Suggestions for math review?

[NY Musicologist]

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I'm planning on starting postbacc in Fall 07 (two years from now), but haven't had math of any kind since high school pre-calculus ten years ago. I wasn't great at math (or, by extension, the sciences that required heavy math use)at that time--I was generally in the B+/A- neighborhood--but then again, I never really tried to master the material either, having convinced myself that excellence in the subject was simply beyond my grasp. Anyway, I want to start the postbacc with rock-solid math skills, and as you can see, my "master plan" includes plenty of time to acquire that background. HOWEVER, I don't really want to register for a formal set of math courses, for reasons of finance, scheduling, and learning style. I need to be able to work at my own pace for the next two years--there will be times when I can study math exclusively for days on end, and others when I won't be able to touch it for weeks. Given all the above, I'm wondering what the most effective materials would be. The textbooks I remember having used in the past seem to have been long on problem sets and short on actual instruction, since that would be provided by the course leader. I've considered the "[blank] For Dummies" series, which purports to be a complete do-it-yourself package. I have also seen a few computer programs, but I don't want to drop $50 on one of those and then find out that it's geared toward REVIEW rather than INITIAL INSTRUCTION. Anyone have advice/recommendations?

Also, is geometry necessary, or can I stick to pre-algebra, algebra/trig, pre-calc, and calculus?

 

[samenewme]

You need algebra/trig for your pre-med coursework. You may need some geometry to catch onto trig, but you might be fine without it. I would suggest you go to a public or university library and ask a reference librarian to help you locate some materials and some published reviews of them. That will give you an idea of what's in different materials and whether they perform as advertised. Reference librarians love it when people ask them real questions, so please use them!

 

[NY Musicologist]

You sound like you may have had some experience behind the reference desk, samenewme! I actually work part-time in a library (the music library of a private university), so I should have thought of going the reference route. 😱 Thanks for the suggestion!

Best,
NYM