I dropped university calculus for the third time because I felt I was not prepared enough to ace the class. My background in pre-calc is really shaky. I forgot how to deal with logarithms altogether. Any tips for a 29 year old trying to re-enter the world of basic college math?

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Anonymous Fri Oct 23 21:53:00 2015 No.7611719 [Reply] [Original]

I dropped university calculus for the third time because I felt I was not prepared enough to ace the class.

My background in pre-calc is really shaky.

I forgot how to deal with logarithms altogether.

Any tips for a 29 year old trying to re-enter the world of basic college math?

Anonymous Fri Oct 23 21:55:32 2015 No.7611725

if ur 29 and dont understand what u need to do ur already a failed person, stop wasting time trying to go to school cause youll be 34 before you graduate. You really think people are going to want to hire some fucking THIRTY FOUR YEAR OLD who just graduated from a college?

fucking take up a trade and stop trying you dumb fuck. We need you biologically inept morons to move rocks.

Anonymous Fri Oct 23 21:57:13 2015 No.7611730

>>7611719
>My background in pre-calc is really shaky.
>How do I git gud at calculus?

Go to fucking khan academy and learn basic calculus. Climb the ladder and then go back. It looks like all three times you have expected the professors to carry your dead weight.

However, whatever you are doing, drop it. If you couldn't figure out what I just told you by yourself then you have no business in university. Go apply at Mc Donald's and live a happy and fulfilling life.

>>	Anonymous Fri Oct 23 21:57:16 2015 No.7611731 >>7611719 Why do you have to ace the course you stupid retard? Perfectionists are fucking idiots.

>>	Anonymous Fri Oct 23 21:57:22 2015 No.7611732 >>7611725 eh fuck off op just study up. take the class and learn what you need as you go by doing a lot of practice problems

Anonymous Fri Oct 23 21:58:33 2015 No.7611734

>>7611725
>You really think people are going to want to hire some fucking THIRTY FOUR YEAR OLD who just graduated from a college?

yeah actually. i've gotten loads of job offers and i'll be 35 when i graduate. people change careers all the time. its not this huge deal.

>>	Anonymous Fri Oct 23 21:58:44 2015 No.7611735 I sincerely hope this is a shitty troll thread. I really do.

>>	Anonymous Fri Oct 23 21:59:12 2015 No.7611737 >>7611734 >ill be 35 when i graduate what a total fuckup you are

>>	Anonymous Fri Oct 23 22:01:01 2015 No.7611740 >>7611725 Kind of rude tbqh. I know most employers will in fact prefer an adult with more focus than some 23-year old dickweed who gets high every weekend and whose only priorities are getting their dicks wet.

>>	Anonymous Fri Oct 23 22:02:18 2015 No.7611745 sure is freshman year in here. continuing ed students are the absolute best to have in the classroom.

Anonymous Fri Oct 23 22:03:10 2015 No.7611747
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>>7611725
>fucking take up a trade and stop trying you dumb fuck.

I'm actually coming out of a trade. I've been in tool and die for years, but manufacturing is not what it used to be and I'd like more mobility in my career.

Also came out of a long term relationship so I feel energized and reinvigorated for a challenge, while I'm not bogged down in debt or family.

But thank you for your concern.

>>	Anonymous Fri Oct 23 22:04:25 2015 No.7611750 >>7611737 yes, because my biggest regret in life is going to be not working an extra ten years in some other career. oh no, my life is a shambles.

Anonymous Fri Oct 23 22:04:56 2015 No.7611754
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>>7611732
>op just study up. take the class and learn what you need as you go by doing a lot of practice problems

Biggest challenge is sitting down and working away at the problems, I just get distracted far too easily. All other subjects I've taken seem pretty easy, but don't know why I dread math so much.

>>	Anonymous Fri Oct 23 22:07:37 2015 No.7611761 >>7611754 calculus is one new concept wrapped up in a bunch of algebra/trig techniques. you suck at calc because you suck at the basic shit. do better at the basic shit.

