<p>Hey guy. This is a bit long but I would appreciate it if you just left an answer based on the initial question even if you do not read my background.</p>
<p>I want to show others just because something is hard for them does not mean that they should give up on it. I am good at non math subjects but always wanted to do better in math.</p>
<p>I am about to enter my 1st year of college in the fall. I have always been pretty average when it came to math. I did not have my 1st advanced math class until hs.I thought algebra and geometry was not too bad but when I got to pre calc, I stopped getting A's in math. I never had a strong foundation in math but I always managed to catch up and teach myself easier ways to do math problems. Pre calc brought back many math skills I did not have a solid understanding of. I messed around the 2nd half of the class and finished the class with a B+ (stopped studying after I realized it was not going to help me get an A). I really wish I naturally had a knack for math but I want to get better instead of giving up on math. </p>
<p>I have been thinking about taking summer classes at a local college in calc, physics, and other mathy classes just to get better at it. (My major does not include math classes so i wont need to take it but want to so I can get better)</p>
<p>I will also need math for my GRE so any advice on how to improve my math skills before I finish my junior year of college would be appreciated.</p>
<p>The only way to get better at something is to practice. You can take classes at your local CC- but check with your university first to see if you have to transfer credits over (my university makes me transfer the credits even if I have no need for them). </p>
<p>You could also try Khan Academy if you haven’t already- then you don’t have to invest the time and money in a class, but you can still practice.</p>
<p>It sounds like you have the right idea already. Taking math classes at your local community college is a good start. Maybe starting where you left off and taking a pre-calc class first and then moving on up from there. If your school has a math tutoring center or study group or math club, it would not hurt to get involved in those either. </p>
<p>I have never been naturally gifted at math, but with a little hard work and dedication I have taken Calc 1, Calc 2, Calc 3, Diff Eq, Math Analysis for Engineers, Matrix Analysis, and Linear Algebra at the college level and excelled getting As and Bs in all of them.</p>
<p>I have to say though, when you said you stopped getting As and messed up the second half of your class, I was expecting you to say that you got a C or lower in the class. But a B+? A grade of B+ is nothing to be ashamed of in a math class. As and Bs are hard to get in college, so don’t de-value the worth of a B.</p>
<p>@anvera, thanks. A B+ would be great in college but most people in my class got a B or a B+ The class was basically hard to get an A in if you were not gifted in math so a B just meant you showed up and reviewed for the tests when they were near.</p>
<p>Not a lot of people have a “knack” for math. Usually the ones who have a “knack” are actually kids who work pretty hard and then get their hard work dismissed as “having a knack.” They usually understand the fundamentals of math due to hard work put in before you’ve even met them. </p>
<p>That being said, you need to learn the fundamentals of everything. Not just short cuts, but why the shortcuts work. What is every single step needed to solve a problem? It’s hard work, but you need to catch up. Stop focusing on your grades (aww, can’t get an A, why bother?), focus on your understanding (I don’t understand Concept A, let’s start on that…). </p>
<p>@seirsly, I think you took what I said out of proportion. Obviously most people that are good at a subject work hard at it/ have a good foundation in it. I am a pretty good writer but I do not put in 10 times as much effort into writing as I do in math. Some people work better with numbers, I am just better with languages and creative writing. I know many people who study for hours to pass math tests with high marks. I also know people like my brother. He can solve math easily in his head even though he has never studied for math beyond showing up to class since he finds it to be easy. I am also not obsessed with my grades but obvi I do not grasp all the concepts on my tests since I get Bs in math. Getting an A in math would mean I got all or most of the answers right, thus showing I have demonstrated a mastery in that particular unit of math. Thanks for your answer even though you came off as being a bit defensive. Cheers though!</p>
<p>If most people in your Precalculus class got a B, then I don’t really think there is anything you need to worry about. Yeah, I understand you not completely grasping everything 100%, but some classes are made to be hard just to be hard. I don’t remember much from High School, as I graduated in '04, but I could imagine that being the case. If you put the time into a college level class, you shouldn’t have any issue getting the grade you want. When I took Precalculus last summer at a CC, I remember thinking not much was difficult… however when we hit trig, I hit a little wall, but overcame it by doing homework and studying.</p>
<p>Ultimately, I feel that if you are dedicated, you shouldn’t have a problem. I don’t know if its a good thing or not, but you see much more curving in college as opposed to High School. Therefore, if you had taken your Precalculus class in college, you might have walked away with a solid A. It all has to do with dedication as well as the grading procedures.</p>
<p>It sounds like your main concerns come in the foundations of basic math, i.e. introductory algebra/trigonometry/pre-calc topics. You might consider picking up a different book to work through. The book “Basic Mathematics” by Serge Lang is an excellent book that covers all of these topics. It explains them all in a much more intuitive, logical way than many actual textbooks do. There are a bunch of exercises in this book, but it’s best if you also have some additional material to use for supplementary practice problems. This book comes highly recommended, and I can personally vouch for it as well.</p>
<p>That’s not quite what I meant. What my post was referring to was the aspect of the class as a collective instead of the individual. While you might have received an A instead of the B you did get, you might not be able to tell where you need work. Now that you have that B+ under your belt, you should have a decent idea of what you need to work on in order to feel comfortable moving forward. That’s not something some college students have the advantage of.</p>
<p>And I missed your mention of the GRE. I was leafing through a book the other day, and it looks like it just covers general college-level math. It MIGHT go as high as basic calculus, but even then I can’t imagine it would be too complicated. When you get into taking a Math subject test, you’ll be tested on your entire undergraduate background.</p>
<p>Which leads me to ask, what are you expecting to be your major?</p>
<p>For many subjects, including calculus, there are workbooks such as the “Calculus Problem Solver”. These are incredible tools and I don’t know why schools don’t pass them out along with the textbook. In the calc ones you’ll find chapters that correspond to the topics covered in a calc textbook. The chapters have worked problems, hundreds of them. The way to use the book is to try the 1st problem with the answer covered, then check your answer. If you don’t get it right or are completely lost, then look at their detailed explanation of how to solve it. Repeat until you get the hang of that type of problem, then go on to the next. There are similar books for subjects such as math, physics, stats, econ, etc.</p>
<p>I’m not going to say it is magical or quick, but I will say it is effective. Time spent becomes time spent productively, and then if the student goes back and reviews the text after learning to solve the problems they often will say, like I did, “so that’s what this is about!”</p>
<p>You need to plan in advance to spend the time it takes to learn the material. For math and science classes you should budget 6-10 hours each week outside of class to read the book, do practice problems, do the homework, etc. Learning this material is more like learning to play tennis than learning something from History. It takes hours of practice for the patterns to become automatic in sports, same in math/science. You can read an example in your stats book, think “that is obvious. Makes sense!” and be unable to solve a similar problem when not seeing the steps. Practice solves this.</p>