Anxiety About Going Back....

College Life
1

<p>So..., I had a pretty bad first year at college. I graduated at the top of my class in high school. I got to college, and I was very bottom of the barrel.... I found out that my high school education was not what I thought it was- that my high school left many many holes in my math and science knowledge(that I didnt know about). I dont know any geometry or trig formulas. I never had a trig class(that wasnt the track i was put on), so I have no idea how to manipulate trig functions in calculus class(even though I had calculus at my high school for 2 years and I had it at college one year. I failed the first time because of not knowing anything about trig and getting discouraged, and I didnt want to take it the second semester so I didnt out of anxiety). Now I am in the same math class again. I feel like I know all of the calculus materials, but I just dont have the background from my high school in math to be successful.</p>

<p>I am also taking the same intro to electrical engineering class again. I failed it /dropped it the first time because of my background in math. We got to timed circuits and ac circuits, and I didnt know what was going on at all, because I had no clue what a sin wave even looked like, or what polar coordinates were, or what imaginary numbers were and how to manipulate them. I also have anxiety about logs because I didnt learn that in high school, and I feel like a retard because everyone else says they are easy, and I dont understand them at all and they are in all of my math.....</p>

<p>I had the highest math SAT score in my entire class in high school, and the highest math placement and highest AP score out of the entire class, so dont say I wasnt paying attention. I sort of came from the ghetto, and Im starting to think that the system is built to keep those people down :(</p>

<p>I am having anxiety about the upcoming school year because I feel that I am going to fail again. I tried to take precautionary measures this summer by buying an extra text for each class just in case i dont understand the book and what is being taught. I also tried getting a head start in engineering, physics, and math... I am scared though and I dont want to go back. I have ADHD as well, so I am a little worried I will be overwhelmed in that sense. I tried getting accommodations, and succeeded in getting 100% extra time on my exams since i wasnt finishing them in class(sometimes I knew the material, and just left a bunch of stuff blank because i ran out of time). I kind of thought that that would make a difference, but now I am not so certain.</p>

<p>I want nothing more than to pass engineering at CMU and make a life for myself. Everyone from my area and school is counting on me, because no one ever makes it this far, and I feel like I am letting them down.</p>

<p>What do I do?..... I feel like a ****up.</p>

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<p>First, if i were you, I would stop being a ■■■■■. Second, only the nerdiest of nerds can do well in Engineering. Third, you need to put in effort outside of class to learn the material. All you are giving is excuses but don’t want to do anything about it.</p>

<p>Don’t blame the school its all on you.</p>

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<p>My school’s average ACT is a 17, and average AP score on most exams are a 2 or a 1. The graduates who have went on to major in engineering at UT have had similar experiences realizing that our school is not up to par in academics. So at least know you are not alone in being unprepared. The graduates said they just put a lot more effort in their studies to be able to make above a 3.0, and that the support groups they’ve had on campus has helped a lot.</p>

<p>I’m sure CMU has a group specifically for disadvantaged people. Start by joining that and the people there can tell you how they got through it and will help you find other resources on campus to make better grades. Do you take advantage of the tutoring available? During high school, I was one of the few people who did this and therefore, one of the few people to pass my AP tests.</p>

<p>And about the maths: I just bought one of those Dummies books for Algebra and Calc to figure out everything I didn’t learn at school.</p>

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<p>Cabhax is right, you need to put in the effort outside of class to learn the stuff you didn’t learn in high school. Trig is memorization, but don’t overwhelm yourself with all the formulas. Know the few handy ones and the ones you can derive other formulas from.
After the basics, trig derivatives and integrals shouldn’t be a problem.</p>

<p>This might be a helpful resource: [Topics</a> in trigonometry. Table of contents.](<a href=“http://www.themathpage.com/aTrig/trigonometry.htm]Topics”>Trigonometry Homework Help | Free Online Trigonometry Course | Trigonometry for Beginners)</p>

<p>You’re at a tough school doing a tough major, but I’m sure there are others like you. I think it’s fairly common for engineers to work on problem sets together right? Ask someone from class if they want to meet up and do that. Don’t be scared or anxious about going back - be excited and eager to tackle the challenges you’ll face this year. With that mentality, you’ll be more likely to succeed.</p>

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<p>As soon as you don’t understand something, go for help. Don’t wait for it to get better (it won’t). Go to the professor. Go to the department for tutoring. You are not the first underprepared student to go to college or CMU and it often takes a year to catch up. Stop beating yourself up and get over worrying about what people will think of you. You didn’t learn the material when some other kids did–that’s okay. Learn it now.</p>

