Succeed in Math : A Series of Articles Covering Math from Algebra through Calculus 2

Want to know how to succeed in math? I am a current student who went from struggling to successful in my math classes. In my articles, I outline exactly what I personally did to succeed in each math class. This series of articles covers Algebra, Pre-calculus, Calculus 1, and Calculus 2, as well as Statistics.

If you would like, you may go straight to the articles to your right. If you want to know who is offering the advice, read on!

All through school, I had a lot of anxiety about Math. In high school, I had taken Algebra 1, Algebra 2, and Geometry. That was it. I had managed to convince my school to let me drop Algebra 2 during my junior year, and so I didn't reach Algebra 2 until senior year. During the first half of my senior year, I managed to have an A average, but after missing a few classes my old anxiety came back and I ended up with a C average by the end of the year. I took 3 years off from school and when I first started college, I realized I had forgotten most of the math I had learned in high school.

 When I took the entrance exam for college, I was placed back in Elementary Algebra, which was the most basic Algebra class offered. I now am really, really thankful that they placed me that far back, because it was exactly what I needed. I believe that anyone can succeed in math, as long as they have the proper background. All through school I felt a lot of anxiety whenever I had to take a math class, but it was because I was missing bits and pieces of math knowledge.

Everything in math builds on what you learned before. If you miss a few classes, or have a year where you don't do that well, you could be left behind. It also happens that a lot of teachers never teach everything in the book each year. Then, in the years following, teachers expect you to know things you were never even taught! This situation causes a lot of students to feel stupid, or like they are just terrible at math. They aren't! No one can do well in a class like math if they are missing information. Teachers and others give advice like “study hard”, or “do a lot of practice questions”. Well, that doesn't really work if you don't have a solid foundation, does it? The only way to build confidence is to fill in the gaps.

I am majoring in Computer Science in college right now. My major has required me to take up to Calculus 2, plus Discrete Math and Statistics. This series, “Succeed in Math”, is going to outline exactly what I did each step of the way in order to ensure that I understood the material and kept my confidence up in my ability to do math. I will let you know all the study materials I used and which methods helped me. I've also taken math online and in the classroom, so I will include some tips at the end of each article for if you are wrestling with MyMathLab! If you feel like you have some gaps in your knowledge, feel free to browse each subject, or, if you didn't encounter problems up until a certain class, start there!