Has anyone tried taking a shot at math again when they got older?

[brokenmachine]

I'm contemplating going back to school and the program(Computer Science) I am interested in has Calculus I and Calculus II as required completed courses before taking higher level courses. I have not taken any math courses since I finished Math 11 pre-calc in high school which I got a B in, but struggled. I was 17 at the time and am now 25. I've got an arts degree already so this will be a 2 year program.

Is this realistically plausible? or am I just asking to get my ass kicked? What is the best way to approach this? Prep for months before taking the course? Go in blind and bust my ass off?

I've been working in education for almost 3 years now and decided that it is not where I want to go career-wise.

tl;dr - haven't taken math in years, want to take calculus, am i screwed?

 

[Thurston Last]

Refresh your pre-calc by doing a free online course or Kahn Academy.

 

[Mathalete]

Math teacher here.

It's very likely you'll be successful. I always believe that anyone can learn math IF they want it enough.

Do it however works best for your situation and I'm sure it will work great. 😁

 

[Swig]

Refresh your pre-calc by doing a free online course or Kahn Academy.

Click to shrink...

This is my plan, to study with Khan academy.

I'm in a similar boat, but I've never been great with math. I've been lucky enough to find my way to a good career path without a degree, but it's getting to the point that I need a degree to progress much further, so I'm going to try and get back into it.

If it weren't for math, I'd probably have had a degree years ago. It's the one thing holding me back and I really need to find a way to get through it.

 

[Deleted member 1086]

oh, math. Man I'm so relieved, thought this thread was going to be so much darker.

 

[AMAGON]

Too old to mess with meth again.

 

[indistinctchatter]

tl;dr - haven't taken math in years, want to take calculus, am i screwed?

Click to shrink...

No. It's easy to set yourself up for success if you brush up on some pre-calc. Focus on areas of weakness and work through a lot of problems. It's important to actually do problems and not just passively read textbooks or watch videos.

I've taught Calc 1-3, and every time I'd have students who hadn't done any math in years. The ones that end up doing well are the ones that put in the work. It really is as simple as that.

 

[ASleepingMonkey]

I'm a senior in high school, fulfilled my math credit requirements last year, not taking a math class this year. Had to do some math problems today in my Ad/Sales class and almost walked out of the class, my brain just threw all that shit out to make room for useless movie trivia and all the various breeds of dogs in Red Dead Redemption 2.

 

[Felt]

I was kinda similar to you. I didn't take HS seriously, and got a C- in algebra 2 and that was the end of it. Went to CC, started to enjoy school. Didn't want to take trig/pre-calc, so I did iTunes U pre-calc (there are much better resources now like Coursera) and then tested directly into calc 1. It was tough at first but it clicked after learning the power rule and then I transferred and kicked ass through differential equations.


Sooo... Long story short do the pre calculus online, figure out if you got what it takes.

 

[Selbran]

Currently trying to refresh myself on Elementary Algebra after not having a solid foundation and then never really using that stuff for years. It's really hard to get back into and sucks that I end up so frustrated with what should be basic stuff, but I'm trying as best I can.

 

[DPT120]

You'll be fine. My dad hasn't done calculus in close to 30 years and his calc skills are better than mine, and I'm in University right now. To help yourself, brush up on on your pre-calc.

 

[brokenmachine]

Sounds like I should brush up on my pre-calc, and prepare myself in every way possible. Still a little spooked by math because of my history with it but I'm willing to give it a shot. I've always thought math was cool, but my lazy, poor work ethic, high school-self couldn't wrap my head around it.

I have gotten a lot more disciplined, and mature as I have aged and recognize now much time investment and hard work will pay off.

I'm still not 100% certain that I am going to go back to school, but I am definitely interested.

I really appreciate the replies everyone.

 

[Deleted member 46429]

If you can get a handle of precalculus, you'll have the prerequisites you need to do calculus. The basic point of precalculus to become very familiar with common functions, such as logarithms, sines, polynomials, and exponential as some examples, so that in calculus you learn how to apply formulae and techniques to those functions. Common features include things such as notation, graphs, and roots.

But you'll probably need to revisit precalculus. it might not be a bad idea to do something like see if an open courseware website has materials--such as worksheets--to work through them. The more you know of precalculus, the easier calculus becomes.

 

[shintoki]

I had about a 5-7 year break between it high school math and college math. I ended high school with Calc I and started College with Calc I. It was harder for me to learn it the second time. Your mind coming out of high school is a finely tuned machine for classes. Coming back after years off is a car that hasn't been driven in years. And the bad news is, you'll never reach that same potential again.

