So prior to beginning precalc, Prof. gave us a College Algebra review sheet with about 50 problems. I assumed (wrongly) that she might spend the first couple of days reviewing.
The first day she says “Ok, get out your review sheets and get going. I’ll take them by the end of next class.” That was when I heard the record scratch in my mind and realized the the kids around me that had finished CA over the summer were blasting through it while I was scratching my head on #1.
The last thing I want is to start out in this class behind, so…I thought about it all day and ended up dropping it. My plan is to spend this semester on Khan Academy and in my old CA notes and knock the rust off, since it’s been about 3 semesters since I took it, and try it again in the spring.
Quite a wake up call. Better luck next time.
Things happen…better to know now than to get a super bad grade.
It was totally the right decision.
The basis for success in precalc and calc (and general chem and physics) is college algebra. Calculus was a black hole for me until my roommate in college said, its all algebra: the trick is to use algebra to manipulate any expression with algebra until you get it into a form that you can apply calculus to (especially integrals).
Absolutely the right choice!
I did the exact same thing. Just start from the begging! No shame! I did it, and now Im in Calc I like a bull about to charge, total confidence!
It’s funny that I found this post. I’m currently enrolled in pre-calc and I’m terrified! I’m going into my 3rd week of the class and I’m getting high 90’s on all of my assignments, but it’s an online class and my fear lies in the fact that I have two proctored tests (midterm and final) and together that is a whooping 60% of my final grade. We are doing a new lesson everyday and while I’m understanding it, I’m not retaining any of it without looking at my notes. How will I ever be able to pass my proctored tests? I have a feeling I will bomb my tests and receive a poor grade, if not fail completely. I’ve been thinking about dropping, but I’m already almost a month into my class. If I drop and receive a “W” I’m sure it’s better than a D or E, but I’m not sure what to do. Part of me wants to stick it out and part of me wants to drop it. If I happen to do poorly or fail, will it be hard to recover? I’m not setting myself up to fail, I’m working hard at it, I just realize that doing poorly on those tests will ruin all the A’s I’m getting now! Major FUD here!