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Apr
14
I’ve mentioned before that I’m not exactly good at math, and if you’ve been reading here for a while you probably know I’m sometimes prone to over-exaggeration—although I swear to GOD the spider I found on our bathroom wall two nights ago was the size of a fucking Airstream, I actually saw visible biceps on each of its trillion horrifying legs—but I promise that my math deficiency is exactly as described, which is why I break out in a cold sweat when I hear the term “solve for X” (X? What? Now we’re involving letters? And all of a sudden this is a murder mystery and I have to be a detective and shit?).
It turns out that if you follow a career path that mostly has to do with words, you can get by with very few math skills. Sure, there will be the occasional moment when you’re having lunch with friends and the bill comes and you’ll have to throw yourself to the ground and fake a seizure to avoid enduring the humiliating public process of mentally calculating what you owe (pro tip: for authenticity, weakly push your wallet in someone’s direction and beg them to “just take some cash”, while simultaneously urinating in your pants), but overall I’ve had great success in avoiding math for many years now.
Let me clarify that it’s not that I hate math, although I certainly hated the busywork involved with it when I was a kid (I have particularly bad memories of endless chapters of long division problems, one after another, with the dreaded SHOW YOUR WORK command on every page); it’s really that I never learned math for shit. I barely know the basics, and anything approaching an algebraic concept has long been forgotten.
I have a long math-road ahead of me in school, obviously. I’ve thought about trying to self-learn enough to test into pre-algebra, but I think I’ll probably end up taking one of the “So You’re Kind of a Math Dipshit” courses that, on the flow chart of prerequisites, doesn’t even COUNT for anything other than allowing you entry into the next class, “So You’re An Average Math Dipshit, Unless You Don’t Know What ‘Average’ Means, In Which Case Go Take That Other Class Again For Chrissakes”.
I joke about this being one of the areas in which I am almost painfully stupid, but really, it’s never bothered me overmuch. Until last night, that is.
The nutrition class I’m taking (which is awesome, by the way, I’m really enjoying it so far. The instructor is a highly opinionated naturopathic doctor from Bastyr, so it’s interesting to get his take on things like the food pyramid [he hates it!], artificial sweeteners [you might as well be drinking DDT!], and anti-depressants [too many people are taking them! Try amino acid precursors first!]) has a weekly quiz, and we had our first one yesterday. I was buzzing through the answers, feeling good about how prepared I was, and then I got to this question:
Christopher’s lunch contains 121 grams of carbohydrates, 40 grams of protein, and 25 grams of fat. What percent of calories in this meal come from fat?
Uhhhhh. Uhhhhhhh.
Well, first of all, Christopher, that is a mighty big lunch you are eating, and I for one—
Okay wait, that’s not one of the answers. The answers are . . . oh hell, the answers are numbers. With one obnoxious “this answer is not possible to determine” choice just to fuck with me.
I got as far as I could, which was to multiply each nutrient count by their per-gram calorie count (4 for carbs and protein, 9 for fat, if you’re interested), then add the totals together, and then I had this to figure out:
What percent of 869 is 225?
And I had no. Idea. How to do that.
As it turned out, I was super lucky and of the answers provided I guessed the right one (26%), but damn, I felt like a total loser sitting there scribbling numbers on the test sheet, blowing eraser crumbs around, with absolutely no clue what I was doing. It doesn’t help that this class is made up of children, practically zygotes (no lie, I overheard one guy talking about the original Tron movie yesterday and he was all, “It’s not like I saw it when it came out, I mean, that was in the eighties“), and they’re all fresh from high school trig and biology and shit, and there I am in their midst, an aging sag-bellied mouthbreather lady who hasn’t been faced with a math question in FIFTEEN YEARS.
ANYWAY. So math. I need to work on that, sooner rather than later. Because goddamn, I am learning that I’m good at school now—like, for real, I’m a good student, you guys—and I want to ace this course despite the gaping numbers-shaped hole in my head.