>>	Anonymous Fri Oct 23 22:08:31 2015 No.7611763 >>7611761 This is dead wrong. It's actually TWO new concepts wrapped up in basic shit.

Anonymous Fri Oct 23 22:08:42 2015 No.7611764

>>7611725
You need to learn English before you spout your bullshit. People change careers all the time. Matter of fact employers would take a recent grad who is in their 30s over some smug asshole in his early 20s. OP can be 35 when he graduate and he'll have more job opporunites than you will at 22. Ageism is a bitch to senior citizens and youngfags.

>>	Anonymous Fri Oct 23 22:10:11 2015 No.7611767 >>7611761 >>7611763 So master basic shit? New semester starts in January, you guys recommend a routine or a book? I'm aware of Khan but learning from videos is not effective for me, I need to tackle the broplems.

>>	Anonymous Fri Oct 23 22:11:47 2015 No.7611769 >>7611767 >broplems >talking like some faggot from /fit/ not going to make it

>>	Anonymous Fri Oct 23 22:12:01 2015 No.7611770 >>7611764 I'm actually in my final, 4th year, but somehow managed to avoid the math component due to the strange way my program is ordered. Did fine in chem, physics, stats etc.

>>	Anonymous Fri Oct 23 22:13:33 2015 No.7611772 >>7611767 any college algebra text.

Anonymous Fri Oct 23 22:14:13 2015 No.7611774

>>7611770
What the fuck?
You say that you can't do calculus for shit... but you did fine in physics?

What kind of college physics does not need you to use calculus in every single problem?

I think that you went to one of those scam easy-pass schools. Sorry m8.

>>	Anonymous Fri Oct 23 22:16:33 2015 No.7611778 >>7611774 First year physics is algebra based matey. And I learned how to integrate by simply learning the mechanics and solving the problems mechanically.

>>	Anonymous Fri Oct 23 22:19:05 2015 No.7611783 >>7611778 >First year physics is algebra based ask me how i know your school isn't ABET accredited.

>>	Anonymous Fri Oct 23 22:19:26 2015 No.7611784 >>7611767 I'm currently solving the Stewart Precalculus (Sixth edition) along with an Algebra book for exercises and I'm tempted to start an Analytic Geometry book. I'm I on the right path /sci?

>>	Anonymous Fri Oct 23 22:21:34 2015 No.7611786 >>7611778 >First year physics is algebra based matey WTF? Its suppose to be single variable calc. Third semester physics is multi variable. >>7611783 He's probably Britbong or Kangaroo.

>>	Anonymous Fri Oct 23 22:24:21 2015 No.7611790 >>7611786 >>7611783 It's a school in the global top 20 FYI. The class is general physics, there is a calculus/vectors based first year PHY for majors. Can we move past this?

>>	Anonymous Fri Oct 23 22:26:17 2015 No.7611792 Wow! You forgot logarithms? Are you joking? There are literally 10th graders right now in innercity schools who can fuck with logarithms.

>>	Anonymous Fri Oct 23 22:27:22 2015 No.7611794 >>7611792 and there are 10th graders that can't so?

>>	Anonymous Fri Oct 23 22:28:18 2015 No.7611796 >>7611792 I was actually never formally thought logarithms. My formal math education ended at the pre-high school level tbh.

Anonymous Fri Oct 23 22:43:21 2015 No.7611812

Im 33 OP and have not graduated yet. Im a Systems Engineer for a major media company.

I took Calc II like 2 years ago and finishing up an accelerated term of discrete math right now, along with a programming class and 2 business courses.

I should have my BS by the time I am 34. Also working on pre-mba courses so that I can enter a 1 year MBA program asap after obtaining my BS.

Working full time and taking 12 credits this term.

