Current Events > Ugh, gotta take a pre-college level math class cus I am terrible at math

(+) Yeah! (+)

I've always sucked at math... I hope taking this gives me a solid foundation that I can use to just self-study for a CLEP test or something -_-.
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Good luck, dude

Don't be afraid to ask for help if you need it
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I remember taking remedial math twice in college and failing both times. I then took a three week tech math course over the summer session and passed with an A. I guess I just retained the information better in a short time span than over the course of four months. Maybe try that if this doesnt work out. And another key thing is do your homework every night without fail. Ask questions the next day when you go over it.
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If it makes you feel any better I failed math in highschool and dropped out of college once because of math. Fast forward a couple of years latter and I'm acing graduate level math courses. Don't worry if you don't get it just keep practicing.
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I dont know how it goes in the US but here in the UK, the stuff in GCSEs (age 11-16) are pretty simple. I enjoyed the subject, didnt revise much and still got an A but im sure normal people will be able to get Cs without too much trouble. And also get As with sufficient revision.

The jump is in the A-Levels, my maths teacher actually said that she found A-Levels harder than University.

A-level maths really fucked me. A-level Physics too. I managed to scrap by but those 2 year were NOT fun at all. In fact those 2 years might have been the worst years of me life.
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I'm bad at math. Senior year of HS 7 years ago I gave up halfway through algebra 2 and my teacher only didn't fail me because she wanted me to graduate

Taking a fundamentals of math class now to get back on my feet
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Thank you all so much for the support and advice and sharing your experiences. It's all really motivating (especially @Shadow_Don , gives me hope that maybe I can do more when I'm going for a Bachelor's than what I expect I can do) and thanks @teepan95 for the offer of help (if that's what you're offering lol and not recommending talking to the teacher).

@mcpwnia what are your plans after you finish this course you're in?

@Cobra1010 Is that even ENGLISH? Lol.
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Hexenherz posted...

thanks @teepan95 for the offer of help (if that's what you're offering lol and not recommending talking to the teacher).

I can't guarantee I'll know enough maths to help but if you ask, I'll do my best to respond in a timely manner
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Thank you so much. I am hoping that being in a structured environment with explanations and everything will be enough...
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Hexenherz posted...

@mcpwnia what are your plans after you finish this course you're in?

finish up community college, go to university and afterwards get my teaching credential
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I hope this isn't a weird question but do you guys have like a support network at all to help motivate you? :|
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Math is fun. IDK about support networks to motivate you, but KhanAcademy is a nice resource to supplement your lectures and reading.
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I've got my family and my girlfriend
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i can't accomplish great things because of my disability :(. i barely succeeded in high school and can only comprehend basic math and the basic till of a cash register.
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why do you suck at math
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Its all good, man. Im terrible at math as well. Any math class would always be my lowest grade. Just dont be afraid to seek help and go to study sessions.

I think statistics and maybe one more calculus class is all I have to take. Were all going to make it.
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Matg is just recognizing, memorizing, and knowing when to use patterns.
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scar the 1 posted...

Math is fun. IDK about support networks to motivate you, but KhanAcademy is a nice resource to supplement your lectures and reading.

I've heard that name but I haven't taken the time to look it up yet. How indepth do the KhanAcademy topics get? Thanks for the suggestion.

mcpwnia posted...

Hexenherz posted...

@mcpwnia what are your plans after you finish this course you're in?

finish up community college, go to university and afterwards get my teaching credential

Best of luck to you and thanks for your other response!!

kingdrake2 posted...

i can't accomplish great things because of my disability :(. i barely succeeded in high school and can only comprehend basic math and the basic till of a cash register.

I am sorry to hear that. Are you able to handle other topics well at least??

gna647 posted...

why do you suck at math

I think it's because I grew up in SoCal and I don't remember doing any math at all in grades 1 and 2. Then we moved to Oregon and they were already doing division and multiplication >_>. I think I just had a weak foundation and no one ever really stepped up to help me. I couldn't pronounce my "r's" so in the 4th grade or so they sent me to speech therapy though -_-. I think maybe that's why I do pretty well with language learning but not math. And I've never needed anything like algebra in my adult life so whatever few skills I did have just atrophied entirely apparently.