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77 Responses to “Solve for ACK”
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I did really well in math in high school. Like, got-a-B-in-upper-level-calculus good. And yet when a customer approaches me at my oh-so-glamorous minimum wage job and wants to know what 40% off this t-shirt is? Yeah no. It’s not going to happen. Percentages are the one thing that have always confused the hell out of me. Well, not the ‘one’ thing. I also haven’t figured out why people poop in the floor of public places (see: retail stores).
I have the exact same problem as you. And at the age of 25, last year, I discovered that I have dyscalculia.
Personally, if I were you, I’d look at this checklist http://www.dyscalculia.org/symptoms.html
You have to pay for a full evaluation, but if the list sounds like you, you likely have it.
If you do have a spatial learning disability, your school may have resources to help you learn. There’s no reason to live in fear.
Take the remedial math course! Do it! It will likely start off with basic addition and subtraction, and you will be wondering if you somehow actually enrolled in second grade, but after the first week or two it will get into things like fractions and you will remember that you never actually learned how to divide fractions, and you will be so grateful you took the course. Ahem. Not that I have any experience with that, or anything.
I used to teach Statistics for Dipshits. Or, I mean, rather, Statistics for English Majors Who Just Wanted Their Damn Math Credit, already, GOD.
I tell you this because a) I’m about to give advice and b) OMG I was so that person until I took the above mentioned class as a student and OMG ,suprise, I rock at statistics, despite my total and complete belief that I didn’t “do” math. At. All. (Seriously, my last year in High School I took three history classes and two english classes and was all “Eff you, Math, I’m out”
ANYWAY: Here would be my advice: Go to class. Sit in the front. Read through the homework and ask REALLY DUMB questions. Monopolize the teacher for all you are worth and make him/her go through, step by stupid step, exactly what they are doing to get to the answer. Math builds on itself; what you learned last week will be assumed knowledge the next week. Don’t get behind, it will just make it so much harder. Do all the practice problems.
You WILL be fine. This is half a mental block, anyway. Shut up that voice that says “I hate this i hate this i hate this” and instead LISTEN to what the teacher is saying and make him repeat if it doesn’t make sense. Math is seriously about attitude. It’s more scared of you than you are of it, I promise.
I’m taking a basic math class this summer to prepare for one I must take in the fall. I’m dreading it. Funny thing is, the past 12 years I’ve dealt with numbers and balancing all of the time. However taking an actual class and having to learn this crap all over again scares me. Like I’ll ever use it again anyway….sigh.
Would you consider paying for a math tutor?
GOD, do I feel you. I am mathretarded. I did what I had to do to get the grades I needed in high school — and all the colleges I wanted to go to required four years of honors-level math, GAAAAAAAAAH — but my methods involved mostly cold sweat, rapid heartbeat, soul-deep dread, 7:00 a.m. voluntary tutorial sessions with the teachers, and of course repeated re-doing of each and every question (usually arriving at a different god. damn. answer. each of three or seven times through). And when I found out my college of choice had no math requirement for graduation, OH THE DANCE OF FREEDOM AND JOY I DID DANCE IT!
And then five years of Math Skills Erosion later, I had to take the GRE.
My hat is off to you, Sundry — buckle down and plow through it like it’s mile 23, yo.
“What percent of 869 is 225?”
My super easy to remember trick (at least for me) is to remember “what” is ?, “of” is the multiply sign and “is” is an equals. So the sentence is now:
?% x 869 = 225
I always remember the right way to divide the numbers to get a percent :)
I used to teach adults in math and we spent tons of time on ratios. i’d say it was the number one thing that i taught. and each learner had a different way that would work for them.
try them all until you find one.
and once you find that method, i promise you, something will click, and it’ll make sense.
Data point: My SAT score — taken at the absolute peak of my math skills & practice, and after four months of SAT-specific tutoring on the math half? The math half was EXACTLY TWO HUNDRED POINTS lower than the verbal. Yeahhhh. Thank Shatner the verbal was near the top or else that would’ve been one poor score indeed.