Anyway, my strategy for math classes has really not been to master anything, but identify the areas needed for specific homework and practice test problems and work on that. I also ask what type of problems will be on the tests. They typically follow a specific format.

These young shits don't realize they will forget 95% of what they learn in college and that 100% of the people you meet in the real world will atest to it. Keep this in mind, and your strategies for passing classes will become more efficient.

FYI there are people making over 6 figures that forgot how to do logarithms as soon a the test was over.

Don't let these little faggots get to you. If you pop quized these fags on math problems 1 month after a test, I gurantee the majority of them would fail miserably.

>>	Anonymous Fri Oct 23 22:51:30 2015 No.7611822 >>7611796 If you're op, then you never took precal and you're a faggot AND a liar

OP Fri Oct 23 23:11:51 2015 No.7611860
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>>7611812

Godspeed fellow oldfag.

These youngshits don't realize no one is even going to consider their opinion seriously until they are 30 anyway, at least in industry. All piss and vinegar until they have to learn how to wipe their asses and justify their existence to an employer.

Anonymous Fri Oct 23 23:32:23 2015 No.7611890

Just start over, OP. I took up to calc (which i dropped) in high school, but I don't remember any of it and now I'm 27 and going back starting with College Algebra. Its OK to humble yourself, better to have a solid background and good grades than struggle with c's and D's through maths.

>>	Anonymous Fri Oct 23 23:32:30 2015 No.7611891 >>7611750 your biggest regret should be working in something for 10 years that you obviously didnt like enough to keep doing l3l

Anonymous Fri Oct 23 23:37:00 2015 No.7611900

>>7611812
I graduated a year ago, and I forgot at least 90% what I learn in college. It was meaningless information. Also a lot of these faggots on this board think that they'll work for google or faceshit making gorrllian dollars. They'll be lucky to work for some shitbag company.

>>	Anonymous Sat Oct 24 00:02:00 2015 No.7611949 File: 41 KB, 662x413, sculpted rage.jpg [View same] [iqdb] [saucenao] [google] Why not just go the full way through the course, do shitty, then re-enroll next semester and do better in the course due to greater background knowledge?

Anonymous Sat Oct 24 00:06:54 2015 No.7611954

>>7611949
My guess is OP is not ready. He can do it, I can see it because he'll grind through the bullshit. But I believe he wants to live life a little bit. Which is common with some engineers I've met. They got their degree in engineering in theri 30s after fucking around in theri 20s with college degree or high school diploma. This just means OP doesn't want to live his life in an office without living a bit. Emotionally he is not ready.

>>	Anonymous Sat Oct 24 00:18:25 2015 No.7611969 >>7611719 Are you fucking serious? Calc 2 is one of the easiest classes I have this semester. It's mostly mindless computation.

>>	Anonymous Sat Oct 24 00:28:18 2015 No.7611988 >>7611969 Calc 2 is easier than Calc 1. For some reason Calc 1 is harder than 2 and 3. Also wait until linear alegbra and DE.

>>	Anonymous Sat Oct 24 06:27:07 2015 No.7612240 Just end it already

Anonymous Sat Oct 24 06:38:03 2015 No.7612246

OP I'm not a mathematician, but this is what I'm using to self-study mathematics.

---
High School Precalculus/Elementary Mathematics:
---

[Basic Mathematics by Serge Lang]
This book is good as it goes through most of what you are going to need to go on to more advanced topics. Excellent exercises as well. Don't expect colorful graphics and picture-filled examples, this is mathematics in it's very raw form and is written by a world renowned mathematician. Proofs are included as well, so it's automatically better than your average run-of-the-mill precalc textbook.

[Algebra by I.M. Gelfand]
Another excellent book, both this and the Lang book should be completed if you want to have a strong grasp of precalculus.

[Trigonometry by I.M. Gelfand]
Same as above, only focused on trigonometry and complements the Lang book as Basic Mathematics doesn't cover it as extensively like this one.

