<p>So I'm a community college student with about 45 units or so with over a 3.3 gpa, I took pre-algebra last semester but I just couldn't get the stuff, I would always get lost when doing practice problems during lectures, I couldn't even comprehend the textbook enough to do the homework so since I couldn't even do the homework, I was going to flunk every test so I just dropped the class to save myself from flunking it, I also was taking remedial english and I passed it with a 100% without even trying, I think I have math dyslexia because I'm obviously not getting the stuff for a reason so I'm going to get tested for it soon and try to get my math requirements waived, I have a friend with math dyslexia too and he was able to get his math requirements waived and he went on to get his MS degree in Nutritional Science and I'm a Social Science major so it's not like math is even related to my major, if they won't waive them, then I will just drop out of college once I have all my required units except the math since it will be a complete waste of my time and money if I keep taking math and failing it while ruining my gpa and please don't tell me to get a tutor, I tried tutoring too and it wasn't helpful, tutoring won't help me if I can't retain the info for tests, why is it math is so hard and why do teachers make it so hard too??!!!, Anyone here is or has been in the same boat as me??</p>
<p>Miklal305, it’s kind of silly for someone who loves math to tell to someone who has great difficulty with math that they just have to practice. If you aren’t understanding the concepts, all the practice in the world won’t help.</p>
<p>dodgers3222, have you ever tried any of the Khan Academy videos? (The arithmetic/pre-algebra set is here: <a href=“https://www.khanacademy.org/math/arithmetic[/url]”>https://www.khanacademy.org/math/arithmetic</a>) Many people find them quite helpful, and sometimes all you need is another teacher’s approach to see the light. Plus you can watch over and over as needed. Give them a try–you might just have a breakthrough. Good luck.</p>
<p>well, I learnt to get along with math too 
I think what what you need is to sit down with a book and understand each problem for quite a bit of time initially… read line by line of the answer, try to grasp the trick in the problem, if u can’t read the question again and repeat. you’ll feel soo happy after completely understanding 1 problem, that you’ll be motivated to do the next. TrUST ME. this works :)</p>
<p>I have to agree with the Khan Academy suggestion, and I am someone who had to switch from a STEM major to Criminal Justice because I came to realize while taking(and failing) Chemistry how much I utterly despised math.</p>
<p>They waived the requirement? Why bother having it then? “We verify that everyone who graduates from our school can do this. But if it’s too hard for this one person then nevermind. We’ll just lie.”</p>
<p>That’s ridiculous.</p>
<p>If you think you have a learning disorder, have you ever been evaluated?</p>
<p>I remember taking an art class and trying to draw the human hand. The lecture of the teacher as to the flow of lines, and shape and form made absolutely no sense. Her general answer was to see it in your mind, feel it and then draw it, line after line. I could not do it but many art students in the class could (and do it well). Anyway math is the same. Some can see the answers and more importantly feel the answer. It’s nothing but brain wiring.</p>
<p>Math - in the form of statistics - is very relevant to most of the social sciences.</p>
<p>I remember my prealgebra text: it was Gateways to Algebra and Geometry: An Integrated Approach by Benson and Dodge. That was a great book.</p>
<p>If I dropped every math class I thought I was going to fail, I would be retaking algebra for the nth time. My first math class was so terrifying and such none sense to me, I couldn’t do the examples in class, couldn’t do the homework, etc. You need to ask your instructor for help. </p>
<p>At a community college, math teachers tend to be really nice people who come from like >15 years of teaching HS, who really believe in what they do and who are obligated to keep daily office hours that almost no one attends. Pick out a good one on RMP and make it your priority to get a handle on the material every week. It can be rough, but it puts you in that head space you have to live in for a while before things start to make sense more easily. </p>
<p>The worst thing you can do is shut down and decide you can’t learn it. I don’t mean this in an inspirational way, like that anyone can do anything. But if you embrace math and do it a lot, you’ll get good at it, and you aren’t even required to get particularly good at it anyway. I hope you can get your waiver because I am a cynical person who doesn’t buy the idea that doing things you find hard will inherently be enriching. But if you can’t (and I find it surprising that math waivers exist), you can honestly learn the material and/or pass.</p>
<p>You need to calm down and start having a positive attitude about math. It sounds silly, but after I stopped focusing on how hard it was and just focuses on the math itself, it was easier to understand. </p>
<p>A lot of people over think certain maths equations. Try keeping a blank mind and just absorb the information from the teacher. Use YouTube for more slower breakdowns. </p>
<p>Really, you need to find a teacher who teaches a style you prefer. I struggled with math, until I had one teacher who helped me cover all my bases. </p>
<p>If it helps, relearn all the math up to now in your life. Math builds upon itself an if you’re missing a large chuck of that then you’re not going to do well. Starts with basic math and work your way up Use Khan Academy for your lessons or buy books. </p>
<p>I really wish you the best of luck!</p>
<p>I have dyscalculia, so I understand difficulty with math better than most. I failed every math class I took up until the second time I took algebra in college, and to this day it is still difficult but I can muddle through. If you are struggling that much, I do recommend getting tested for dyscalculia. If you do have some kind of a learning disability, knowing it can help you understand the mechanics of your difficulty better so you can figure out how to get around it-- and you do need to figure that out.</p>
<p>One thing that helped me get through algebra was to use a really good ACT prep textbook that went through ALL the math concepts on the ACT, which led up to right around the level of a college remedial algebra class like I was taking. The first chapter was like elementary school math, so I could restudy everything from the beginning. That helped me absorb the algebra concepts better. Though, with dyscalculia you don’t retain, so if I had to take an algebra class again now I’d have to do the whole thing over again and learn it from scratch. But that was why it was helpful to go over the basics again right before the class. I also went to some seminars and watched youtube videos to get exposure to different instructors, because different methods of teaching worked better for me than my own professors. In the end, I spent about ten times the hours on the class than the average student, but I was able to teach myself the material and pass.</p>
<p>I test at about a 7th grade math capability, and I was able to get through a political science degree, stats and all. It was really hard though, and don’t hold your breath about getting requirements waived. That kind of an accommodation is very, very rare. But you can do this, you just have to stop beating your head against the wall trying the same failed strategies over and over again, and accept that it is going to be different for you than it is the typical student. You have to figure out what is going to work for you and go do that no matter how much extra work it is.</p>