I’m in college right now and am taking intro to algebra. I took algebra in high school and barely passed it. I took pre-algebra in college and barely passed it. When I took my placement test last year I had no idea what the hell I was looking at. I’m in this into to algebra class and love it! I think have 20 years of “life experience” has helped a lot. Also, having a great teacher who explains things helps. I’m going to a community college full of adult students so it helps that most people are on the same level that I am. Good luck! You can do it!
For that particular question, I think you COULD have answered that the question was unsolvable because you don’t know if the dude had any calories from alcohol (1g = 7 calories). Carbs, proteins, fats, AND ALCOHOL.
Erm, I think. right?
ALEKS: http://www.aleks.com/
I graduated with a journalism degree 10-ish years ago, last math class was in 10th grade. I actually enjoyed working on math using this site (despite one note-taking entry titled, “Formula for calculating volume, I want to kill myself”).
I failed or nearly failed every single math class I ever took until college, when I finally had someone other than a bored, under-paid public school teacher to teach it to me.
(Sorry. That was snotty, but it’s the TRUTH.)
Lo and behold, I discovered I’m actually pretty good at math; I’d just never had a good math teacher. Smart as you are, I suspect you might be the same way. Don’t give up.
It is like you are writing about me here. I am exactly this way. I fear Math. I suck at Math. It gave me even lower self esteem as a student which just added to my overall self esteem that also sucked overall.
I managed not one but two whole effing degress (BS and MPA) without ever having to do any math at all or just squeeking by but not being able to do math dashed many of my career plans (A Physical Therapist namely…) SO sad. I guess I should learn eventually too…
Yes, take the remedial math. I sucked at math in high school and had to take the remedial class my first semester in college. I discovered that I did NOT suck at math, just had sucky teachers in high school – a college professor made all the difference. Went on to take eleventy-five more math classes and graduated with a degree in Civil Engineering.
So. It can be done. I homeschool my kids, so if you want a DIY remedial math class, email me and I’ll hook you up with some options.
For percentages, I always remember I have to divide the little number BY the big number because it’s BASS AKWARDS and sticks in my mind as the way you’d think would be wrong. But it’s not. UGHHH.
I second a previous commenter, only worse- when I took the SAT, my math score was exactly HALF of my verbal. Like them, good thing the verbal score was high or Lord would I have looked like an idiot.
Delurking to say: TAKE the remedial math course(s). Start at the very first one they offer, even if you test higher on a placement test, and go through the whole series. Yes, I know that they charge you for them. Yes, I know that they are not worth credit. Yes, I know that you hate math, that you are convinced that you are not good at math.
Been there, done that. But, you’ve already proven that you are good at this college thing. You are already seeing that colloge as an adult is different than college as fresh-out-of-high school. You are probably starting to recognize that you appreciate the education more now, when you are doing it for you, instead of because it was expected of you.
Take the math classes. I triple-dog-double-dare you.
Holy Moses. Not Having to Take Math is reason #1 why I became an English Lit major and then turned into a Librarian.
I am not good at the maths.
Quick trick to answer that problem. You totally rock for going back to school! Good luck!
225 = x
— —
869 100
225 x 100 = 869x
22500 = x
—–
869
25.89 = x or 26%.
My tenth grade math teacher was amazing. She totally changed my life. She told us to think of math as a foreign language that we needed to translate into english.
What= X
Is= equals
Of= multiply
What percent of 869 is 225 means
x multiply 869= 225
869x= 225
Divide 225 by 869 and you get .258
To translate numbers into percentages, just move the decimal 2 spots.
Thus 25.8%
I swear do it a few times and it will all make sense. I thought I was stupid in math, until her!
That looked better when I typed it, now the spacing is all funny. It should be 225/869 = x/100.
