Struggling With College Math

I’ve been attending a CC in Northern NJ for 3 years, after attending La Salle U for a year. I have to take two remedial math classes. I just passed the first one, and I’m now taking the second class after one withdrawal (couldn’t pass tests).

I was in sped math from grades 4-12. We moved a lot, and was homeless for a while during high school. I attended an alternative high school, due to bullying. We then became homeless, & moved as often as twice a week. We then moved to the low-income city where I live now. The math teachers would literally take the tests for us, & called it “correcting”, because none of could pass. I’m starting to feel as if I’m at a 5th-6th grade level in math.

My CC allows two tutoring sessions per week. It’s hard to get to these, because I have an almost two-year-old. I still go, but the tutors are hard to understand, due to speed and language barriers. I can’t afford a “real” tutor as I’m from a very low-income household.

I don’t want to sound like I’m making excuses, but I’ve now failed the first test three times. We get unlimited retakes (MyMathLab), but we’re not supposed to fall behind. I also wonder if I have dyscalculia based on what I’ve read online (mixing up numbers, etc). The rest of my grades are decent to great. I know very few college graduates as is, & recently
local adults have been telling me how they dropped out of college due to math…I don’t want this to be me!!

Does anyone have any advice?

You need to meet with the tutoring team and with the counseling center on your campus. Find out if you can get more support from the tutoring center on a schedule that better meets your needs. Ask the counseling center to help you find the community resources that will ease your child care issues, and start the formal dyscalculia screening.

This is not a wheel you need to invent. The resources exist at your college to help you finish your degree program. The counseling center’s whole job is to help you find and then access the services that you need.

Wishing you all the best!

The above suggestions are great and you should follow them, but are you also taking advantage of all the hints and tips that are supplied by MyMathLab? The software shows you how to complete sample problems and gives you hints as to how to solve homework problems. One-on-one tutoring is great, but if you are limited to only 2 sessions per week, you should show up with very specific questions regarding how to solve particular problems. I suggest showing up with copies of MyMathLab assignments that you can’t figure out how to solve because you are stuck at a certain step.

@ALF Yes, I use the tools! We do tutoring directly from the computer, solving problems from MyMathLab homework.

Another thought: can you get tutoring in your first language and improve the math skills themselves, then apply that to your math classes? Math is supposed to be a “universal language” because numbers are numbers, so if the issue is with understanding the tutors, then it might help to take the ESL part out of the equation so you can focus on learning the math.

^ I interpret the comments about the language barriers with the tutors to mean that the tutors are not native speakers.

Are there other online tools like Khan Academy you could use for basic math facts and processes?

@vbsprint Sorry, I meant most of the tutors are non-native speakers! I’m used to it as the majority of my town is ESL/no English at all, but it can be confusing with math.

Can you swap tutoring with another classmate- he or she will tutor you in math for an hour in exchange for you tutoring him/her in one of the subjects where you are strong?

I’ve followed everyone’s great advice and I finally passed my test after six attempts! It’s going to be hard but I see I can do it. Thank you guys!

I might be too late but I recommend Khan academy. They have great videos on a lot of math subjects. You can also try going to your professor’s office hours which would help you a lot in many ways such as getting closer with your prof.

@cfuturesavior23

Thank you, I’m using Khan Academy now. I’ve passed all five tests and I’m now working on the final. We only get two tries on the final, so I’ve been studying nonstop.

The program is so unorganized, which lead them to create an “extended class” over break. Tutoring centers aren’t open, and there’s not a consistent teacher. I’ll be happy when this is over!