[Method of Coordinates by I.M. Gelfand]
Again same as above, focused on the Cartesian coordinate system, complements the Serge Lang book.

[Functions and Graphs by I.M. Gelfand]
Once again complements the Serge Lang book with more extensive exposition of functions and related concepts (including inverses etc.)

You should be able to advance into calculus now as doing all of the books above will give you a very solid grip on pre-calculus concepts.

---
Single Variable Calculus:
---

[Calculus by Michael Spivak]
This is a meme book on /sci/, but it's cited as one of the best calculus books in existence. It goes through everything you need to know, with beautiful exposition and proofs of everything. It's difficult and complicated, but at the end worth it.

---

I'm not too well-versed on books that should go after these, but I suppose going onto Principles of Mathematical Analysis by Rudin will be appropiate right around now along with a solid textbook on multivariable calculus (Apostol's Calculus Vol. 2 or Spivak's own Calculus on Manifolds) I'll let other anons fill in after me.

Anonymous Sat Oct 24 16:25:16 2015 No.7612867

>>7611730
This OP. I find myself in a similar position to yours, I am pretty weak at math and I'm strenghtening my skills. The exam I've coming up is quantitative methods, it's sort of a "bridge" between statistics and econometrics with weird ass math mixed in. I've already passed statistics and econometrics but I'm having difficulties with this.

I've joined Khan academy and I'm starting at SQUARE ONE. I'm doing shit like "How many sheeps do you see in the picture"

Do it

Anonymous Sat Oct 24 16:30:34 2015 No.7612877
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>>7611719
>dropped out of calc 1 for the third time

Don't bother, dude. I don't want to be an asshole, but three times? Don't bother wasting more of your time. Even if you eventually got through it, you don't possess the horsepower in terms of the ability to think critically that would allow you to be exceptional in STEM.

>>	Anonymous Sat Oct 24 16:50:42 2015 No.7612899 >guy asks for help >is insulted and mocked immediately I guess this is what they mean when they say /sci/ is full of self-important cunts

>>	Anonymous Sat Oct 24 17:05:47 2015 No.7612933 >>7611725 spotted the middle class highschool tranny with a conservative family.

>>	Anonymous Sat Oct 24 17:46:02 2015 No.7612995 >>7611725 he might be a failure in your eyes, but youre in a system that has artificial limits, supposing you got a good job you'll still never be a millionaire or change the world. how does that feel asshole

>>	Anonymous Sat Oct 24 17:58:49 2015 No.7613011 >>7611737 how do you know he didn't lose his legs in iraq and went back to school after he recovered? asshole

>>	Anonymous Sat Oct 24 18:00:35 2015 No.7613014 >>7611719 Why is everyone on this board a failure?

Anonymous Sat Oct 24 18:19:54 2015 No.7613046

Saying that your background in pre-calc is really shaky doesn't really help anyone give you advice. What specific things are you missing? If you can't tell us that much, then you should probably take pre-calc (Although when I took Calculus 1, we had pre-calc review for the first week or two.) again.

Logarithm stuff necessary for calculus is mostly like learning laws of exponents/logarithms, graphing them, and some other minor things like change of base formula/natural logarithm tricks. It's not too hard, it should take you very little time to pick up on if you just read out of a pre-calc book or something online.

You basically want to have good knowledge on a lot of functions exponential/logarithmic, inverse, trigonometric, composite, etc. before you take Calculus -- good algebra background in general will help you out a lot.

Anonymous Sat Oct 24 19:55:05 2015 No.7613151

>>7611719

You dropped a class because you weren't prepared for an A?

I think your problem is that you are a gigantic pussy who is afraid of failure. Take the class, study your ass off and pass. No one cares what grade you get in calculus as long as you pass.

And at 29 years old you will never get an A anyway. You are over the hump old man. Focus on just finishing before you get aged out completely.