Oh God math makes me break out into a sweat too. It’s to the point that I don’t even pretend to be working on a math problem when it comes up in regular life (calculating tip, by how much is the temperature going to drop, etc). I just stand there staring blankly until someone else figures it out. It’s bad. And somehow I got through high school, college (and a nutrition class) and grad school without it. The bad behavior is only being reinforced.
OMG MATH! I suck at math and I am totally dreading when my son comes home with math homework that I can’t help him with. He is already doing algebra and geometry in 2nd grade!
Dude! If you can run a fucking marathon, you can kick algebra’s ass! ONE STEP AT A TIME!
You can do it Superwoman! :)
Math I hates. Which is why I didn’t end up in a mathematical related profession like my parents. Good luck with the maths!
It’s really cool that you’re taking on challenges and knocking them down, one by one. Thank you for writing about this and inspiring readers like me.
OH MY. I just scrolled through the responses and saw actual math solutions and my heart started racing and I broke out into a sweat. So YEAH I’m with you on this one.
Just had to say that you are totally inspiring me. It’s been my dream, for like 10 YEARS, to go back to school for physical therapy. Which means at least two years of post bac work of all math and sciences (gotta love liberal arts schools with no math requirement!).
You are showing me how.
One step at a time.
Hey, I was in the hard-maths class in school (third from the bottom, but never quite the worst, so I stayed) and somehow did okay in my exams, but I never liked it. Now, like 19 years later (ack), I have no idea how to do that problem either. You lose the skills if you don’t keep using them, that’s all. A little practice and you’ll be fine.
But when faced with anything approaching more than addition these days, my brain glazes over and goes fuzzy and there’s a buzzing in my ears and I defer to my husband, who’s like, practically a rocket scientist. Of course, if it’s him trying to explain something to me, then I still have to try and fake it.
I see two people have posted the opposite of what I was going to say, now I’m not sure I should –
I was told whenever you see “of” in the question, you know you have to divide.
So I divided 225/869 = .2589 (26%)
My issue was trying to figure out which one I was supposed to divide into – so I usually did it both ways and went with the answer that looked right (my ’scientific’ approach). Yes, my verbal scores were nearly double my math, so ignoring my advice here might be wise.
kim
Two words: Too-tour.
I think the one-on-one time will help you stay ahead and you can ask all the “dumb” questions without having to embarass your self as the “old lady in class who asks all the dumb questions and wastes everyone elses time”. And, if you sit in the front, all the rest of the students will be rolling their eyes behind you.
Not that you are dumb or old or even worthy of the young college student eyeroll, just saying a tutor, in addition to the class, might be more effective.
I am completely math stupid. Like can barely handle elementary school math problems. Because of this I have a reoccurring nightmare that my husband leaves us and I am forced to help with third grade math homework all alone and can’t complete it and therefore my kid totally fails and it is all my fault.
This is all to say that I’ve been toying with the idea of going back to school for nursing and I will also be taking one of the remedial math courses just to get me ready for the basic algebra that I need to even think about getting into the program. I am dreading it, but if nothing else, maybe I’ll be able to help my kids with math through at least 5th grade if I do it.
tee hee. I suck mightily at math also. I also work as an accountant. WTF, life?
So I am one of those crazy people that took math classes in college to raise my GPA. It comes easily to me.
Now before you kill me I would reccomend the remedial class. It will remind you of things you already know and teach you some great short cuts.
I would definately have to be in remedial english if there is such a thing. I suck at english/writing rules and such.
Good luck!
I took an engineering class during my first year of graduate school. What a humbling experience. Even with the answers to the problem sets, I wasn’t sure I understood what was going on. Most times, I had a sheet filled with equations, but I couldn’t tell which ones to use under what circumstances. I met with the prof several times during the semester and only got a sense of his deep compassion for me, but I did not make progress in the class. I worked my ass off and got the lowest possible C- (the lowest passing grade), and I am certain that it was a mercy grade. Sigh.
