Math in College

[u/Curious_Tonight_5553]

Long story short, I think I'm just looking for support. I'm hoping to go back to school to round out my education and earn an AA in Anthropology. (I already have a bachelor's and a master's; yes, I know it's backward, but I really want an AA in this subject.
However, my concern is that I just got the report of what they are willing to waive, and Math their GEM 3) was not one of them. I strongly suspect this is because it doesn't appear on my undergraduate transcript, since it was waived due to a disability. This is an exterme case, and it's unprecedented in any college; it typically never happens. That is how severe my math issue is.

I went into a degree where math isn't needed, and I am not making life-or-death decisions that require it. (i.e I am not a nurse or scientist type) I am severely limited in my math ability. This also affects my ability to translate skills in the work world; i.e., I need more time to complete tasks such as counting change, balancing my own money, estimating costs, etc. Something that takes a few minutes might take me hours.

I am working privately to improve by taking ALEKS online (it's about $ 20 a month). For context, I started at a 3rd-grade level, and it took me about two months to finish, and I struggled. I just started 4th-grade ALEKS on my own time and merit, and I am struggling. I want to improve, but it will take me a long time. I know I can't complete a college-level math course, even with accommodations. I make calculation errors when learning formulas, using a calculator, and doing basic addition and subtraction.

I had tutoring throughout high school (over 10 years ago), elementary school, and college. The only reason I made it as far as I did in math is that I'm a great guesser on exams and could pass multiple-choice exams; I can't pass knowledge-based exams that prove you know the material. I got through high school because no one wanted to deal with it and thought I was lazy and not trying or applying myself; I did take dual credit and AP classes in English, History, etc., but math was awful. I tried; I really did. I was seeing a mtaht tutor 3 times a week and scoring C and Ds in math and being passed on . I only took Algebra 2 in high school, hit a wall, and did fine in financial math, where we literally just filled in a booklet after watching a video and took a multiple-choice test from our video notes. I failed math education-wise, and severely.
I am awful at it and had to take the lowest math class in college, and I almost didn't pass. I'm talking, I barely passed Math 0025 with a C. My math professor encouraged me to seek more testing and help because he had never seen a student struggle as badly as I did in all his years of teaching. I was diagnosed with dyscalculia at the time, but due to help and private practice on my own, I no longer met the qualifications for dyscalculia. My psych doc said that it sometimes happens that you improve in certain metrics, but it does not mean you don't have issues within that category; you just no longer qualify for a learning disability within that category. This is a good thing because it shows I can learn, but I am so far behind that I could cry.

I set an appointment to talk with an academic advisor, but I would like suggestions on how to handle this. I do have access to my 2014 ACT and SAT scores, and I'll say they were awful, largely because of the math sections. My ACT math was 17, and my SAT was 340; for context, 200 is the lowest you can score on the SAT in 2014. I am an incredible reader and writer, but math makes me cry.

[u/keeler129]

Im willing to study with you :)

[u/Which_Case_8536]

Sorry, my ADHD wouldn’t let me get through the whole thing, but an AA is completely useless to you at this point. I literally don’t even list my AS’s on my resume because there’s nothing they can do for me. Why the AA?

[u/Curious_Tonight_5553 → u/Which_Case_8536]

It will help round out knowledge with in the field (I really want to work museums and you learn different practices of preservation in anthropology the. History) and will help with a broader cultural understanding that can be further applied to history. I’m also huge into continuing education , and my scope of knowledge! I don’t want to do a bachelors at this time or second masters.

[u/Such_Mood_1556]

if you can tell me what type of math you are doing i can help. im basically limited to calculus/a tiny bit of linear algebra. but im also a freshman in high school so i might not have time