Good news, you're more experienced now, you understand these obstacles are not insurmountable, and will develop far better study habits than you ever did coming out of high school. As long as you put forth the effort.

If you want to know what to review for calc
Limits, do it now. The rest isn't that bad and you can pick must of it up on the fly.

 

[Android Sophia]

Math was always my weakest subject in school. I frequently got Bs and Cs despite otherwise being A+ student in everything else, and I struggled with Algebra onward, even some Pre-Algebra stuff.

But recently I've gone back to school in my late 20s, and thanks to the help of some good teachers who aid people with disabilities, my talents soared. I did 10 weeks of material in 7, and got 90% or higher on almost every test with quite a few being 100%.

Having the right teachers, who knew how to teach me the right things, and having the right mindset that I didn't have when I was in school proper made all the difference in the world.

I believe in you OP. I think you can do it.

 

[Mintaro]

Was literally in the exact same boat as you were, and now I'm doing my undergrad in engineering at 26.

Like everyone has already said, pre-calc, pre-calc, pre-calc. You really need to understand the fundamentals before you can go any further in math. And of course practice. It really does make a world of difference.

 

[Chaos-Theory]

You're not screwed at all. I went back to school at 28 and started with College Algebra, eventually completing a PhD in math. A late start or time away from school has nothing to do with academic success if you want it bad enough. Keep your head down and grind it out.

Calc I is easy, but brush up on your algebra. Calc II is tedious but doable. I would be more worried if your program requires taking Physics I or II with calculus.

 

[Chaos-Theory]

Math was always my weakest subject in school. I frequently got Bs and Cs despite otherwise being A+ student in everything else, and I struggled with Algebra onward, even some Pre-Algebra stuff.

But recently I've gone back to school in my late 20s, and thanks to the help of some good teachers who aid people with disabilities, my talents soared. I did 10 weeks of material in 7, and got 90% or higher on almost every test with quite a few being 100%.

Having the right teachers, who knew how to teach me the right things, and having the right mindset that I didn't have when I was in school proper made all the difference in the world.

I believe in you OP. I think you can do it.

Click to shrink...

Having the right teachers makes all the difference. Congrats on your mathematical success!

 

[Chaos2Frozen]

I'm contemplating going back to school and the program(Computer Science) I am interested in has Calculus I and Calculus II as required completed courses before taking higher level courses. I have not taken any math courses since I finished Math 11 pre-calc in high school which I got a B in, but struggled. I was 17 at the time and am now 25. I've got an arts degree already so this will be a 2 year program.

Is this realistically plausible? or am I just asking to get my ass kicked? What is the best way to approach this? Prep for months before taking the course? Go in blind and bust my ass off?

I've been working in education for almost 3 years now and decided that it is not where I want to go career-wise.

tl;dr - haven't taken math in years, want to take calculus, am i screwed?

Click to shrink...

25? Yeah I did that. There was a good 5-6 years between University and my previous school education.

Didn't take me long to get back into the game. In fact I actually enjoyed it more now than I did in school. And it wasn't like I was some math pro in school either but I went from borderline passing to getting 90+ when I did my engineering degree.

It really is all about having a solid foundation, everything else is just puzzle solving using the tools that you have and understanding the logic of the puzzle.

 

[Android Sophia]

Having the right teachers makes all the difference. Congrats on your mathematical success!

Click to shrink...

Thanks! Hoping to go into IT.

The highlight of my 2018 was finishing the test on engineering notation, and the teacher coming up to me and going "You know, I don't think I've ever seen someone pass that as well as you did on your first try."

Like, that would have never happened to 16 year old me. Because she never had the tools or the mindset I had now.

 

[Lockness Mobster]

Hell naw,I can't stand math! But I may go back to school at some point because my employers reimbursement is great.

 

[Chaos-Theory]

Thanks! Hoping to go into IT.

The highlight of my 2018 was finishing the test on engineering notation, and the teacher coming up to me and going "You know, I don't think I've ever seen someone pass that as well as you did on your first try."

Like, that would have never happened to 16 year old me. Because she never had the tools or the mindset I had now.

Click to shrink...

That's great to read. If you're going into IT, jump into cloud computing. My good friend makes an easy six figures doing AWS consulting. The problem solving skills learned in your math classes will be helpful in IT.