Re thinking about percentages: does it help conceptually to model them after money? That is, 50 cents is half (50%) of a dollar, etc. You’d know which is the denominator because you know 50 cents can’t be worth twice as much as a dollar, and so on.
And ditto about the mental block. There are some interesting studies out there that show that girls and women have been conditioned from a young age in the US to believe they are inherently bad at mathematics (or STEM subjects in general).
I did well in math until calculus and yet, whenever I see a problem that says solve for X, I always think of this:
http://haha.nu/files/uploads/2006/funny-math/03.jpg
My only bit of advice is that if you’re able, take a class with Dale Hoffman. He taught at the UW for two quarters when I was there and still stands out as one of the best teachers I’ve had (colored chalk! apparent interest in teaching!). Other than that, I’d vote math tutor as well. Tons of college kids looking to make a little extra money (and plenty of them commute from the Eastside to UW/SU/etc)
Shit. At least you knew to convert it all to calories first. I would have been totally stumped right there, and probably – NO LIE – started crying a bit.
I HATE MATH.
Good luck. You have an awesome attitude about it.
I actually started sweating when you were breaking down that problem because I had flashbacks. AND THEY WEREN’T GOOD ONES.
I had to take a personality/skills test before I got hired for my current job. One portion had a math section where we couldn’t us a calculator. I almost threw in the towel right there. But I pushed on, did the best I could, and was done.
When I got the print-out results everything sounded great, all accurate, and then I got to the math assessment (which I remember word for word):
“Would benefit greatly from the use of a calculator. Could learn basic math skills with the help of a professional, preferably one on-site.”
BWAH HA HA HA! And it was all true! Luckily math isn’t involved with my job so I wasn’t too upset and I still got hired.
But dude. Teh maths? IS HARD.
I’ll preface this with the statement that i’m 52 and my daughter is 12… yes, I’m an ‘older’ mom… now hush. My point is… helping her with homework? Thank all that is holy for the internet is all I can say.
I, like Beth, also suffer from Dyscalculia. I always suffered in school without knowing why, and it’s not something I realized until later in life. I’ve never been officially tested, but I have just about every symptom. Beyond your fear of tip calculation and a general stated fear of math, you don’t seem to express an issue with spacial relation. The best thing I can suggest is what everyone is saying- to take the remedial course. What I use to combat my own disability in the absense of taking a formal class are math and logic puzzles. You can get them online or in just about any drug store. I have come to realize that the more I train my brain the better equipped I feel to handle math in every day life. Good luck!
I feel your pain. I work for the WV Division of Criminal Justice Services as a Justice Programs Specialist. It’s just a fancy title for someone that works with grants all day. Lots of grants. Millions of dollars worth of grants.
I went into Criminal Justice because I didn’t want to DO math. One of the best things about my undergrad degree was that it only required 1 math class to graduate. Basic Math. No Algebra for me.
Now, I spend all day every day dealing with budgets and funding streams. Evidently I need to re-evaluate my decision making paradigm.
Luckily we have some kick ass accountants here to check my shit so that I don’t screw the pooch and end up owing the Feds any $$$
Man, I so wish that you lived in, like, Florida, so that I could help you. I used to be a math teacher and I can tell you that the classes are a lot more engaging and less rote memorization these days.
My mom is a math teacher so uh I wasn’t allowed to do that whole I can’t do math thing. And not having that fear has been a life saver for me a million times.
The irony here is that my mother had math fear in high school and college and it wasn’t until she found she hated teaching history that she learned to love the math.
My husband went through this when he wanted to do some computer classes and you need more than basic addition skills. Having a math teacher for a mother in law helped but what you need is a tutor. Find some one to review all of the basics with you. How to do percentages, decimals, how to do basic algebra. And take the remedial course because you need the confidence. Once you have that stuff under your belt just stop allowing yourself to say you can’t do math. Because you CAN.