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<p>Fear is the mind-killer. I must not fear. Fear is the mind killer. Fear is the little death that brings total obliteration. I will face my fear. I will permit it to pass over me and through me. And when it’s gone past I will turn the inner eye to see its path. Where fear has gone there will be only nothing. </p>

<p>Only I will remain.</p>

<p>— Frank Herbert</p>

<p>Learn that trig and beat the **** out of calc.</p>

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<p>tbh it really sounds like you need nothing more than to simply take a precalc class. even a tutor would suffice, because trig and logs and the other stuff you stated is actually really easy, its only hard for you because of the simple fact you didn’t learn it. grab a friend, or even just a precalc book/web resource and study it so you know the stuff that tripped you up last time.</p>

<p>its definitely not worth getting discouraged over, you’re at cmu doing ee- wish i would be able to get into there, all ya need is to review precalc (with someone who won’t leave holes in it like your school did)</p>

<p>on a side note, how did you take AP calc and score highest out of your class on the exam without knowing logs and trig? i just took calc 1 over the summer and almost every problem had to do with one or the other… I just find it hard to believe that you didn’t encounter any of this stuff in AP</p>

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I am not blaming my college, I am blaming the high school. It must not be all me though if I talked to almost all the kids from my AP calc class, and every single one got a C,D in math. I am sure that I am to blame partway, sure(ill buy it), but my high school was a HUUUGE factor, and so was having money to buy books to prepare myself(hint: my parents didnt care(not educationally inclined), and I came from an area with zero jobs, in the boondocks). You probably aren’t going to understand because you probably(?) didnt go to school in one of the worst schools in the state.</p>

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Yeah, I bought these too. I have the trigonometry workbook for dummies, trig for dummies, calc for dummies, and calc workbook for dummies. I found that the calc wasnt advanced enough(?) for the lectures though…</p>

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I wish I knew about said club. I would certainly join it in a heartbeat.</p>

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I did this for math last year, and I got like a 40% on the test anyway because of the trig…, I think I could just have had a bad tutor or crappy with trig. It wasnt the calc material, I learned that 3 times. It was probably also a time issue(definitely- I have accomodations for that now…).</p>

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Yeah I did this, and the teacher fell asleep while I was talking to him(sitting up) during office hours. He was almost zero help(though a nice guy). The same teacher is teaching it this year, but there is one teacher with one of the other sections(its a hard guy). I am still on the waitlist to take it with him instead…, #2, so outlook is optimistic. I thought maybe I would have more luck.</p>

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<p>No *<strong><em>, Im *</em></strong>ed my school doesnt offer that. I wanted to do it at community college over the summer, but I didnt have the money… :confused: Kids and people like teachers dont want to teach me precalc and it ****es me off… ive been trying to go through the books- I dont know what im missing. I know all of the triangle soh-cah-toa stuff, but everything involving logs loses me or doesnt keep in my head(I went over it like 4 times, but sitting here right now, i dont remember any of it at all… and i remember going over it!). I just learned radians. Erh, Im trying to find the part that gives me practice manipulating functions with trig in it… or manipulating algebra with trig in it…</p>

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No one else learned it either. Mostly everyone got 1s. One person got a 2 though, and I got a 3(I was the only one to pass in a few years…). How I passed- the answer choices have a certain pattern, so you can make an educated guess each time even if you dont know it, and I tried really hard to understand the calc material and asked a lot of questions in class, and other people didnt.</p>

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<p>Well, we all had the same teacher 3 years in a row. (algebra3/trig , calc , AP calc). Before you say about the class that had trig in the title, we didnt get to it because the teacher got off topic, so the stuff never got learned. We briefly went over soh-cah-toa at the end of the year, so I know that stuff. Its everything else. The teacher knew this and simply avoiding assigning trig problems to the class(the class was 5 people). We also almost never got homework… We learned the calc concepts, but just skipped over everything trig related. Something makes me think the teacher just didnt like it or know it very well. The book was not an AP book- the school was poor. It was the same book as my regular calc class.</p>

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<p>But as a side note- I dont think im stupid or lazy. I really did give it my all(I didnt sleep!-). This is why I am frustrated. I truly enjoy engineering(not for the money, at all), and want to stick with it. I tried really hard and just failed any way. I thought that I thought of everything. I went to office hours and tutoring, but i just messed up anyway. Thats where I am running into problems. How do I make this time different?</p>

