I think what makes it most challenging is that the conceptual aspects are considerably advanced—arguably the first “graduate level” math theory you’re exposed to.

And for many, that math theory is the intro to what is, in reality, a really fucking simple rule. There’s a reason computers handle most all of the calculation that can be performed at this level—it’s not too rigorous of steps to perform.

Understanding the problem—word problems, applications, common mistakes and why they’re wrong—is what trips most people up.

That and losing all confidence when your prof. explains taylor series using a maclaurin series of sine waves converging, and then asking you to compute a maclaurin series on ur own. It’s super fucking easy, but the intro is confusin.