>>	Anonymous Sat Oct 24 19:58:22 2015 No.7613158 >>7613014 It's 4chan

>>	Anonymous Sat Oct 24 20:26:04 2015 No.7613190 >>7611900 Well maybe you forgot everything because you are just plain stupid. You unintellectual, uneducational, unaspiring, lowlife, resource stealer, dying alone FAGGOT!

Anonymous Sat Oct 24 20:37:53 2015 No.7613202

>>7611784
Mix trig with analytic geometry and you should have a good foundation for calc. Most of Calc I wasn't terribly difficult. Just remember the rules and apply them. Power rule, Chain rule, etc. make things much easier. The hardest part for you will be in the beginning with some difficult factoring. Trig was harder IMO because of proofs and "you can only work one side of the problem" which meant all factoring and trig rules.

>>	Anonymous Sat Oct 24 20:38:32 2015 No.7613203 >>7612246 the only good advice on this thread.

>>	Anonymous Sat Oct 24 20:46:21 2015 No.7613215 >>7611767 >you guys recommend a routine or a book Munkres' Elements of Algebraic Topology Serge Lang's Algebra Jean Pierre Serre's Linear Representations of Finite Groups

Anonymous Sat Oct 24 21:07:46 2015 No.7613250

i'm in the same boat OP. Im in calc 2 though now and im pretty sure im going to have to take it again. Before you faggots get up in my shit though I have another degree and worked 5 years before I went back to school again. Everyone thinks I'm 18 anyway when I tell them im 29 they don't believe it.

>>	Anonymous Sat Oct 24 21:11:16 2015 No.7613257 >>7612877 >exceptional in STEM because all those thousand upon thousands of special snowflakes who are math autists end up doing anything besides grunt work for MEGACORP designing the screws on the next greatest guided missile to kill brown people.

>>	Anonymous Sat Oct 24 21:12:59 2015 No.7613260 >>7611725 >i aced algebra II in highschool >im so smart

>>	Anonymous Sat Oct 24 21:15:04 2015 No.7613265 >>7611988 maybe at your community college but not at a university. depends on the school since they all split it up differently.

Anonymous Sat Oct 24 22:43:31 2015 No.7613386

>>7611719
I feel like Calculus was easier than Pre-Calculus. I'm in Calculus II now and it couldn't be more straight forward. You just need to do homework and remember methods/formulae.

Its not anything too complicated, as long you do the homework you should be alright. Calculus is probably the easiest course I'm taking this semester. The other math classes require a little more thinking.

>>	Anonymous Sat Oct 24 22:46:08 2015 No.7613392 >>7613250 That's how you mad teen pussy in college. You're older but look younger. Those frosh girls will get on their knees to hear about your wisdom of life.

Anonymous Sat Oct 24 22:57:13 2015 No.7613426

if you're just getting into mathematics then you must practice.

it doesn't matter your age, you have to be willing to invest lots of time and effort not only in practice but in forcing yourself to understand the concepts behind the expressions, so that you don't just remember how to deal with logarithms but you have an appreciation (some intuitive understanding) of their meaning and purpose; not just how it works but why it works.

it may seem difficult but #1 you must not be afraid; if you get discouraged and convinced that a complete understanding is beyond you, then it will be much more difficult to put in the honest effort.
and #2 is putting in the practice and working through concepts; if you cant spare the time and effort to practice like mad, then you cant learn.

>>	Anonymous Sat Oct 24 23:49:01 2015 No.7613521 >>7613426 Most people don't do this, even the engineering/physics/math majors. They wing it. The best of the best do this as a rigor. Even those who are serious about learning baout bio take pure math as a double major. You want to know the topology.

>>	Anonymous Sun Oct 25 00:30:10 2015 No.7613588 File: 48 KB, 800x600, 1444185982491.jpg [View same] [iqdb] [saucenao] [google] >>7611737 Dude suck a dick and die.