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<p>It sounds like you just need to build your confidence up. You wouldn’t have got as far as you have if you weren’t capable–now, you just need to believe that too. </p>

<p>Practice builds confidence. For a lot of practice problems in calc, purchase “3000 Solved Problems in Calculus” (on Amazon)</p>

<p>For help to fill in the areas you’re struggling in or don’t understand, buy “The Calculus Lifesaver” and “How to Ace Calculus: The Streetwise Guide”
also on Amazon. </p>

<p>All three are great books. The last two briefly cover trig and some precalc notes too. </p>

<p>You should do the same for any other subjects you need help with. Find a book that contains a lot of problems and some supplement learning books and keep practicing until you KNOW you’ll do well in the class. </p>

<p>All you need is to build that confidence. </p>

<p>I don’t have the exact link at the moment but Google the MIT classroom videos. Those help a lot too.</p>

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<p>Chill out. When you say CMU, I’m assuming you mean Carnegie Mellon, right?</p>

<p><a href=“2023-2024 Undergraduate Catalog < Carnegie Mellon University”>2023-2024 Undergraduate Catalog < Carnegie Mellon University;
page 378.</p>

<p>There is in fact a pre-calc class.</p>

<p><a href=“http://www.math.cmu.edu/undergraduate/currentcourses.html[/url]”>http://www.math.cmu.edu/undergraduate/currentcourses.html&lt;/a&gt;
Ask some advisor about it.</p>

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<p>metalforever, first deep breath okay. 90% of the people here would like to see you succeed and move past these hurdles. </p>

<p>My suggestion is to find a mentor. Ask your advisor to suggest someone, a TA, a tutor at the Tutoring Center, an upperclassman, the local public library…anywhere. If you have to, post a notice on Craigslist in the area and find a retired engineer or a math prof anyone who can help you. I can’t tell you how many engineers we have at my church, any number of whom I know would help a needy student in a heartbeat…ask everyone you meet if they may know someone who can help you. Explain your finance limitations~ perhaps barter for tutoring help if need be (you mow the lawn, do some painting in exchange for their time…whatever). You’ve got the extra accommodation for test taking, great start. Have the person who helped you with that, help you find the right person. Be persistent, be the squeaky wheel and stay on top of everything. If you truly like this major than make it work! and don’t use that excuse about ‘keeping people down’…it won’t endear you to anyone. Many people have struggles…rise to the challenge and you’ll be successful. Good luck!</p>

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<p>First off take a deep breath and calm down.</p>

<p>I know how it feels. I went from being 3rd in my class to having a 2.4 gpa >< (i never failed a class though).</p>

<p>Anyway make a plan for yourself, say i’m going to study for this long every day and keep to it.</p>

<p>Also with the math problem, why not pick up a precalc book and teach yourself? I was homeschooled and i had to take trig (rawr i didn’t like it) and i practically taught myself.</p>

<p>If you set your mind on it, i’m sure you’ll do fine.</p>

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<p>So what was your SAT math score? Anyways that usually shows you have a high capacity towards being able to learn all the math. Nobody just knows how to do Calculus, its not something you are born with, you must work at it and do your best to learn it.</p>

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<p>“I sort of came from the ghetto, and Im starting to think that the system is built to keep those people down”</p>

<p>That would explain the Oppress the Poor Act of 1995 and the governments secret mission to deny opportunities to the poor, not help them financially, not give any funds to poor school and colleges decision to not help the poor by not giving them full financial aid.</p>

<p>Guess what? I never learned trig or any of those equations in high school, either, and my HS won a blue ribbon award despite it’s economic diversity (John Kerry had a house in the district, but some kids were on food stamps). Why didn’t you study those concepts over the summer, ask for a tutor, ask Prof’s for help, or take a basic math class at a CC? Unless you’ve done everything you could to improve your understanding or concepts, you shouldn’t blame your HS. If you have, maybe engineering isn’t for you. There are things you don’t learn in HS, there are ways to pick it up in college. Don’t complain, do something to improve things.</p>

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<p>wana know who i bet would love to tutor you in precalc? anyone at the HS closest to you who is in NHS and needs the comm service hours (unless my HS is weird and no one else needs ****ing comm service to get into NHS in which case i may go smack the head of NHS at my school in the face for rejecting me)</p>

<p>find a kid at a local HS who had already taken precalc who is also in NHS and ask them to tutor you, i’m sure they’d be ecstatic and they’d also do it for free and it’d be quick, easy, and could do it before you even go back to school. and i doubt you’d even need them to give you an entire run through of precalc, logs and trig you could probs master in two weeks or less</p>

