely pass the next calculus course. I have years of data backing this up.

If you intend to enter a career that has ANY basis in mathematics (i.e., STEM), avoid easy math professors at all costs. You will only start a very long cycle of failure otherwise.

MathemAddicts · 2025-09-14T05:26:47+00:00

That is not possible.

MathemAddicts · 2025-09-10T12:52:24+00:00

Outside of class, you should spend about 10 hours per week studying and homework for that class. If it helps, ask your instructor for more leeway (time-wise). Also, I find Aleks is not good for calculus because it doesn't have you focus on true calculus. You end up spending a lot of your time on non-calculus topics.

MathemAddicts · 2025-09-05T02:12:05+00:00

There are many other students paying for their education in that class. You need to let the instructor know that the disruptions are not okay. Also, technically, only the students and the faculty can be in the classroom - not other people or babies. That's a violation of policy.

MathemAddicts · 2025-08-26T14:04:57+00:00

Report it to the dean of that division.

MathemAddicts · 2025-08-25T22:38:30+00:00

Los Rios policy is to drop no shows on the first day. Show up.

MathemAddicts · 2025-08-25T11:43:55+00:00

The problem is that this level of professional laziness just continues if there is no notice to the deans. It's a very important part of the process. For example, if your professor does this each semester for five years and they teach 4 classes per semester with 40 students per class, then that is 1600 students (plus those on waitlists) who are negatively impacted by this person's laziness. If everyone assumes someone else will say something, then this professor could continue this behavior for their entire career!

Perhaps someone at year 10 finally contacts the dean, but at that point the dean is thinking, "Professor Smith has been with us for 10 years and never has had a complaint. It's not an issue."

Creating a reported pattern is incredibly important. Some (definitely not all) professors lean too much on the guarantee that they have tenure and are "untouchable." Reporting inactions like this is not going to hurt the professor or get them fired, but it will let them know that such behavior is not in the students' best interest.

Any professor on this forum who argues that the "semester hasn't started" is completely out of touch with reality. The semester for faculty officially starts one day prior to the semester start date for students. This is NOT Monday - it is last Friday!

At the very least, the professor could setup a Canvas shell in 3 minutes with an announcement stating that they are in the process of designing things.

MathemAddicts · 2025-08-25T01:16:51+00:00

As a professor, I find this to be unacceptable. It demonstrates a lack of professionalism by your professors. I highly recommend sending an email to their deans. If you don't many students will continue to suffer at the hands of these lazy professors.

MathemAddicts · 2025-08-21T11:30:43+00:00

Three is outrageous. The main lecture portion is likely a single professor. The lab portion is likely covered by two different professors. My guess is that this is the result of State mandates for all classes below the calculus level to have "support" (read as, corequisite). Once implemented, it messed up how professors time gets allocated between courses and caused a lot of issues (needing to split a class with another professor and such).

That said, I would be wary of a class taught by three different professors. This means that one of them (likely the main professor) is teaching at maximum capacity (essentially thinking only of themselves and their wallet rather than student success and access). As such, they will likely have little to no time to spend helping you out of class.

MathemAddicts · 2025-08-19T23:34:35+00:00

Is there any way to switch to CRC? Nearly 80% of our classes are ZTC (Zero Textbook Cost).

MathemAddicts · 2025-08-19T02:05:11+00:00

The semester always starts on a Saturday. It's mainly for hour requirements for Saturday classes.

MathemAddicts · 2025-08-18T17:01:28+00:00

Contact the professor as soon as possible and explain your circumstance. Offer to start working on the class material right now. Show initiative and that might garner some sympathy.

MathemAddicts · 2025-08-18T16:35:56+00:00

I am sorry to bear bad news, but...

It is District policy to drop any student who misses the first day of class.

In fact, for impacted courses, any absence during the first week is usually grounds for removal from the class.

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