>>	Anonymous Sun Oct 25 00:32:29 2015 No.7613591 File: 53 KB, 650x700, 1445643049052.png [View same] [iqdb] [saucenao] [google] >>7611719 Here is a calculator that helps me check my work and learn steps. Pay it forward. https://www.symbolab.com/solver/calculus-calculator

Anonymous Sun Oct 25 00:38:05 2015 No.7613597

>>7613011
i went to iraq, but i didn't lose my legs.

did 4 years as a gas turbine mechanic working on helicopters, got out, worked on more rotating machinery for 6 more.

finally hit a point where i'd pretty much learned everything i could from the technician level, so i took my GI bill and went to school for mechanical engineering.

its fucking great. between muh veteran and all the job experience i have, i get loads of scholarships and intern offers. between the housing stipend from the GI bill, and the refunds i get back from scholarships, i clear like 40k$ a year just getting an undergrad.

i sit on ass and read books and get fucking paid for it. i've never been happier.

>>	Anonymous Sun Oct 25 01:17:33 2015 No.7613666 >>7613591 That's a cool link. Its helpful. I'm going to relearn calc on my own.

>>	Anonymous Sun Oct 25 01:18:58 2015 No.7613668 >>7613597 >did 4 years as a gas turbine mechanic working on helicopters, got out, worked on more rotating machinery for 6 more. I would guess four years would be enough.

Anonymous Sun Oct 25 01:36:26 2015 No.7613697

>>7613668
i liked it, still do. but i pretty much reached paycap at like 8 years and i was limited to a handful of companies that i could work for.

i'm actually bummed that i won't be on the shop floor as much, but hey, salary man perks are pretty fucking good from what i've seen.

>>	Anonymous Sun Oct 25 03:04:03 2015 No.7613838 >>7613257 You're either able to pass the class or you're not. They were are you aren't.

>>	Anonymous Sun Oct 25 03:20:00 2015 No.7613859 File: 15 KB, 250x250, 11061250_1618445071720478_3819766230669099499_n.jpg [View same] [iqdb] [saucenao] [google] >>7611725 solid

Anonymous Sun Oct 25 06:17:39 2015 No.7614037

I passed Calc II with an A, without even going to lectures and without even opening my book at all. I saw the material for the first time on the exam (which counted for 100%) and was able to derive all the formulas from scratch. Ahh, the joys of having a 160 IQ. :)

>>	Anonymous Sun Oct 25 06:22:38 2015 No.7614044 >>7614037 :^)

>>	Anonymous Sun Oct 25 15:20:17 2015 No.7614869 >>7612995 do you know how easy it is to be a millionaire if that is your goal

>>	Anonymous Sun Oct 25 15:27:04 2015 No.7614884 >>7614037 Typical /sci/ troll. FUCK OFF.

>>	Anonymous Mon Oct 26 01:39:17 2015 No.7616266 File: 29 KB, 396x400, 2093_1273102265554.jpg [View same] [iqdb] [saucenao] [google] >>7611725

>>	Anonymous Mon Oct 26 01:44:59 2015 No.7616275 >>7614037 >Any year >Thinking IQ is relevant

Anonymous Mon Oct 26 05:25:39 2015 No.7616342

>>7611719
Time to stop fucking around, seriously. Go thru all the math stuff in Khan Academy up to calculus and actually understand it. Then try go thru the calculus shit. This is not rocket science. Just stop fucking around and expecting you learn without doing shit.

Anonymous Mon Oct 26 07:03:26 2015 No.7616421

Online resources were pretty helpful when I did calculus in first year of uni. Khan academy was really good.

Also, why must you be a perfectionist? Wouldnt it be better to just get a decent grade and take the paper just once, instead of dropping papers? I understand if you are aiming for an academic role or postgrad study, but still...it's a waste of time dropping a paper just because you won't get an A+ for it. It would also be expensive.

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/sci/ - Science & Math