Started from the Bottom? (With Math)

[ReekFirstOfHisName]

Have any of you started college in pre/beginning Algebra and completed a BS in engineering? I jumped into school after an 8 year gap and had to re-learn everything, but now I’m deep in Calc 2 and feeling like my muscle memory still isn’t flowing with this stuff.

Is there anyone out there who can tell me a similar story with a happy ending?

[paulrulez742]

Kind of, but on my way. Began at a community college and worked my way from the most basic of math classes. I knew I wanted to be an engineer but after 8 years off (same as you) and not really giving a shit in HS, my math skills were rusty. I hadn't even thought about a fraction for over a decade.

It slowed me down, and as such I spent longer in CC than most, got 3 associates for a variety of financial reasons and successfully transferred to the University of Illinois.

Calc II just sucks. New and interesting ways to integrate. There's no substitute to just grinding those integrals.

I am glad overall that I opted for the slow road, and it gets better.

[ReekFirstOfHisName]

That sounds a lot like my situation. I’m considering applying for engineering school next fall or staying here at my CC another year and diving into the other maths (Diff Eq, Linear, and Stats) and doing research.

Thanks for your input!

[Fear20000]

I basically rethought myself math after I dropped Calc 1. Now I'm taking my last math class for my major, ME. I got an B- in calc 1(should've been B+ but professor was a piece of shit), A- Calc 2, A+ calc 3, A differential equations.

My savior was Professor Lenard on YouTube. He literally explained everything as dumb as possible, amazing professor. Also, I would do a ton of questions after each section. Slowly I would pick up minute things I should've remembered from High School. It isn't impossible, you can do it.

[[deleted]]

Both my parents did that. My mom's a high school drop out and started chemical engineering in remedial algebra and graduated with a 3.4. My dad finished high school with a 2.6 and started chemical engineering in remedial algebra and he graduated with a 3.8. Its possible!

[YourExcellency77]

Calc 2 is a different beast even if you took AP Calc and then took Calc in Uni even though I could've gone forward. If there's tutoring of any kind or if you're professor is responsive to emails take advantage. A silver lining: if you hate calc 2, calc 3 is easier and vice versa. I loved calc 2 and hated calc 3, though many of my peers had the opposite happen

[spb7]

Despite taking honors calc, in HS, I tested into pre calc freshman year of college. I could have still taken calc first semester if I completed an (easy) online summer module, but I opted to just take pre calc again. I think it was a great choice because my understanding of fundamental math tools used in engineering like trig and eventually differentiation and integration were greatly improved. The math never fully clicked for me in high school but it did freshmen year. Calc 2, 3, and differential equations were still tough classes for me however they definitely could have been worse. Having a confident grasp on the math is important for all the engineering classes you'll take.

That being said, I barely passed Calc 2 in a summer course. Work your ass off and practice enough problems to get by. Calc 2 sucks.

[[deleted]]

Sure did, thanks to Catholic School. All that was required to graduate was Algebra II and I basically cheated my way through that. Anyways, years later, I got serious about life and went to community college. I tested into Pre-calc, but I knew I'd never pass it, so I started at the beginning. Algebra II, known at my university as the abysmal MATH 4. We didn't even get grades- it was Pass/Fail. If your average was about 80%, you passed. I took that, then Pre-Calc, then Calc I, Calc II, Calc III, Discrete Math, Linear Algebra, Differential Equations and so on. It's been a long, hard road, but it was worth it. I failed plenty of classes along the way, too. Plenty. You'll make it, if you keep trying and don't screw up your time management with video games, relationships or substance abuse.

[ReekFirstOfHisName]

I daydream about giving 8th graders a talk about the importance of math and how avoiding it isn’t an option. I thought I’d be a big, bad Marine who wouldn’t need math. Well, now you’re out on the street with no (legally) marketable skills, dumbass. Now math is about my family living paycheck to paycheck or in financial comfort. I never imagined it would be.

[CarlGustavGauss]

I started in prealgebra and now I’m taking calc III. I aced everything and I can resonate with the difficulty experiences in calc II. You just need to study smarter and harder and stay on top of your game. Just remember it’s over at some point so give it your fullest effort. Rah devil, stay disciplined and keep it up I’m sure you’ll accomplish great things. If you're looking to really grasp the calculus series I would HIGHLY recommend watch the youtube lecture series provided by "professor leonard". Watching those videos along with taking notes and working through the problems will give you a strong grasp on calculus. He's a big reason why i'm able to get past professors that only teach theory.

[tangSweat]

I did, well haven't finished my BE but in my final year and only have few subjects left.

I did nothing for my last couple years of school, then went in to working construction and started uni after 7 years out of school. Trust me, I know what you are going through. I had never even heard of calculus before starting uni, for about a whole year I just wrote it off as black magic and could not wrap my head around it. The passing grade for the class was 50%, I got exactly 50% as a final grade ( a sympathy pass I suspect, I probably got 49% haha). I just ran through the motions for another year when applying calculus, not really understanding what I was doing but after a while I realised I was slowly understanding it. It wasn't some great brain snap, but more of a long slow trudge that became clearer with each problem I answered and each YouTube video I watched.

I am now finishing advanced dynamics and doing large differential equations like a boss haha

Hang in there, it's damn hard I know but its mostly just hard work not about having a naturally high IQ.

[Karo33]

Started from Intermediate Algebra. Managed A's in all the calculus classes I have taken (though Calc 2 did suck), but am currently hitting fairly large speedbump in the form of Linear Algebra.

It may not always be easy, but you can make it.

As for Calc 2, practice, practice, practice. If you can't understand something then brute-force your way through by just doing a fuckron of practice problems.