 

[Deleted member 12247]

So I actually went through this last year OP. School I signed up for had me do a math placement test as part of enrollment. I finished high school in precalc and my math placement course was a level below that. I had to do an extra course, but I definitely did need a refresher to get back into it. I will say though at least for me once you start in it again it will come back real fast.

 

[CrazyIvan1978]

I'm contemplating going back to school and the program(Computer Science) I am interested in has Calculus I and Calculus II as required completed courses before taking higher level courses. I have not taken any math courses since I finished Math 11 pre-calc in high school which I got a B in, but struggled. I was 17 at the time and am now 25. I've got an arts degree already so this will be a 2 year program.

Is this realistically plausible? or am I just asking to get my ass kicked? What is the best way to approach this? Prep for months before taking the course? Go in blind and bust my ass off?

I've been working in education for almost 3 years now and decided that it is not where I want to go career-wise.

tl;dr - haven't taken math in years, want to take calculus, am i screwed?

Click to shrink...

I went back to school after 20 years. Just finished up my fourth semester of college taking math (Calc 1, 2, 3, and Linear Algebra and Differential Equations). I went in blind. Doing pretty good so far.

 

[Yourfawthaaa]

I am.

Currently taking statistics and I'm actually trying to understand it so I can pass. I've been doing well so far because I'm teaching it to myself instead of having a instructor do it ( I take online classes).

Dreading my accounting classes in May and June but people usually tell me not to freak out about it. Just pay attention, study your materials, and I'll be fine.

 

[brokenmachine]

Great to see all of the success stories in this thread. I figured that most people who did not excel would have stayed away from it after they finished high school. It's cool to see so many people go back to give it another shot.

This has me feeling a lot better about my chances. I certainly would not expect it to be easy, but if I put in the necessary work and then some it is definitely doable.

 

[Slappy White]

I don't know how it would be possible to go back to Math after a really long break. College Algebra was the extent of my abilities which I had to bust my ass for to get a B. Good luck to you.

 

[Ghostmate]

You can do it, OP. I'm in the same boat(ish): going back to school for a CompSci degree except I'm a little further down the river than you (I'm 33.) I took calculus again just last semester as a refresher - it's been like, 13 years since I took a math class. The first couple weeks, probably up to your first exam, will be intimidating because it'll be a lot of trigonometry. This seems to be the case for a lot of students though - even those fresh out of high school. Anyway, don't be scurred!

 

[TaterTots]

Yes. Because I was a certain age trying to go back to college years ago I had to take something called a COMPASS test. I prepped for it as much as I could. English portion I passed, but I failed the math portion by 2 points and had to take a module in an developmental math class. You can still learn.

If I would of barely passed the math portion and was placed in college algebra I would of failed miserably honestly.

 

[DireRaven]

I'm more fortunate I guess, maths (I'm British!) has always been part of my life post school. I'm 51 now, but have been using it in my engineering career for about 30+ years, so for me it's never gone away, in fact its got better. I used to struggle with it at school, it was definitely one of my weakest subjects, but the more engineering I did, the more robust it became, to the point now, it's one of my strongest skills in the workplace, allowing me to use and create complex equations on paper, and programs like Excel.

 

[HarryHengst]

For calculus look up Professor Leonard on YouTube. He is the absolute best. I aced calculus I-III with 90%+ scores for all three classes.

You do need to know your pre-calculus though but Khan Academy can help you with that.

 

[Dnomla]

I don't know. I've always wondered too. I think I'd maybe have a better grasp of it now, but overall I still think I'm too stupid for math. That's what's held me back from going back to school.

I failed pre-algebra in High School and had to repeat it the next year and just barely passed with a C. Then I took my COMPASS (I think it was) test for College and passed the Reading and Writing with probably a 92% and 95%, but only around 40% for Math, so I had to take the most Basic math class first, which I again barely passed with around a C.

So after that I moved onto my first pre-algebra class, failed it. Second pre-algebra class, failed it. Third pre-algebra class, barely passed with a C. Moved on to Algebra, dropped out because I was failing it. Tried taking a second Algebra class, but after being the last person after 10 minutes to hand in a short test quiz, and almost bursting in to tears because no matter how many times I think I've got it...I don't. So I just gave up and dropped out again.

I don't even know what the hell Calculus is lol. So I think you might be better off than me. I'm just stupid at math, unfortunately. I'm never gonna use anything beyond pre-algebra so I don't know why it's required for fucking everything. I beat myself up severely for all my shortcomings, so I don't know if I can handle feeling like the dumbest person in class for an eighth time. I hate math.