The_Scarecrow posted...

Its all good, man. Im terrible at math as well. Any math class would always be my lowest grade. Just dont be afraid to seek help and go to study sessions.

I think statistics and maybe one more calculus class is all I have to take. Were all going to make it.

What program are you working on?? I'm surprised you need statistics and calculus. I hope you do well and also thanks for sharing your experience.
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Hexenherz posted...

I've heard that name but I haven't taken the time to look it up yet. How indepth do the KhanAcademy topics get? Thanks for the suggestion.

Far deeper than pre-college. And the videos are quite thorough, to really hammer points in. Be careful, though, you still need to do work. Don't just watch the videos, take notes and do exercises etc. They're not a replacement, just supplementary.
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I had to take remedial math in college as well. Easily my worst subject. I passed both classes I had to take but it was like the most stressed I ever was in all 4 years of college lol. Mostly because I had to pass to stay at the school.

I later had to take stats as well but passed that (second most stressed I ever was in college)

scar the 1 posted...

Hexenherz posted...

I've heard that name but I haven't taken the time to look it up yet. How indepth do the KhanAcademy topics get? Thanks for the suggestion.

Far deeper than pre-college. And the videos are quite thorough, to really hammer points in. Be careful, though, you still need to do work. Don't just watch the videos, take notes and do exercises etc. They're not a replacement, just supplementary.

Nice, thank you!!

Itachi157 posted...

I had to take remedial math in college as well. Easily my worst subject. I passed both classes I had to take but it was like the most stressed I ever was in all 4 years of college lol. Mostly because I had to pass to stay at the school.

I later had to take stats as well but passed that (second most stressed I ever was in college)

How is statistics? I have three options after this course and that's one of them (though it would be a condensed course).
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You'll appreciate it when you get to higher level math. I had to take pre calc over the summer, but now that I'm in Calc 1, I seem to be grasping things faster than others in class
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Hexenherz posted...

How is statistics? I have three options after this course and that's one of them (though it would be a condensed course).

It was on the harder side for me because of my overall weakness at math. It wasn't super difficult or impossible by far though.

I just made sure I went to every class (paid attention and stayed the whole time), did the homework diligently, and went to office hours/tutoring if anything was unclear.

If I had slacked on any of those three things I wouldn't have passed.

Statistics in general is probably the (on average) most useful math-related topic you will find, no matter what you decide to do with your life. It's super useful both professionally and personally.
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Hexenherz posted...

Best of luck to you and thanks for your other response!!

thanks, you too
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The best advice I can give you is to put aside your calculator and do everything in your head.
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Statistics is very easy if your professor lets you use technology instead of doing it all by hand

Rimmer_Dall posted...

The best advice I can give you is to put aside your calculator and do everything in your head.

That's helped me in other studies so I will try that, thank you.
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Rimmer_Dall posted...

The best advice I can give you is to put aside your calculator and do everything in your head.

Well you're absolutely right, but let's just clarify, you shouldn't do things in your head. Do them on paper until you know your stuff really really well.
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scar the 1 posted...

Rimmer_Dall posted...

The best advice I can give you is to put aside your calculator and do everything in your head.

Well you're absolutely right, but let's just clarify, you shouldn't do things in your head. Do them on paper until you know your stuff really really well.

Well, yeah, I just meant doing the actual calculations in your head. Of course, write down the steps on paper so that you don't have to try keeping everything in your short-term memory.
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I forgot to check the book store, need to see if I need a 200 dollar book some time between now and whenever this class starts.
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Rimmer_Dall posted...

The best advice I can give you is to put aside your calculator and do everything in your head.

Ehhhh

I don't want TC ending up like one of those people who have no idea what exactly a good calculator is capable of

Especially if he's going to study further

Writing stuff down is very important, definitely. But definitely excluding calculators isn't the way to go imo
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teepan95 posted...

