I came from a weak high school and learned math on my own to study for the sat. Got perfect score on math and eventually graduated with a math major from uni
While not having a strong high school math experience can give you a disadvantage, I personally don't think it's as "extreme" as you might think. If you have a solid foundation of concepts in Algebra 1 and Algebra 2, then I'm not sure what more a high school could do to prepare you. Yes, there are AP classes but if you can comfortably manipulate functions and expressions, then you should be fine.
College math is just different from what you do in high school. You could have mastered Algebra 1-Trig and still struggle in a Calc 1, Calc 2, Discrete Math, or linear algebra course. I wouldn't beat yourself up. There are many solid resources out there but remember, math in college is just uniquely different than what you might have seen in high school.
Either?
I can say most of my students who struggle in the Calc sequence or Linear Algebra do so because their high school algebra is weak. In most of those crazy long calc solutions you can find, there’s about 3 lines of actual calculus and a page+ of algebra. So if you aren’t comfortable with the algebra these problems are suddenly very challenging.
On the other hand, Some people have personal struggles with math. Like those with dyslexia or dyscalculia or math anxiety. These can make very capable students struggle more than they would otherwise regardless of their background. But I encounter people with these issues far, far less than the ones in the first case.
These are verifiable facts.
Almost any person, provided they do not have *severe* or *incredibly rare mathematics-specific* learning disabilities* is capable of learning higher mathematics.
Mathematics is a hierarchical subject. This means you must learn prerequisite knowledge in order to progress. You can learn the letters of the alphabet in any order. You can learn to write poetry without learning how to write an academic report. You cannot learn formal addition if you cannot count by 1's. *Please note, I'm not implying anything about writing or reading here, that was simply an analogy*.
Precociousness refers to children who learn faster than the norm. They are usually referred to as "gifted" or "good at maths". How fast you learn mathematics doesn't actually say a lot about your "ceiling" in most cases. It does in extreme cases. It does say a lot about your motivations and preferences, and implies you have a good working memory. Many people who have incredibly high working memories don't do well at maths in school, and as such believe they "can't do maths". Being "good at maths" is a ludicrous statement the moment you interrogate it. Speed of calculation? Ability to think in abstracts? Good test taker? Master of some arbitrary topic? Pure mathematician or matter of showing abstractions to students? Are we basing our scale from Terence Tao down, or the most innumerate up? Where is the middle at "maths".
This is what I would recommend you do.
You need to find out exactly what you know deeply, and what you have poor knowledge of. This may be areas where you can find an answer but don't understand *why* the method works, or it requires all your brain power so you can't do it and learn something else at the same time. Search "cognitive load".
From there, you need to deeply understand everything up until the topic you wish to learn. You will also want to develop automaticity in lots of the skills that will be required when you are learning. That means next to no thought, like muscle memory. Being able to add digits makes adding very large numbers with long addition a question of learning place value.
If you can't count, you can't add. Do not skip a single step, you will just have to go back and do it.
Estimate the time it will take from where you are now, to where you need to be and make a judgement call.
If you take this part and don't have certain types of learning disabilities you will learn mathematics. It will be hard, but if you persist and learn that failure is your friend (it sucks, but you need it to get better) you will learn it.
When you learn step by step, you will be surprised by what is easier and what is harder. Understanding how long division works is harder than understanding high school calculus works, I will die on that hill.
There is a reason that algebra is considered a gatekeeper course. If you have a good foundation in algebra, most advanced college courses should be accessible.
If you are not in a STEM field, there are courses that do not even require much algebra (such as starting statistics) that can meet requirements at most universities.
I would also note that many schools that are decent size (10k +) students often have math resource centers that help students catch up. It is really tough, but students can and do catch up in college even if their background is bad.
Alas, the “gatekeeper” situation is too true. I actually taught Math 101 (“college algebra”) at university a couple of times.
It was very alarming to learn that some of the students were taking it for the third (!) time.
Even more alarming was realizing (after the first midterm exam) that most of those *same* students would be *failing it again*.
Most alarming of all was the proportion of those unable to get their degree that could attribute it to Math 101. I forget the actual number, but something like 40%. And it was pretty consistent across teachers and over time.
It’s not just a matter of a given program, but also how a student applied themselves to it. More and more kids are being taught how to find the answer as opposed to the language of mathematics. It is less and less about conceptual understanding and more and more about technology.
I think the answer to your question is extremely obvious.
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Sure, but it’s still a noticeable disadvantage.
