Ended my math education with Calc I 14 years ago.
Would really like to jump back in where I left off and am thinking of different strategies.
I don't feel like I remember Calc I, geometry, or trig at all. About all I think I remember is basic algebra and bits and pieces of the other stuff (I remember a pneumonic "All Students Take Cocaine" from trig but I don't remember what it was for).
I know the answer to what strategy would work best depends on the individual. What I'm curious about is what you would do in this situation?
1.) Bite the bullet and just take or audit all the courses again starting from algebra or geometry? See you in about three years, Calc II!
2.) Jump into a Calc II class and hope for the best?
3.) Self study over the course of 1-2 years with a combination of books, youtube, and Khan Academy?
4.) Something else?
maybe this is too late, but here's my advise. I'm in college and just took calc 2 and got a c, so it isn't easy even for me. I wouldn't recommend going back to algebra, but what I would recommend is dedicating a large amount of time on the material, and I mean maybe a couple hours a day. prior to taking this calc 2 class, i think it would be wise to learn everything from algebra to calc 1 on the internet or by using old textbooks or something. The internet will teach you enough in my opinion, i just think it's a waste of time(too much time) and money to retake those classes. but please don't just "jump in" to calc 2. you could take a while re-learning the stuff in my opinion
@Fierce NUN:
Definitely not too late! Thanks!
Your pov is very reasonable and largely the way I'm leaning. I don't want to take forever retaking endless classes, but I also don't feel ready for a calc 2 class right off the bat.
I've started to realize that if I'm not motivated enough to hit, say, Khan Academy and Wikibooks, for at least 12-16 hours a week, then I'm probably not going to fare well at higher math either.
I recently hit Wikibooks to reread a topic that I'm embarrassed about having forgotten how to do (Radical Arithmetic) and was surprised by (1) how well-written and concise the material was and (2) how easily it all came back.
So, in short, I'm leaning towards:
-- 12-16 hours a week
-- goal of 9-12 months for relearning everything from alg 1 - calc 1 (sounds aggressive, but I did learn it all before at some point in the past, and I've found that some of what I knew before seems to be coming back)
-- Khan Academy, wikibooks, and old college & HS textbooks/notes of mine (at the age of 34, I still have some...lol)
-- Maybe take the Calc I clep to see for myself if I'm ready for Calc II
Thoughts?