<p>First things first, I am a college Freshman. I have always loved Math and I was pretty good at it in high school (got A's and B's) and I I am majoring in it. However, I got to college and had a hard time adjusting to "college math", and I didn't study the way I should have.</p>
<p>I had taken a class over the summer, and the professor really inspired me/got me interested in Math. I did well in her class, but when the semester started, the Calc tests were hard for me and I received a D in the class. My other classes were good, but not Calc. Obviously, I was not happy with myself, so I am retaking the class and changing the way I study. I feel like I understand the material, but I just didn't test well and had a hard time adjusting to what college Math was going to be like.</p>
<p>I had wanted to get my Masters and PhD in Math, and become a professor one day. Now I'm really discouraged and don't know what to think anymore.... Help?</p>
<p>Math, I’m afraid, is not a “forgiving” major like English. If u are not already EASILY getting A’s in Calculus in high school, then a math PhD and math professor career is not very realistic. A math teacher career, however, is feasible.</p>
<p>Well my daughter didn’t pass her freshman college math, calc II and she was able to successfully complete a math-CS major and is now in a top 10 Phd program. That’s probably not very typical. However because of this I hate to tell people who have an initial stumble that they aren’t cut out for it. She sought help, had an epiphany and was able to repeat it and move on. She was very smart and capable and had demonstrated aptitude (AIME). So maybe that will be the case with you or not Jessica. Take it one year at a time.</p>
<p>Meanwhile jobs in academia are scarce, especially good jobs, there are so many underpaid and struggling adjuncts. It is more likely you will find another type of job, in math or not. Keep you eyes open to other things. Anytime I hea someone who is a hs student or freshman saying I want to be an X professor, I think of it like a little kid saying he wants to be a fireman, that’s about how much they know about it.</p>
<p>A good Math foundation can benefit you in any major, so you may consider statistics/ computer science instead of pure math.
College math, specifically calculus, is unlike high school math in almost every aspect. Once you delve deeper into transcendental numbers or Taylor expansion, it takes more than just logical thinking to solve problems. In fact, an infinite sum, in a normal person’s view, is already beyond logic…</p>
<p>It depends on your skills as a student. I technically got A’s in BC Calc, but I BSed my way into them by turning in half-done homework, “collaborating” on take-home tests, and openly copying extra credit from a classmate. The teacher was okay with this, because if we didn’t want to learn we didn’t want to learn. I got a 3 on the AP in what’s been supposedly one of the most forgiving years, with 5’s everywhere. (I did somewhat better on my university’s placement test, which I used as a backup, but this is still nowhere close to what “easy A’s” implies.)</p>
<p>I took Discrete Math/Linear Algebra, a combined honors class, this past semester. It was easy at first, but I found myself working HARD as the year went on. I hadn’t learned how to be a student in high school. I felt stupid for most of it. My work must’ve paid off, though, as I got an A on the final and a B in the class overall. Overall, I also “had a hard time adjusting to what college Math was going to be like,” although I suppose I turned out luckier than the OP.</p>
<p>Currently I’m studying from a Calc III textbook I found in a “free books” pile so that the class goes more easily. I’m also doing a proof-based geometry class this coming semester.</p>
<p>I’m a math major and I don’t regret it a bit.</p>
<p>As the others have said, college math is a lot different than high school math. Algebra is a largely mechanical process. You can do well in algebra simply by memorizing some rules and formulas. Calculus isn’t quite the same. Initially, calculus can be reduced to a mechanical process, but once you get beyond the introductory aspects of differentiation and integration, it starts to get more abstract. It can’t really be viewed as nothing but a mechanical process.</p>
<p>It takes some people a while to adjust to it. I know people that have excelled in their high school math classes, and then done horribly in college math. I also know people that were only so-so in their high school math classes, and went on to excel in college math. It just requires a different type of thinking. You might want to look into getting a tutor for it the second time around.</p>