I kind of feel like I should re-clarify that I don’t think I am INCAPABLE of math nor do I HATE it (this makes me feel like I sound like the “MATH IS HARD” Barbie), it’s that I never learned it. Full stop. And unlike other disciplines, math isn’t usually something you can suss out by context, you have to have the foundation. Which I am definitely going to work on.
But for now? You know, without that foundation? This is where I’m at. I hope it doesn’t sound self-sabotaging (despite the joking terms like math stupidity, etc), it’s just reality. It’s like trying to read a sentence in Japanese, right now I just could not do that.
Anyway, yes! Remedial class in the plans, for sure.
This is where you have to remind yourself that hard work is far more important in life that sheer talented. Talented people are generally just average people that work really hard.
Holy shit, there are actually commenters doing math problems for you right now? Like, for reals? I’m like you – not incapable of doing math – but geeze louise, it sure does suck a a big fat one. Good luck, you’ll do great!
Years ago I found a book that was kind of a pop-up math book for adults. I wish I still had it–loaned it to my math-fearing brother and it’s now gone for all time–but it had games and pop-up things that took math from being abstract and boring to real and kind of fun to figure out. Maybe you could find something like that to help you get hooked in on the subject matter. That’s all you really need–an intellectual foothold in the subject matter. Then you’ll climb that like you’ve climbed every other wall you’ve stood at the bottom of.
I went back to school at 36 and started in the retard math class, it was embarrassing, but after re-learning fractions, and ratios etc..I breezed through the rest of my math. I made it all the way through College Algebra with an A. :)
You can do it and it doesn’t matter where you start!
(I even made it through Nursing school!)
So…you may have already checked this out, BUT…I work at a place with a high percentage of returning adult learners, many of who are in the same situation as you re-math. Some commenters have mentioned paying for a tutor, which might be something to look into, but I wonder if there isn’t a free option? I mean, if you have to wait to get in to the remedial course until next term, you still want to ace *this* course.
Anyway, my thought is–I’d be willing to bet your campus has a Math Lab somewhere, where you can get help for free (yay, free!). We have one, and it’s basically a drop-in center where students can stop by and work with peer tutors and/or faculty tutors, and that might be the thing to get you through until you can take some math courses.
I don’t even know you, but we surely are kindred spirits.
I have to admit, I find this kind of funny: from your description, it sounds like you actually knew EXACTLY what to do with the numbers. You managed to take a bunch of random figures thrown at you, and express them as a simple problem. Linda! That’s the hard part! You panicked once you got down to the real numbers, but solving the problem is realitively easy to learn so long as you understand the concept. And it sounds like you do, you’re just a bit afraid of MATH. All you need is practice.
I do have some bad news though. Those pages of long division? That is NOT busy work. That IS the practice, which unfortunately, can be boring.
What percent of 869 is 225?
(225/869) X 100
This is what Excel is for!
Just reading your post today made me break into a cold sweat. I agree. Letters belong in words, not in math. EEEKkkkk! Good luck!
Hey, I know ALL ABOUT not having a foundation in math. It started in second grade when I cheated on the multiplication table quizzes we had to take…so I was behind from the get-go.
Anyway, jump ahead twenty years or so and I still ended up making it through LOTS of math classes that were either required for my undergrad major or were a prerequisite for vet school. And somewhere along the line, a lot of those science and math classes kind of all start intersecting-calculus and physics and chemistry…ugh.
But really, just like we’re all saying: you can do it. Just keep pressing on. Anything important will stick.
Going back to School is such a brave step. There is nothing like challanging your self when life is already challenging on so many levels. I also have small kids (5,3 and 1),work full time and have a considerable commute. So I really applaude this decision to invest in your future. You are taking the steps to change an aspect of your life that you are not so happy with.
Now about Math. I Love Math – I always have. There has always been a order and sense to it for me. Writing a paper for me has always been hell. All through College the classes with papers required were the ones that caused me to break into a cold sweat. I think the reason I like math is that I see how the pieces fit together. This is not some special gift however. I thnk I had the right teacher at the righ stage and then it just all built up from there. Now if I could just spell. Really I cant spell!!