<p>its not worth getting upset over, some schools just dont cover what other schools do. you’re in EE at Carnegie, as someone stated above no one hear wants to see you lose that chance, especially considering you said you overcame quite a bit of adversity from the sound of it</p>

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<p>There’s that new science high school down the street on Fifth in Pittsburgh if you want to follow forzworn’s advice.</p>

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<p>“First, if i were you, I would stop being a ■■■■■.”</p>

<p>This would probably be the best advice I could give to you. Best regards.</p>

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<p>The “p” word flew over the mods head(s)? Interesting. I might start using that word from now on :p</p>

<p>Hmmm… cat. “Stop being a cat”. Meowww…</p>

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<p>tiff90 - I take it you’re not a social science person, or a very sheltered one.</p>

<p>The OP is right. Inner city or very rural schools are not designed for social mobility. They are structured against it. They are really awful. And even when they have any money, the attitudes within the community and school are mostly that of apathy. Not nearly as much accountability to parents. Good schools can exist, but there’s reasons why they have movies based on them. They’re not very common. The situation the OP described suggests the school wasn’t designed to send kids to college. </p>

<p>Once you get to financial aid for college and even preferential admissions, it’s a little late. A lot of them are either disillusioned with the notion of further education or lack the academic abilities to thrive.</p>

<p>“Some kids were on food stamps”? That does NOT make it comparable situation. We had a ton of poor kids in my school. A lot of my friends were pretty poor. We also had a bunch of rich kids from engineer parents and some solid AP programs. I would never dream of comparing my highschool experience to that of someone who actually goes to a school like the OP’s. My school had funding and accountability. Just because poor people happen to exist in your school does NOT mean it’s remotely equal.</p>

<p>Trig is pretty standard to learn in any college-bound HS classes. The OP’s educational background put 'em at a severe disadvantage from peers, especially in that intense major. Being overwhelmed is perfectly understandable.</p>

<p>I do think a lot of the suggestions on how to find help are worthwhile, not discrediting the entire thread. And the OP does have to work hard to supplement the failings of their HS. It doesn’t sound like the OP is unwilling to work, but just confused and worried about their options.</p>

<p>I was just really bothered by this notion that are schooling is equal and the OP was simply not trying hard enough. I know CC has a ton of privileged kids, but sheesh.</p>

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<p>I think that you worked pretty hard to get an internship or job this past summer so it appears that that is over and that you’re preparing for the fall.</p>

<p>You’re right in that many school districts just wave their kids past their math courses. This can happen at the University level too (I’ve personally seen it). I don’t know enough about you to know how you learn or absorb material but the best way that I’ve seen for kids to learn the material on your own is to work through the problem sets. When you get stuck, ask for help. You might try [Physics</a> Help and Math Help - Physics Forums](<a href=“http://www.physicsforums.com/]Physics”>http://www.physicsforums.com/) as they have a math area where you can ask questions. They tend not to give you the answer but rather try to provide a path to where you can solve the problem on your own.</p>

<p>Our daughter took precalc at a local community college and I found that there were deficiencies in some area, trig in particular. You can have some students ask a lot of questions about homework problems which consumes class time and makes it impossible to cover all of the expected topics. I just supplemented her learning by giving her a trig textbook, going over topics and doing problems together. A lot of students won’t want to teach you a topics like trig, logs, etc. You might find someone with the time and patience to do so - there are people out there like this but they will expect you to pick things up quickly.</p>

<p>My son is a tutor at his school for calculus, physics and a bunch of other things. He says that the biggest problem that he sees is inadequate high-school math preparation. Problems with algebra, trig and logs. In college, particularly at a great school like CMU, there are a number of kids that live and breathe this stuff and you can see that this puts you at a disadvantage. You don’t have to live and breathe math but you at least need to understand all of the background material and have an adequate level of fluency in putting together different areas of math.</p>

<p>As far as fairness goes, life isn’t fair. The resources available to some school districts dwarfs other districts. Some districts may spend $25,000 per student per year. Others may spend $8,000. That’s a pretty big difference in potential quality but it often doesn’t even make up for parental differences. The differences in the first six years of life can be huge. Affluent parents or middle-class parents with an education can teach their kids how to read and work with number and abstract concepts before school starts giving them a love of learning and a huge head-start over kids that are put in front of televisions all day. Schools are supposed to be equalizers and for some people they are but it is unrealistic to expect schools to compensate for parental differences. Life isn’t fair but you do the best with what you have. You just need to figure out how to do this.</p>