<p>I swear this class is doing the most right now. I wake up angry because of this class and realize how much I can't tolerate math. This class clarified everything for me; a revelation has been reveled. I found out that pre-calculus, isn't harder than calculus. I have no idea where this insane belief originated from, but from what I see, calculus is d-i-f-f-i-c-u-l-t. </p>
<p>I did practice problems for five hours on Sunday for the quiz we took on Monday, and when we got them back today, I got a 54%.... I've tried khan academy, practice websites, book problems, reading the book, peer help and not studying (I thought I give it a try, because most people seem to not study and get stellar grades). I know people say that the only place success comes before work, is in the dictionary and blah, blah, blah. I've grown really tired and I've learned that math, is not my thing. I have a 70.112 right now which isn't good according to any standard. I'm not smart, I have no natural ability in academics, so I have I to work, really hard. </p>
<p>Doing homework/studying for 4hrs+ is crazy for anyone in high school. Maybe for calculus, I'll have to study for 6 hours, 7 hours, 8 hours? I get jealous of the other "white teeth teens" doing their best, lying how they didn't study and get A's or B's on tests, lying how they're scared they won't do well in the class and etc.</p>
<p>Some people tell me (adults) that you have the talent of working hard. I don't even know what working hard is anymore to be honest. I thought, working hard brings success? My teacher said maybe I'm studying incorrectly. I guess, doing practice problems, checking my work, fixing my work and reading is incorrect? Right? A 70.112 doesn't represent hard work to me.</p>
<p>Seems like you have an algebra problem. Studying 5 hours of calculus won’t help that. Calculus is actually really easy and extremely fun, but that only depends on your Algebra skills, because the CONCEPTS are calculus, the equations that you are afraid of are ALL algebra. So heres what I suggest, and perhaps this would have been better in the summer, but get an intro to Algebra book, and considering your situation, I would suggest something like Practical Algebra from Amazon. Something really simple (it starts with basic fractions), and go through it, even though it seems extremely stupid, all the way to the end. You will get the basics there, and then go get an advanced College Algebra text book (mhm pdf), and just work through it. You have to learn the fundamentals before you learn calculus. You can’t go to physics 2 before you do physics 1, get it? Believe me, Calculus is a beautiful creature waiting to be tamed, its exciting. Algebra, not so much, but it is the most useful tool you will ever have other than your hands. Then get simplifying. Believe me, I was in the same position as you last year, I was scared when looking at a simple polynomial, now I am top of the class in my Calc BC class, all because I went back to the beginning.</p>
<p>Ps. Instead of a college algebra book, I used the SAT John Chungs book + Sparknotes SAT, really helped because I was gathering new info along with doing difficult problems, this helped me gather intuition.</p>
<p>Calculus is Algebra on steroids - any issues you have with equations probably is more indicative of a weak Algebra foundation than it is an inability to understand Calculus. Maybe you should review some key concepts in Algebra, particularly factoring and such when it comes to differentiation/derivatives/etc.</p>
<p>Wow, I guess I really suck at math then lol. </p>
<p>Thanks for the heads up! My teacher takes off points for not simplifying, and those points can add up. I have an old algebra textbook I can use to help me out and stuff. Math doesn’t come easy to me, even a really simple problem is troubling. That means more studying for me!</p>
<p>When you say you aren’t simplifying correctly do you mean that you aren’t changing negative or fractional exponents into the pretty versions? Or maybe you are doing some second order quotient rule and leaving too many fractions? If you give specific difficulties with simplification I or someone else may be able to help you.</p>
<p>Ideally you won’t be needing to study for Calculus too much. The whole scope that most HS courses teach is based on just a few definitions that, if you know them, should make the rest of the class pretty intuitive. If you don’t understand derivatives as well as you think you should, take a look at the limit definition of the derivative and see what you think it means.</p>
<p>I’ve been self studying BC, and I think it’s easier than pre cal. I haven’t taken pre cal officially, but I have been looking through Barron’s SAT II Math IIC, which is pre-cal, and calculus just seems much more intuitive and elegant. There’s a negative stigma surrounding calculus, but it really isn’t that bad imo.</p>
<p>Calculus is probably the only mathematics class I’m thoroughly enjoying.</p>
<p>I know how you feel, I’m taking Honors Pre-Calculus and I study for like 5 hours a night on it, have a tutor, ask for help and have a D in the class. It’s almost as if I have a brain blockage at math.</p>
<p>I once tutored an undergrad taking calculus. The problem was, even though I felt he understood the basic concepts covered in calculus, his algebra background was so weak that I spent like half the time reviewing basic algebra. He ended up dropping the class. Moral is, don’t get in that position. If you have a strong algebra/trig background, calculus will be a piece of cake.</p>
<p>Calculus makes use of all of the other math you learned prior. You absolutely have to be strong in those other math to ever be comfortable with calculus.</p>
<p>I have tutored a lot of students over the years to “easy” As in calculus. I use a 5%/95% rule. Calculus is 5% concepts and 95% practice. There is really only a small amount of info you need to know. However, you need a lot of practice to recognize the scenarios and the procedures. </p>
<p>Never cram. Break up your studying into consistent small intervals. You may try 1 - 1.5 hours per day and review, practice more problems during the weekend. Once you have overcome your learning gap, calculus becomes easy and fun. At that point, you will find that you require less time to study.</p>
<p>WHOA. I have the same problem!! I understand the calculus concepts but can’t get the multiple choice answer because I can’t rearrange my answer the right way! I’m trying to find a good resource to use that has a lot of practice problems with really in depth explanations. Any suggestions?</p>