Gaps in my mathematical foundations

[Justin Huang]

I'm going to start my first year as a Physics major in University, so I'll be taking first year Physics with one variable Calculus with Linear Algebra. I have taken math up to Calculus but I found that I have some gaps in Algebra, Geometry, and Trigonometry. Not any serious gaps, I know most of the fundamentals and I can still do math and physics problems pretty well without them; however, there are certain concepts or techniques that I just forgotten or didn't put that much effort into learn.

I fear that having gaps in my mathematical foundation could cause problems once I start undergrad, and I tried going back to review the basics but its so boring... I know most of it, but there are just wholes in my knowledge and some concepts I haven't practiced in a while.

I'm thinking I want to just wing it and learn new stuff over the summer rather than review and if I find that I have gaps I'll fill them along the way, but I don't know, anyone got advice?

 

[Technik]

Honestly it sounds like you're already ahead of the curve a bit. I tend to be self-conscious about forgetting techniques and such, but I think it's best to learn what you need as you need it. I'm a huge fan of Just-In-Time learning, and it sounds like you already have a solid foundation to be able to do that.