Hi
I am about to take my first science course since high school (years and years ago)- Biology while working full time.
However, my algebra is very weak. I passed university calculus about 5 years ago, but I really have not used quad equation or trig, or logarithms in years.
My question is - is realistic to get an A in biology, work full time and teach myself algebra this fall? I know I will need algebra for physics and chemistry.
I was pretty set on taking biology and even talked to the professor… I assume this does not need much algebra.
I don’t remember really needing too much math in bio unless you’re analyzing a chart/graph or something, so you should be good there. There are some math reviews for the MCAT that may help out. You need to know how to do some stuff, but it definitely doesn’t require a full algebra/geo/trig/calc class to relearn it, in my opinion (but I took a lot of math in college).
Try http://www.premed411.com/pdfs/math.pdf as a starting point. It has a brief review of the concepts you will need to understand.
In bio (which I do teach on WEs by the way), there is little math. Basic operations, an understanding of logs and powers of 10 should suffice (scientific notations in particular).
When it comes to Physcis and Chemistry, a bit more algebra is needed, but not much more (I also teach Gen Chem I and II). Take an algebra class before those (Phys Chem), Or you could spend a week of time (4 or 5h), get an algebra book and go over it do chap by chap exercises…
Good luck.