I think math will ruin me

[Maali]

I am taking precalculus right now and my professor doesn't know how to teach for ****. I just sit in class and cheat on the exams since their online ( I know, I hate cheating and I would NEVER do it in a non math class, but I won't pass unless I do. I'm taking 20 credits so I have no time to really self teach my self halfway through the semester, don't judge haha). I am going to be taking Calculus and I know I NEED to know this stuff and I want to know it, so I want some of you guys to give me recommendations on self teach books. I want a book that can cover algebra all the way to calc and that will actually make me LEARN the material. I'm taking chem II and physics I in the summer and have about a month between spring semester and summer classes and a month between the end of summer classes and fall semester to teach myself a ton of math (when I will be taking Calc I) so what do you guys recommend. Thanks

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[Doudline]

You need not do well in precalculus to succeed in calculus; probably 80% of it is algebra and the remaining is just knowing your derivation/integration tricks plus a few types of functions (trig, exp, log, quad). Just make sure your algebra is very solid (through online ressources if necessary) and calculus will be a breeze; the different concepts come very naturally then.

 

[knv2u]

I am taking precalculus right now and my professor doesn't know how to teach for ****. I just sit in class and cheat on the exams since their online ( I know, I hate cheating and I would NEVER do it in a non math class, but I won't pass unless I do...

Bright idea! So when you get caught, you can kiss medical school and probably graduate school good bye. That makes a lot of sense.

 

[Maali]

Bright idea! So when you get caught, you can kiss medical school and probably graduate school good bye. That makes a lot of sense. People like you should find another profession; if you'll cheat in pre-calculus, what says you won't cheat in medical school? You could become a danger to your future patients if you do.

The professor knows we use online websites on his exams and doesn't care. I won't cheat in medical school because I want to learn it and will enjoy learning it. Oh yea, I'm going to be a danger to patients because I used an online website to get answers for pre-calculus. If I didn't care I wouldn't post about it here asking for advice on learning math. Thanks for your futile comment though.

 

[knv2u]

The professor knows we use online websites on his exams and doesn't care. I won't cheat in medical school because I want to learn it and will enjoy learning it. Oh yea, I'm going to be a danger to patients because I used an online website to get answers for pre-calculus. If I didn't care I wouldn't post about it here asking for advice on learning math. Thanks for your futile comment though.

The last part is why I edited my comment; I fixated on the first two lines. But seriously, you care about learning the material, so why not get a tutor and learn it correctly now? It would suck pretty badly to go through all of the courses only to be barred from medical school. Are there any topics that you are having problems with? Maybe I could help you if you had questions. You can always PM me.

 

[knv2u]

I will also second what the others said about Kahn Academy and add MIT Open Courseware, iTunes University, Thinkwell, and other programs/sites to your list to help you.

 

[Lucca]

MIT Open Courseware and Itunes U are the best free learning materials on the internet for autodidacts. For real. Nothing else even comes close to the quality of their materials.

If you need to be taught, KhanAcademy is your best bet. Your prof's office hours and your Unis learning centers are even better bets

Your Algebra skills are weak and that will be the main issue. Calculus itself is very easy and contains only a few key concepts, but most students are actually so bad at algebra that that is where most of their mistakes are made. Algebra deficits can be corrected by drilling in hundreds of problems until a problem is second nature to you or understanding on a very deep level what the algebra concepts are. I'm afraid the latter ship has sailed, though, college isn't very patient for people trying to learn deeply.

 

[rain4venus]

Calculus itself is very easy and contains only a few key concepts, but most students are actually so bad at algebra that that is where most of their mistakes are made.

This a million times.