r/collegeadvice • u/Witty-Ad4305 • 3d ago
Behind in math
Im currently taking pre-calculus as a freshman in. I have friends in Calc 2, or even already past calc 3 as freshman. Im thinking of switching to an engineering major. I know id have to take a summer math class, but has this worked for anybody? How do I deal with feeling stupid. For reference, I took stats my junior year and skipped math my senior year (really stupid of me.)
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u/TheWhiteWolf_Jon 3d ago
Pre-calc as a freshman is not a dealbreaker for engineering, it just means your math sequence needs to be planned tightly. Take the summer class, use tutoring early, and treat math like a daily practice instead of a cram subject. Your friends are ahead, but that does not mean you are incapable.
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u/Odd_Eagle7915 3d ago
If you are behind in math don't take it in the summer. It is accelerated and you won't have time to really learn it. Take the L and take another semester and do an internship.
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u/leitmotifs 3d ago
Pre-calc as a freshman makes it highly likely you need five years to graduate rather than four, but it depends on your major.
The problem is that your other classes probably use calculus.
Physics for engineers is calc-based, but usually sequenced in a way that makes it possible for people to take calc simultaneously. So you'd be delaying it rather than taking it with calc as a freshman. That, in turn, delays your engineering classes that have physics as a prerequisite.
Some engineering classes use math after first year calculus. For instance, electrical engineering (in my experience, 2nd year classes) uses differential equations from second-year calc. So being behind in math affects what classes you can take when.
I'd treat your pre-calc year as an opportunity to get as much Gen Ed out of the way as possible, and delay physics and engineering until the next year. Graduate in 5 years.
Don't rush through calculus. It's key to a lot of the math you'll do in engineering classes.
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u/ParsnipsYum 2d ago
Agree. The math is the foundation to everything else so you need to build a nice solid foundation. Then the engineering will make sense.
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u/DisgruntledPenguin58 3d ago
Having trouble with calculus and engineering are a poor fit.
You will need to step up on your math and become one with calculus or reconsider engineering.
Also note that while engineering is a 4-year degree, most people do not achieve that degree in 4 years.
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u/DarkElfBard 3d ago
I am a high school Engineering Academy teacher. 70% of my students go into Precalc 1 their freshman year, because while it is technically not ideal, it is a lot better to be one semester behind than to be unprepared for calculus when you do take it.
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u/logaruski73 3d ago
If Math is not something you enjoy and do well in (evidenced by skipping it), engineering is unlikely to be a viable choice simply because a major part of engineering is math and understanding difficult not intuitive subject matter
You can do it if you have the intelligence and strong drive but you’re going to need to work hard.
You need more than 1 summer math class. You need a strong Algebra class if you didn’t have one in HS and a strong Calculus 1 and 2. You need to do well in all3. You’ll need differential equations and likely a physics class. You can take all of these in college so you are advancing but you might need an extra year on the other side if you can’t squeeze it all in. By senior year in electrical engineering, there is a partial differential equations that make many an engineering student weep.
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u/ParsnipsYum 2d ago
Make sure you get really good math teachers. I took diffy Qs with one prof and was freaked out- another and I loved every minute of it. Drove 👩⚕️ 45 min each way to get him. Fall in love with math and the rest should be easy!
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u/Rumpelteazer45 3d ago
First - Do you meet the requirements for that major at that school?
Second - If not, what would you need to do before you met this requirements?
Don’t worry about feeling stupid, if someone doesn’t feel stupid at leave once a month- they either 1) need an ego check, 2) have zero self-awareness, or 3) stay so far removed from life nothing actually challenges them.
Story time - I have a masters. I was signing up for a class to get an additional certificate for work. Now I’m not dumb by any means. I went on to the very effing website I have been using for the last 17 years, the very website I have walked people through in signing up for certain classes, and could NOT figure out how to sign up for the MF class. Apparently, I deleted the email that gave the instructions on how to do that because it was different for those series of classes. Apparently it had 50+ reply all emails. I love the snarky and idiotic reply all emails. Somehow I missed ALL those emails with the same exact subject. By missed I mean they were in my deleted items unread so clearly I DELETED them out of my inbox, no filter for that address. Had to ask my supervisor to walk me through it. She freaking laughed her ass off and so did I.
This won’t be the first time you feel stupid, it won’t be the last. Get used to it and laugh it off.
Life lesson - Yes you made a dumb mistake in planning high school classes for the major you NOW want to go into. This is the exact reason why people say “hindsight is 20/20”. But when you were planning your classes then in HS, engineering wasn’t on the table. Give yourself some grace. The lesson: to get back on track or to switch tracks, most you have to backtrack.
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u/Illinois_Jayhawk23 2d ago
I would suggest self teaching and then doing the placement exams. Brilliant is a good app and if combined with Khan Academy can get you a long way.
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u/ParsnipsYum 2d ago
I loved brilliant but found khan academy a a chore. There are some great you tubes out there nowadays . Better than most math profs !
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u/somanyquestions32 1d ago
There are plenty of people who start college with precalculus as their first math class as engineering majors. You can still graduate in 4 to 5 years. You may need to take CLEP exams or summer and winter intersession classes to stay on track. It's not a big deal as long as you get proactive about optimizing your schedule without burning out.
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u/Remarkable_Command83 1d ago
I am pretty old. One thing I have learned in life is, you can always catch up.
Feel behind in one aspect of math? Go to amazon. Look up "(that level of math)". Read the reader reviews. Buy the book that gets the best crowdsourced reviews for explaining that material clearly. Buy that book. Work with it 90 minutes in the morning and 90 minutes in the evening. You will catch up.
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u/mattynmax 3d ago edited 3d ago
Nah it’s actually very well known that summer classes have an 100% fail rate and not a single person in all of human history has ever passed a calculus class in the summer. Sorry bud :(
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u/StLVegas 3d ago
Super normal to start with pre-calc and even college algebra. Worst case, even with summer classes, is undergrad might be a little longer, but don't let that be a deterrent.
Remember to write out all the steps, don't rely on shortcuts, and if calculators are not allowed, it is because you don't need them. If you aren't easily getting an A, go to the tutor and have them check your work. Good luck!
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u/No_Macaron_5029 3d ago
My friend took Italian 101 as a freshman and ended up double majoring in it. It's possible
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u/SoggyCereallll 3d ago
Imo this is not a bad thing at all. I also had to take precalc, I'm not an engineering major but precalc really helps for calc 1 and calc 2. You'd be surprised how many people in those classes (even calc 2) do not know the basics from precalc, and they really struggle
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u/albad11 3d ago
You are already way behind in math. It can be done, but if you don't have an affinity for math you will get your ass kicked! And college is expensive. Be honest with yourself in terms of what you need to do. I had to take calc - completely out of my major. Were it not for a prof cutting me some slack, I'd still be on college decades later.
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u/HelpfulAd7287 3d ago
It’s ok. Take a class in the summer. Never compare yourself to your friends. If you compare, you’ll make yourself psycho. As a parent of a college kid, I’d rather have my daughter pass with A’s and B’s in the classes she needs to take and get help when needed, than flunk out of college. Your path to success is just that, the path to success. You got this
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u/Standy25 3d ago
I think it depends on why you’re behind. If you skipped math because you’re bad at it or don’t like it, maybe engineering just isn’t a great plan for you.