Rimmer_Dall posted...

The best advice I can give you is to put aside your calculator and do everything in your head.

Ehhhh

I don't want TC ending up like one of those people who have no idea what exactly a good calculator is capable of

Especially if he's going to study further

Writing stuff down is very important, definitely. But definitely excluding calculators isn't the way to go imo

For math it is. Calculators have nothing to do with math. At all.
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teepan95 posted...

Rimmer_Dall posted...

The best advice I can give you is to put aside your calculator and do everything in your head.

Ehhhh

I don't want TC ending up like one of those people who have no idea what exactly a good calculator is capable of

Especially if he's going to study further

Writing stuff down is very important, definitely. But definitely excluding calculators isn't the way to go imo

If he's in physics class, then yeah, abuse the hell out of the calculator. In math, though? Put it away.
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So my class doesn't start for a couple of weeks but my wife's class started today. When we went to the book store there was a note that said the professor did not require the book, but now that my wife started she is saying she does have to buy an e-book, but... it's on a non-school website with the professor's name on it (like it was a referral link). Is... that normal?
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20 years since my last math class in high school. 6th through 11th grades I passed math with either Cs or Ds. I'm bad at it. I mean really really bad at it. Measurements in construction, concrete and cooking. Got it. Banking. Got it. Anything beyond that basic stuff which was like 90% of what math is. May as well have been in Sanskrit.

Which is why even if I had the money to do it I wouldn't go back to college. I seriously can't even remember who to do long division anymore. There's no way I would get through a required math class.
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EternalDivide posted...

20 years since my last math class in high school. 6th through 11th grades I passed math with either Cs or Ds. I'm bad at it. I mean really really bad at it. Measurements in construction, concrete and cooking. Got it. Banking. Got it. Anything beyond that basic stuff which was like 90% of what math is. May as well have been in Sanskrit.

Which is why even if I had the money to do it I wouldn't go back to college. I seriously can't even remember who to do long division anymore. There's no way I would get through a required math class.

If you don't mind me asking, what do you do for a living?

I have a decent paying job and could get a higher paying job after I retire in a few years but I don't know if I want to be doing this the rest of my life, and what I do now isn't really transferable to a lot of other geographical places. So college is sort of like a goal I am trying to set for myself, albeit a little bit later than many people.
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Hmm, most basic college math is either pre cal or college algebra. Id actually say college algebra is worse, especially if your teacher wants to be a dick. Main advice is do your homework every night and do not skip the hardest problems - those are the ones you want to make sure you can do.

Edit - actually, Im guessing a pre college math type of class would be easier than the ones I mentioned?
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Thank you for the advice, masticatingman. I am certainly going to try hard, since I have my own money in this pot, it wasn't exactly cheap, I really want to get a taste of the college life (I know, an hour and a half a night isn't really the same but it'll be nice to maybe meet people outside my immediate circle of coworkers that I never see outside of work) and hopefully set a good foundation for moving forward on to something more.
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Hexenherz posted...

EternalDivide posted...

20 years since my last math class in high school. 6th through 11th grades I passed math with either Cs or Ds. I'm bad at it. I mean really really bad at it. Measurements in construction, concrete and cooking. Got it. Banking. Got it. Anything beyond that basic stuff which was like 90% of what math is. May as well have been in Sanskrit.

Which is why even if I had the money to do it I wouldn't go back to college. I seriously can't even remember who to do long division anymore. There's no way I would get through a required math class.

If you don't mind me asking, what do you do for a living?

I have a decent paying job and could get a higher paying job after I retire in a few years but I don't know if I want to be doing this the rest of my life, and what I do now isn't really transferable to a lot of other geographical places. So college is sort of like a goal I am trying to set for myself, albeit a little bit later than many people.

School district sub. Trying to get any full time position that opens but they are few and far between. I sub quite a lot. Clerical all the way to custodial. Teacher aide for developmentally disabled kids is the most readily available position around. Grounds, front desk, etc. Do it all. It's surprising the range of positions I get.
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