<p>I thought I was good at math. I'm not. I just spent an hour and a half reading through ch 1 of spivak. I have no idea how to begin half of the ch1 problems. My prof lectured ch4 on Wednesday. I want to understand and enjoy math but I feel like I'm making no progress. Math is v important for my major. =[</p>
<p>What kind of math?</p>
<p>Professor have office hours when you can talk to them to possible help and all campuses have areas to get help/tutored. Get help asap don’t wait until you are lost weeks down the road. Professors will care more if they know you are trying.</p>
<p>Just get a bunch of extra tutoring and help, colleges usually have some sort of math tutoring and it’s often free. Go to office hours and work really hard and you should be okay. </p>
<p>If your major is really math-intensive though, you might want to look into related majors that don’t require as much math…you don’t want to be absolutely miserable for four years because you aren’t good at math.</p>
<p>spivak is calculus / intro to analysis. i took bc and got 5 on the ap exam easily</p>
<p>I’m guessing you’re having issue with the analysis portion of it then; Real Analysis is a very different beast than BC Calc. Talk to you TAs, your prof, make an appointment with the academic resource center. There’s no shame in doing any of those, and they will help you get a start on the material anyway.</p>
<p>If you haven’t taken Analysis before, then it’s going to take some time to get used to it. Not only may you have to get used to proofs for the first time, but there’s a lot of intuition that you may not have yet. You’re going to have to be careful about things you might not have thought about before, and you’re going to have ideas that may not be correct, or even wrong. That doesn’t mean you’re bad at math though, it just means you need to get used to what’s going on, and that’s going to take quite a bit of work. And this is going to happen every time you encounter a completely new subject.</p>
<p>Also, if you’re not a math major (or even if you’re just starting out as a math major!) it’s okay if this is hard for you. The only major that really needs analysis is econ I think - every single econ major I know struggles with Analysis, and these are the smart ones that are trying to go to grad school.</p>
<p>I think you’re just lazy and attempting to cop out by blaming your shortcomings on this lack of a “math gene”. So, for once you came across math you didn’t get on the first try. Are you going to give up so easily? When I took analysis I back as a freshmen, my friends and I probably struggled much more than you did, but it was our interest and determination that got us through, not some “math gene”. Sure, this may come easy to some people (geniuses), but to most math majors who are not geniuses but are genuinely interested in math, they do just fine.</p>
<p>Don’t get me wrong. I definitely agree with you (glasss) to a large degree. I think part of it is that I’ve never had to work really hard before or think really hard about something. high school was too easy compared to this. thanks for the tough love…I’m gonna keep at it.</p>
<p>You aren’t doing well in a class? You get distracted while trying to study/do HW? You must have ADHD. </p>
<p>Or at least that’s what CC has taught me.</p>
<p>I know you’re being sarcastic but I’m honestly considering that route…I really don’t want to go on meds but I’m weighing the options…</p>
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<p>Maybe he isn’t doing well because he isn’t studying with others. He must be depressed. Or maybe he has Aspergers. </p>
<p>Honestly, I get the feeling that this thread was created so DoinSchool could mention how he’s using Spivak as a freshman. He knows he’s not really bad at math and isn’t really asking for advice or anything.</p>
<p>Some of you people are being really harsh. I too am a student at the UofC, and I didn’t even take OP’s level of calculus last year (took the one below) and struggled greatly as well. </p>
<p>If you’re really having that much trouble, I honestly think you should drop down to the 150’s, and then take 199 if you want to take the analysis sequence. </p>
<p>I had never touched calculus before coming to Chicago, and the majority of my 150’s class did. They felt the class was extremely easy, which was very upsetting for me to hear and I really regret not dropping down to the 130’s.</p>
<p>Although, the thing about your 160’s sequence, it’s very likely that the majority of your peers feel the same way. Try Harper tutors. They are actually quite helpful, which I unfortunately only discovered 3rd quarter last year. </p>
<p>I sincerely wish you the best of luck DoinSchool.</p>
<p>Thanks HC…I’ve seen you around the forums before and you’re a trooper for getting through 150’s with no background. I’m about to hit up Harper - wish me luck</p>
<p>“Honestly, I get the feeling that this thread was created so DoinSchool could mention how he’s using Spivak as a freshman.”</p>
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<p>He was just trying to impress the math people I guess.</p>
<p>Could you be any more insecure? I have no shame in boasting if and when I actually conquer spivak but I’m certainly not doing so right now. I have made a little progress on induction so far today if anyone cares</p>
<p>No not really</p>
<p>Um, Spivak is pretty standard for a first-year course, especially for math majors, unless you’re talking about it Calculus on Manifolds book, I guess.</p>
<p>I have no idea what Spivak is</p>