 

[Paz]

As a game developer who basically stopped math at grade 10 I have so many regrets, I spend my days googling weird maths things that I presume I should already understand.

Maybe it's time to pick up some online courses... inspiring thread.

P.s fuck quaternions.

 

[Harry Potter Obama]

I was going to say yes, but then I realized the thread title didn't say "meth"

 

[HarryHengst]

I don't know. I've always wondered too. I think I'd maybe have a better grasp of it now, but overall I still think I'm too stupid for math. That's what's held me back from going back to school.

I failed pre-algebra in High School and had to repeat it the next year and just barely passed with a C. Then I took my COMPASS (I think it was) test for College and passed the Reading and Writing with probably a 92% and 95%, but only around 40% for Math, so I had to take the most Basic math class first, which I again barely passed with around a C.

So after that I moved onto my first pre-algebra class, failed it. Second pre-algebra class, failed it. Third pre-algebra class, barely passed with a C. Moved on to Algebra, dropped out because I was failing it. Tried taking a second Algebra class, but after being the last person after 10 minutes to hand in a short test quiz, and almost bursting in to tears because no matter how many times I think I've got it...I don't. So I just gave up and dropped out again.

I don't even know what the hell Calculus is lol. So I think you might be better off than me. I'm just stupid at math, unfortunately. I'm never gonna use anything beyond pre-algebra so I don't know why it's required for fucking everything. I beat myself up severely for all my shortcomings, so I don't know if I can handle feeling like the dumbest person in class for an eighth time. I hate math.

Click to shrink...

You're not dumb or naturally bad at math, you're untrained. You probably had teachers that couldn't get through to you at an early age which let to missing some basic fundamentals, causing you to always fall behind. Or you have an undiagnosed case of dyscalculia.

You remind me of my wife, who has a PhD in classical languages but can barely do more than basic arithmetic and has a paralyzing fear of and anger towards anything having to do with numbers.

 

[Polymath]

Without a doubt I think you'll be able to do it, imo it's all about finding a great teacher. The best online teacher for Calculus imo is Professor Leonard's YouTube channel as he just makes everything intuitive and easy to understand. Here are his playlists:

Calculus 1
Calculus 2
Calculus 3

 

[All Possible Ways]

You will be fine! People make a big deal out of it, but anybody can learn math if they put in the work. Practicing by doing many problems and not just passively going to classes is essential. Hopefully you will end up not only finding it interesting and useful, but fun as well. You can do it OP!

 

[F2BBm3ga]

Is there someone like professor leonard to help with intro to statistics? Lol i gotta take that coming up for my CS degree

 

[signal]

I was thinking of doing the same, but just casually / in my free time and not for any career reason. Always bothered me how shit I was at math in school so wanted to give it another go.

 

[julia crawford]

Went back to college and had to take math. Matrices and integrals and other tortures.

Passed by the mercy and hopes of my teacher, because, mathematically speaking, I know I failed.

So glad that's over. Don't let people tell you you can't be a programmer if you're bad at math.

 

[amnesties]

it has nothing to do with age.

i started to uni last year (at 23) to do computer science and honestly it's been fairly straightforward but tbh i was always pretty good at math. there are people my age who struggle, there are 19yo who struggled and there are 19yo who flew through first year. so it has nothing to do with age

CS is like 80% math (we'll at least at my uni) so it helps sooooo much if you actually love math. i know many students who dropped out because they never imagined that it would have that much math.

so i'd say enjoying math will help, more than anything. i truly feel anyone can do math just as long as they enjoy it. but yes make sure you do all the required math modules before. natural proficiency and the rigour of your mathematical background play a role as well

 

[Dnomla]

You're not dumb or naturally bad at math, you're untrained. You probably had teachers that couldn't get through to you at an early age which let to missing some basic fundamentals, causing you to always fall behind. Or you have an undiagnosed case of dyscalculia.

You remind me of my wife, who has a PhD in classical languages but can barely do more than basic arithmetic and has a paralyzing fear of and anger towards anything having to do with numbers.

Click to shrink...

I always wondered if there was a math equivalent to dyslexia, because I swear I follow the steps like I'm supposed to over and over so many times but the numbers somehow magically change their order or get reversed. And some symptoms I looked up really stick out to me......So now I don't know if I should be relieved or more depressed.

