- #1
lawnphysics
- 10
- 3
Hey guys,
I am pretty much at the end of my academic rope. I enjoy math and what it can do, and I have taken a keen interest in physics as well. I am a Dual Major in Mathematics and Physics. All of my general education requirements are done and pretty much all of the classes I am taking are core major classes.
Please read over the following and give me some advice/direction.
I am very good at grasping overall ideas, and how to apply concepts. I can think of options to solve math problems very quickly as well. However, its the applying the equations to numbers that throw me off. I can sit down and write out every trigonometry, algebra, and a few Calculus theorems/formulas/identities without even breaking a sweat. I even can set up the equations by plugging values and begin to solve the problem, Yet when I get down to actual numbers and solutions I lose my train of thought, I panic, and if I am taking a test, it's over before I finish. Most times it feels like I just tried to take a two day class in ten minutes.
I also suffer from ADHD and I am going to have that certified (again, documentation is out of date) with my school by Fall. However I am stuck because I failed my Pre-Calculus class this Spring. I desperately needed to take Calculus I this semester. It's a pre-req for two Physics classes I needed to start in the Fall.
Screwing up this class has literally set my academic career back by almost two years due to several of the Physics classes being offered on Alternative years. This semester has been horribly rough on me.
My goal is to attempt the Pre-Calculus CLEP on Tuesday and still enroll in the Calc I Class by May 9th.
I really could use any feedback/help you can give me. I have always struggled with good grades in school, but I do understand the material. I can sit down and work almost any problem given to me with enough time and get the right answer.
I know getting re-certified for the ADHD by the school is the first step, but even though I am going to get that done May 10th the school can't make it official till the start of Fall 2011. I have no idea what to do till then!
For the record I DO want to learn this. Not just cram it, but learn it, apply it, and get familiar and comfortable with the material enough to stop second guessing myself or panicking during the solutions.
I have seriously considered dropping school altogether. I am 28 and I have worked hard career wise and academically all my life. Lately I just feel that the harder I work, the less I get out of everything.
One of my physics professors has repeatedly asked me not to give up. He tells me I know more than I put on my tests and that I just need to stick it out. Interestingly enough even my Pre-Calc teacher told me this as well. That he was sure I knew more than I was putting on the tests however he had to go with what was on the exams, not what I could do on the spot in his office. I understand and respect this but I feel as if I am being punished for knowing something that just don't come out of my jumbled up brain fast enough under pressure!
If another student asks me a question about a problem, I can quickly pull out a piece of paper and explain to them how to solve the problem, correctly. Yet when I have to do it for myself on the test nothing at all comes out. Just jumbled up equations and a huge mess. I actually tried to solve a simple cosine problem on my last exam using the quadratic formula, which was absolutely stupid. I could have just pulled out the cos x and simply factored the remaining problem(actually came out as a perfect square). I knew as soon as he gave the test back what I did wrong when I looked at it. I literally felt like an idiot.
Oh well, I am rambling. Sorry to dump all of this here on the forum, but I really have no one to talk to about this.
I am pretty much at the end of my academic rope. I enjoy math and what it can do, and I have taken a keen interest in physics as well. I am a Dual Major in Mathematics and Physics. All of my general education requirements are done and pretty much all of the classes I am taking are core major classes.
Please read over the following and give me some advice/direction.
I am very good at grasping overall ideas, and how to apply concepts. I can think of options to solve math problems very quickly as well. However, its the applying the equations to numbers that throw me off. I can sit down and write out every trigonometry, algebra, and a few Calculus theorems/formulas/identities without even breaking a sweat. I even can set up the equations by plugging values and begin to solve the problem, Yet when I get down to actual numbers and solutions I lose my train of thought, I panic, and if I am taking a test, it's over before I finish. Most times it feels like I just tried to take a two day class in ten minutes.
I also suffer from ADHD and I am going to have that certified (again, documentation is out of date) with my school by Fall. However I am stuck because I failed my Pre-Calculus class this Spring. I desperately needed to take Calculus I this semester. It's a pre-req for two Physics classes I needed to start in the Fall.
Screwing up this class has literally set my academic career back by almost two years due to several of the Physics classes being offered on Alternative years. This semester has been horribly rough on me.
My goal is to attempt the Pre-Calculus CLEP on Tuesday and still enroll in the Calc I Class by May 9th.
I really could use any feedback/help you can give me. I have always struggled with good grades in school, but I do understand the material. I can sit down and work almost any problem given to me with enough time and get the right answer.
I know getting re-certified for the ADHD by the school is the first step, but even though I am going to get that done May 10th the school can't make it official till the start of Fall 2011. I have no idea what to do till then!
For the record I DO want to learn this. Not just cram it, but learn it, apply it, and get familiar and comfortable with the material enough to stop second guessing myself or panicking during the solutions.
I have seriously considered dropping school altogether. I am 28 and I have worked hard career wise and academically all my life. Lately I just feel that the harder I work, the less I get out of everything.
One of my physics professors has repeatedly asked me not to give up. He tells me I know more than I put on my tests and that I just need to stick it out. Interestingly enough even my Pre-Calc teacher told me this as well. That he was sure I knew more than I was putting on the tests however he had to go with what was on the exams, not what I could do on the spot in his office. I understand and respect this but I feel as if I am being punished for knowing something that just don't come out of my jumbled up brain fast enough under pressure!
If another student asks me a question about a problem, I can quickly pull out a piece of paper and explain to them how to solve the problem, correctly. Yet when I have to do it for myself on the test nothing at all comes out. Just jumbled up equations and a huge mess. I actually tried to solve a simple cosine problem on my last exam using the quadratic formula, which was absolutely stupid. I could have just pulled out the cos x and simply factored the remaining problem(actually came out as a perfect square). I knew as soon as he gave the test back what I did wrong when I looked at it. I literally felt like an idiot.
Oh well, I am rambling. Sorry to dump all of this here on the forum, but I really have no one to talk to about this.
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