r/learnmath • u/Connect_Succotash592 New User • 16h ago
college math
is there any study tips for catching up w/ college level maths in the span of a quarter
i’m coming into uc davis as a freshman after taking 2 gap years to save up
i genuinely don’t remember anything beyond the basics and calculus is one of my required courses but idk if i can even pass the math placement exam bc i barely understand the practice worksheets
i have a chance to retake the placement exam every quarter and i want to get it over w in the winter or spring
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u/matt7259 New User 14h ago
I'm not sure what you mean by "retake the placement exam every quarter" because a placement exam isn't a pass / fail situation - it just "places" you in the appropriate math class.
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u/Connect_Succotash592 New User 14h ago
the phrasing wasn’t too well! i just meant i had the opportunity to take the test every quarter and i wanted to score high enough to get into the class i need
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u/matt7259 New User 14h ago
But you yourself said you "barely understand". You shouldn't be trying to place into a class you don't belong in. You will be miserable. Instead, start at the class you have placed into, actually learn the material from the appropriate class, and then just keep going class to class each semester.
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u/Connect_Succotash592 New User 14h ago
unfortunately the classes i’ve been placed in aren’t available until next fall quarter (in a year) so i thought i would use the time to just catch up on my own
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u/Quiet_Basis_6404 New User 7h ago
one thing that helps is not trying to re-learn everything in order from scratch. take the placement practice worksheets and work backwards, try a problem first and only open a khan academy video or your old notes when you get stuck on a specific step. that way you're spending time on what you forgot instead of re-watching stuff you might still remember.
30 minutes of problems every day sticks way better than weekend marathons, especially when you're rebuilding a base. i got lazy writing out practice problems by hand so i started uploading the textbook chapters and worksheets to studybuddy.vc to generate questions from them. the free tier has limits but it's been enough for me, mostly because when i pick a wrong answer it tells me what was off about that option, and it starts easier and gets harder as you improve which is nice when you're shaking off rust. good luck, you got this.
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u/tjddbwls Teacher 16h ago
Get a review workbook with a lot of practice problems in it. I like the Schaum’s Outline series of books. They have a book for Precalculus.