I forgot I dropped a Chemistry class too. Math has always naturally been my worst subject in school, always. Every other subject I never had a problem passing and if I did, it was because I was lazy. I don't think it's because I didn't try, I just couldn't make any sense of it.

 

[Artdayne]

I can say that for me personally math was the most challenging subject for me in high school but for some reason when I went back to college for it later I really excelled at it, it was really bizarre to me.

 

[Polymath]

Is there someone like professor leonard to help with intro to statistics? Lol i gotta take that coming up for my CS degree

Click to shrink...

Does this help at all?

02402 - Introduction to Statistics

 

[Deleted member 4494]

I was an English major that quit college and then came back years later to do Comp Sci, so I didn't have the requisite math skills and had to learn starting from Algebra.

Reality is this: if you study and take advantage of the wide array of resources available today, you'll succeed. But here's a secret: if you love CS, you need to develop both a respect and appreciation for math. Once you do that, math will be easy for you, because when you learn something new you'll be genuinely excited. If you fear it as a subject, just drop that fear entirely and right now. Start loving it at the lowest level, and have an appreciation for each new thing you put in your memory, and practice. If you do that, you'll be both a good student, and you'll find the application for math in your work.

 

[ManixMiner]

I've always struggled with Math. I returned to further education (OU) a couple of years ago and one of my modules was maths and towards the end I was really struggling especially when it came to Pythagoras Thereom.

My mind goes to shit if you shove a massive equation in front of me. I can break down so much of the question but little nuances in math catch me out and I keep repeating the same little mistakes.

 

[Deleted member 40797]

I'm contemplating going back to school and the program(Computer Science) I am interested in has Calculus I and Calculus II as required completed courses before taking higher level courses. I have not taken any math courses since I finished Math 11 pre-calc in high school which I got a B in, but struggled. I was 17 at the time and am now 25. I've got an arts degree already so this will be a 2 year program.

Is this realistically plausible? or am I just asking to get my ass kicked? What is the best way to approach this? Prep for months before taking the course? Go in blind and bust my ass off?

I've been working in education for almost 3 years now and decided that it is not where I want to go career-wise.

tl;dr - haven't taken math in years, want to take calculus, am i screwed?

Click to shrink...

I went back to school and majored in computer science after completing a humanities degree, and excelled in my math classes - this was not expected, because I had always considered myself poor at math. The elementary math classes (Calculus I-III, Discrete Math, Linear Algebra, Differential Equations) are more about your ability to study the material than your aptitude for mathematics. I would worry more about your ability to pass advanced algorithms courses (or higher-level math classes) than basic math, since both will require you to be adept at "mathematical thinking" and writing proofs.

 

[Mirage]

oh, math. Man I'm so relieved, thought this thread was going to be so much darker.

Click to shrink...

Okay I'm not the only one who read this the wrong way at first.

 

[LL_Decitrig]

Sounds like I should brush up on my pre-calc, and prepare myself in every way possible. Still a little spooked by math because of my history with it but I'm willing to give it a shot. I've always thought math was cool, but my lazy, poor work ethic, high school-self couldn't wrap my head around it.

I have gotten a lot more disciplined, and mature as I have aged and recognize now much time investment and hard work will pay off.

I'm still not 100% certain that I am going to go back to school, but I am definitely interested.

I really appreciate the replies everyone.

Click to shrink...

Based on my experience studying later in life, it gets a lot easier. Your brain is more fully developed and you have enough life experience to get over the hurdles that might have hampered you at a younger age.

And now there are so many excellent free online tutorials and exercises, it's a great time to go back to maths.

 

[SageShinigami]

I had about a 5-7 year break between it high school math and college math. I ended high school with Calc I and started College with Calc I. It was harder for me to learn it the second time. Your mind coming out of high school is a finely tuned machine for classes. Coming back after years off is a car that hasn't been driven in years. And the bad news is, you'll never reach that same potential again.

Good news, you're more experienced now, you understand these obstacles are not insurmountable, and will develop far better study habits than you ever did coming out of high school. As long as you put forth the effort.

If you want to know what to review for calc
Limits, do it now. The rest isn't that bad and you can pick must of it up on the fly.

Click to shrink...

I was better in college after taking a break for three years than I was at the end of high school. I adapted to course work quickly, and Algebra and Trig were cakewalks. I bombed Cal 1 the first time around, but that came from late nights and an 8AM math class. Second time I got a B without trying that hard.