I recently just got accepted into IU and I am very excited! Freshman year I got a D in Algebra and a D in Earth Science. In my college essay, I wrote about how math is very challenging for me and how I am trying to overcome it. Sophomore and junior year I got C’s in my math classes. Well now I am in Stats and it is a very hard class. I’m almost sure I will get a D in it. But All my other classes are A’s and B’s and I am in 2 honors classes at the moment and will also be enrolled in an AP class next semester. With my previous math grades and they knowledge they have about my issues with math how much will they care? Will they take back my admission?
Please contact the school. We cannot know how they will want to handle this.
The “math issues” may be more about how you approach the material than anything else. As such they give a peek into your study habits, and the news isn’t good. To summarize, the problem is probably that you are confusing recognition with recall. With many of your classes such as History or English your native language skills are enough to succeed; you read something, you remember the gist, you can recreate/recognize enough to do ok on tests. Math and the sciences are different. When many students study they do the homework with the book right there and can thumb back to see how similar problems were solved. After a while the solutions become familiar & when they review the book a last time before the test they may seem even more so, but as you’ve discovered once you face a test and can’t refer back you can’t recall what you need.
The solution is practice until you’ve internalized the steps to solve the problems. Buy the “Problem Solver” book for statistics; they are a whole series of books. These are like SAT prep books, but for technical subjects. Work thru the appropriate section, checking against the worked-out solution, until you are solving them correctly without seeing how it is done. The test will be the same, and you’ll solve problems just as easily.
here are the links that explain in greater detail the problem and fix:
[Why Students Think They Understand—When They Don’t](Ask the Cognitive Scientist: Why Students Think They Understand—When They Don't)
[Practice Makes Perfect—but Only If You Practice Beyond the Point of Perfection](Ask the Cognitive Scientist: Practice Makes Perfect—But Only If You Practice beyond the Point of Perfection)
[How to Ace Calculus: The Art of Doing Well in Technical Courses](How to Ace Calculus: The Art of Doing Well in Technical Courses - Cal Newport)
[On Becoming a Math Whiz: My Advice to a New MIT Student](On Becoming a Math Whiz: My Advice to a New MIT Student - Cal Newport)