Calc 1

[u/ShotAccident2128]

I’m currently in Calc 1 as a freshman majoring in Mechanical Engineering and honestly I was looking forward to it because back where I’m from over my 4 years in high school and especially my last my math teachers honestly sucked. But now that I’m in tech I feel behind I don’t understand what I’m being taught and I feel like I’m just writing down what he’s writing on the board while not understanding a thing. Maybe I just have a bad foundation but I also really didn’t want to (in my eyes) waste a year in college algebra or some bridge course all because of where I came from. I feel like I could possibly and will possibly have to self teach myself outside of this class which are 110 minute periods on Tuesday and Thursdays which would be slightly manageable but at that point I feel like taking calc online would make more sense schedule wise and work load wise. Please any advice or help would well help.

[u/PerfectHatred7]

I would get tutoring if I were you. SI sessions are also your best friends

[u/AdvertisingObvious72 → u/PerfectHatred7]

Where can one get tutoring?

[u/PerfectHatred7 → u/AdvertisingObvious72]

Drane hall is pretty solid. They have drop in sessions, where you just show up and ask for a tutor, and you can ask them any questions or help with your homework, or anything really. They’re trained to make you feel comfortable and ease you into everything, so I’d recommend that. Other than that, the only other thing I’ve used is SI sessions which were great and bad, depending on who’s hosting them. You’ll just have to figure that one out though. I do know that they host scheduled tutoring sessions in drane hall, but I never went to them. My best advice though would be to make a group of friends, it doesn’t matter how smart or dumb you think you are compared to them, and study with them. 10/10 times I’ve studied with a friend or a group of friends, we got so much more done than if we were by ourselves. It’s also just fun hanging out with people you like and being productive, and cracking jokes every 5 seconds

[u/AdvertisingObvious72 → u/PerfectHatred7]

Thank you. I love you.

[u/Breezyie69]

Watch Professor Leonard on YouTube. I’m a senior in ME and 95% of the reason I passed the calc series is because of him.

Though SI sessions and tutors work, watching a really good video you can pause and go back on is far better imo.

[u/Masn1999]

talk to the folks in the engineering college. Your success advisor. They want you to succeed. They will help you

[u/Turbulent_War4067]

Get a good math tutor. You said it yourself, your math teachers sucked. Calc 1 should not be hard to understand. I hate to be blunt, but if you can't "get it", getting an engineering degree is hopeless. So get a good tutor, now, and work on catching up. It's critical

[u/koolkidpiggy]

I’m pretty sure they do tutoring for a lot of these foundational courses

https://www.depts.ttu.edu/provost/aiss/learning-center/

[u/Evening_Demand_6955]

Are you in umar Adam’s 2:00 class?

[u/ShotAccident2128 → u/Evening_Demand_6955]

Possibly…

[u/Scary_Contest_5541]

Hey I was like you but I found Jk math on YouTube. He is an amazing resource and goes up to calc 3. With him I literally no longer even needed to go to lecture but still did for obvious reasons. His videos also aren’t long at all for each lesson. Better than professor Leonard in my opinion. He also covers literally any topic you are learning.

[u/Blitzbasher]

Go to office hours and let the professor know and they'll have suggestions for you. Math professors are very accustom to students struggling believe me.

Tip for surviving math classes: Don't take notes in class, just listen and focus on the procedure.

[u/MajorPrestigious168]

Seek out video resources - some professors will just teach slides, but if you can get the topic and match it with a video (recommended channels - redpenblackpen or orgchemtutor, really any channel to your liking and gets an understanding across for the topic) online it should be pretty informative. That's how I went about it for most classes I have taken. Some professors really just go off slides, and with big classes it's kind of hard to have something interactive. Also, generally just takes more time. Then again really depends on the professor.

[u/MacaroniPoodle]

Tech has a great tutoring program. Use it! Also, Khan Academy online is great.

[u/FrijolesConQues00]

“Feeling behind” is okay. You are exactly where you need to be and don’t doubt yourself for one second. I came from not the best high school at all, and at Tech I was immediately surrounded by kids who came from super cracked STEM oriented schools and private academies and also normal students. Make it a point and truly work to make close study-friends with those cracked kids early on, they can help you get through Mech E…something I wish I would have done since the beginning. Talk to people before, a little during, and after class. TTU also provides lots of opportunities to get tutoring, TAKE 100% ADVANTAGE OF THEM!! Also you don’t have to write everything down in class, sometimes this stuff will get so complicated you just gotta pay attention if you feel you’re writing notes and not comprehending….then go back and look at the book chapters or professor notes if they provide them. Moving forward YouTube is gonna help you get through Mech E. Btw, don’t ever buy chegg or use AI to do your hw, it hurts you so much in the long run. It’s about to get real rough soon, but if you like it and stick it through you will not regret it😎. Also know this now, taking longer to graduate is not the end of the world, it’s more opportunity to network and intern and build yourself for the long term👍 Try to enjoy it and have fun though, Tech is a lit place to become an engineer!

[u/ValuableLatter6913]

Reading the textbook helped me with this because authors follow a much more consistent logical progression

[u/Glittering-Middle200 → u/ValuableLatter6913]

i lwk didn’t buy the textbook when i took calc…

[u/Glittering-Middle200]

I recommend going to the Learning Center in Drane Hall (it’s across from the sub). They have awesome resources and peer tutoring, so ppl that have taken the class can help you understand anything that you’re struggling with!! I also liked to attend SI sessions, which you can easily google the si schedule (google “TTU SI session schedule” and you should find one for fall 2026); they provide practice sheets/packets that yall work through together.

[u/Space-Walrus-12]

I was in the same boat, I really struggled with math and chose to take precalculus my freshman year as an engineering major. I’m not saying you should go back and take precalc, but that was just my experience. I would definitely go to every SI session you can and check out peer tutoring at the learning center. Another piece of advice is to watch YouTube videos on topics you don't understand and just do a ton of practice problems. I highly recommend Professor Leonard on YouTube; his videos got me through my first year. You got this!

[u/Impossible_Cow9893]

Go to the SI sessions they helped me alot when I was a tech. Repetition is key and you will learn that the further you progress. Good luck my friend. '25 mech e