I really hope the math stuff doesn’t halt your goal.
You poor bugger. I have to deal with percentages all the time, and it took me aaaaages to translate my half-assed vaguely remembered Maths knowledge from school into something I could actually *use* at this job.
Fwiw I think you did a great job.
With percentages, common sense is the most important thing in my opinion. When I see “what percentage is 225 of 869″ my first thought is “it’ll be about a quarter i.e. 25%”. Because 225 and 869 are *about* 200 and 800, and that’s 25%, that’s easy.
So when you do the problem, try it a couple different ways until you get an answer that’s about 25%. Common sense is a huge part of Maths. It’s really easy to forget whether it should be 225 divided by 869, x 100, or 869 divided by 225, x 100, but when you use common sense it kind of makes sense.
I really admire what you’re doing, by the way, with all this studying and stuff.
Tutor! If I could go back and do college again (not my shining hour) I would hire tutors for everything but especially math. Everyone learns math differently and a tutor can teach specifically to your strengths and weaknesses. So find a friendly math geek — I know several — and pay for some very individual math instruction.
By the way, you are brave and amazing.
A simple trick for percentages:
Something IS some percent OF something.
To make it an equation, IS means equals, and OF means times.
So: Something = some percent X something. Replace the something’s and some’s with numbers or and X, and solve for X. Sounds like the solves for X thing is the next part to tackle. I’d second the idea of a tutor, unless you can learn via email, in which case you’re free to email me.
(This may be my delurking comment. Am a math geek. I couldn’t help myself.)
Math is like that cartoon snowball that starts small and grows and grows with downhill momentum. If you don’t get the little bit at the beginning, the big stuff will just run you over. My sister had a horrible teacher in 4th grade, right when they were learning fractions, long division, and stuff needed for future math classes. It’s only because her 5th grade teacher was an awesome math teacher that she managed to undo the damage done the previous year.
Math is hard, but with a good beginning, it’s just another subject. I’m glad you’re looking at the remedial class as an option. That first bit is so important.
Also, proud of you. You ARE a good student. I’m just glad that now you believe it.
Also, the way I remember percentages is that they are always pieces of some whole. The bigger number is the whole, so that number is ‘heavier’ than the smaller number, so goes on the bottom of the divide line because it’s ‘more’. Therefore 869 is ‘heavier’ than 225, so to get the percentage, it’d be 225/869. I know others have chimed their tricks. I thought I’d add mine to see if it helped. (And yes, I’m an accountant, and assign ‘heavy’ to numbers to help me remember where they go. It’s sick actually.)
I’m a bit of a lurker but I love your blog. I’m an academic; I do both science and math, and I’d be happy to help with explanations or something, just write to me. Trust me, you are MORE than able to learn all the math you’ll need and it doesn’t have to be too hard. When you learn something (like this percentage thing), make up some more questions like the one you did, and solve them too. It’ll get to be second nature very soon.
I know exactly what you mean, EXACTLY. Especially the mouth-breathing part. I’ve always sucked at math, no matter how hard I tried (which granted was not very hard) and have hated it since they introduced 2+2. HATE. And as a writer, I find it obnoxious that they (math people) use letters in their equations. Letters belong to us, dammit.
And oh, I was placed in the dummy math course in college and the lady teaching the class said these words to us, on the first day: “I became a math teacher because I hated it, and I was horrible at it.”
I am sooooo not kidding.
I never learned math basics either. I was in “gifted” classes and the idea seemed to be that we already knew all that stuff thru some sort of magical womb osmosis. My inability to understand basic math concepts like percentages and fractions made later coursework uniquely terrifying and difficult and I still suck at the most basic calculations. I had to ask my husband how to do the problem you posted, and he looked seriously taken aback that I didn’t know how to do it on my own. Damn engineers. Anyway, I say go for the remedial class. It can’t help but make later advanced coursework much less painful.