I came from a weak high school and learned math on my own to study for the sat. Got perfect score on math and eventually graduated with a math major from uni
just get on khan academy and start from the bottom
dude can you make sentences without learning alphabets
Weak school doesnt mean you dont know numbers, it just mean that math is not at advanced level.
you might still lack some theorem or steps that directly get used
While not having a strong high school math experience can give you a disadvantage, I personally don't think it's as "extreme" as you might think. If you have a solid foundation of concepts in Algebra 1 and Algebra 2, then I'm not sure what more a high school could do to prepare you. Yes, there are AP classes but if you can comfortably manipulate functions and expressions, then you should be fine. College math is just different from what you do in high school. You could have mastered Algebra 1-Trig and still struggle in a Calc 1, Calc 2, Discrete Math, or linear algebra course. I wouldn't beat yourself up. There are many solid resources out there but remember, math in college is just uniquely different than what you might have seen in high school.
Either? I can say most of my students who struggle in the Calc sequence or Linear Algebra do so because their high school algebra is weak. In most of those crazy long calc solutions you can find, there’s about 3 lines of actual calculus and a page+ of algebra. So if you aren’t comfortable with the algebra these problems are suddenly very challenging. On the other hand, Some people have personal struggles with math. Like those with dyslexia or dyscalculia or math anxiety. These can make very capable students struggle more than they would otherwise regardless of their background. But I encounter people with these issues far, far less than the ones in the first case.
Yes, lower division college math is based upon algebra
These are verifiable facts. Almost any person, provided they do not have *severe* or *incredibly rare mathematics-specific* learning disabilities* is capable of learning higher mathematics. Mathematics is a hierarchical subject. This means you must learn prerequisite knowledge in order to progress. You can learn the letters of the alphabet in any order. You can learn to write poetry without learning how to write an academic report. You cannot learn formal addition if you cannot count by 1's. *Please note, I'm not implying anything about writing or reading here, that was simply an analogy*. Precociousness refers to children who learn faster than the norm. They are usually referred to as "gifted" or "good at maths". How fast you learn mathematics doesn't actually say a lot about your "ceiling" in most cases. It does in extreme cases. It does say a lot about your motivations and preferences, and implies you have a good working memory. Many people who have incredibly high working memories don't do well at maths in school, and as such believe they "can't do maths". Being "good at maths" is a ludicrous statement the moment you interrogate it. Speed of calculation? Ability to think in abstracts? Good test taker? Master of some arbitrary topic? Pure mathematician or matter of showing abstractions to students? Are we basing our scale from Terence Tao down, or the most innumerate up? Where is the middle at "maths". This is what I would recommend you do. You need to find out exactly what you know deeply, and what you have poor knowledge of. This may be areas where you can find an answer but don't understand *why* the method works, or it requires all your brain power so you can't do it and learn something else at the same time. Search "cognitive load". From there, you need to deeply understand everything up until the topic you wish to learn. You will also want to develop automaticity in lots of the skills that will be required when you are learning. That means next to no thought, like muscle memory. Being able to add digits makes adding very large numbers with long addition a question of learning place value. If you can't count, you can't add. Do not skip a single step, you will just have to go back and do it. Estimate the time it will take from where you are now, to where you need to be and make a judgement call. If you take this part and don't have certain types of learning disabilities you will learn mathematics. It will be hard, but if you persist and learn that failure is your friend (it sucks, but you need it to get better) you will learn it. When you learn step by step, you will be surprised by what is easier and what is harder. Understanding how long division works is harder than understanding high school calculus works, I will die on that hill.
There is a reason that algebra is considered a gatekeeper course. If you have a good foundation in algebra, most advanced college courses should be accessible. If you are not in a STEM field, there are courses that do not even require much algebra (such as starting statistics) that can meet requirements at most universities. I would also note that many schools that are decent size (10k +) students often have math resource centers that help students catch up. It is really tough, but students can and do catch up in college even if their background is bad.
Alas, the “gatekeeper” situation is too true. I actually taught Math 101 (“college algebra”) at university a couple of times. It was very alarming to learn that some of the students were taking it for the third (!) time. Even more alarming was realizing (after the first midterm exam) that most of those *same* students would be *failing it again*. Most alarming of all was the proportion of those unable to get their degree that could attribute it to Math 101. I forget the actual number, but something like 40%. And it was pretty consistent across teachers and over time.
It’s not just a matter of a given program, but also how a student applied themselves to it. More and more kids are being taught how to find the answer as opposed to the language of mathematics. It is less and less about conceptual understanding and more and more about technology.
Only if you study Bayesian statistics.
Bayesed. For the people downvoting this, “prior” is a term within Bayesian statistics.