I think you might find that you’re actually good at math once you’ve picked up the basics you missed. Because really you solved that problem perfectly … the last step of finding percents is trivial once you learnhowto do it.
I failed algebra so many times in college that by the time graduation came, math was the only course i had left. I believe I failed it 5 times IN A ROW. soooo… don’t feel bad. math has been the death of me since I was a kid. It’s nice to see I am not alone.
Hey, a resource that might be useful is Aardvark: http://vark.com/. it’s kind of like reverse Yahoo Answers. it’s not just geared towards math/technical questions, but a very large percentage of its users are computer/math nerds. i find it to be very useful for cases where i know *someone* knows the answer, but it’s not online anywhere.
I didn’t want to read through 68 comments to see if anyone else put this (I’m sure they have), but for some reason, the ONE THING I remember from math is this:
Percent x Total = Part
So if you want to find the percent, it would be:
Percent = Part/Total
I use this equation for sales, like when something is 35% off. I use my phone calculator ot do .35 x 60.00 = ? then i know how many bucks off I’m getting.
Anyway. You’re not alone in hating math. I do know that statistically, students (and people) do better when they *think* they can do something. Weird but true, if stupid kids are told they are smart, they start acting smart. So don’t tell yourself that you suck at math. Believe that you can do it (because you can – you are smart and determined) and you will be great!
My husband is also a “non-traditional student” – aka an adult in a classroom of snot-nosed children (okay that was harsh, but it feels that way to him some days!). But he’s found that the main advantage is being on more equal footing with his professors. When he talks to them, asks for help and advice, or just chats about what he’s interested in learning, they’re much more receptive to him. He’s taking advantage of that, and also of the Math Lab and tutor program at the school. It’s really boosted his confidence – something that was lacking when he first started and felt like the old fart in the room.
College advisor here, and professional sucketh at any matheth dipshit (put THAT on my diploma!!). (I feel like I have to qualify my advice with that prelude for some reason.)
For the love all that is holy, do NOT self prepare or whatever for the placement exam. Go forth blindly, I say! I have kids each day express anxiety about the long and windy road of math that you speak of, and why they can’t just “jump” into the “smart” math already. Nope. Wrong way to look at it, folks. I tell them this story: I took AP Calculus in high school. I don’t even know what the hell Calculus means now. I flunked out of College Algebra and Stats TWICE. If only I’d been advised to take the prep courses…if only. I would’ve saved myself several semesters of retaking math courses, buying new editions of the book, etc.
I know you might feel like you’re “behind”, but what’s a thousand times worse is being in a math course that’s beyond your knowledge, and having sweaty palmed anxiety attacks before each class and test (that was me). You want to nail the hell out of math. Make math your bitch. If you ever want to get a higher level degree in Nutrition (or a related science field), they may pull out certain courses (math, sciences (like Anatomy and Phys, etc) to obtain a “program GPA” to assess your competitiveness for their program. You NEED that to be high.
Go on with your remedial math taking self!
Divide the smaller number by the bigger number and multiply by 100.
As a grad student who is currently drowning in the econometrics of Public Policy (don’t ask, cuz I have no idea how I got here from Oooh I want to work with cities!) I say go with the basic math. Understanding how it actually works is so much more valuable than just getting a passing grade in a class. I did that all through high school (in the advanced classes no less) and then had to take three remedial math courses in Jr. Col. because I had no idea about what I was actually doing.
And if it helps at all, lots of those kids straight out of high school math classes are in no better shape. Public education is abysmal, and far too many students learn early on that asking questions = stupid. No good, that. And when you’re neck deep in regression analysis the last year of your masters, you’ll be glad you can recognize a quadratic equation at a glance because you took those remedial classes. I can guarantee it!
Oh, Linda. If you never really received a foundation in math then it makes PERFECT sense why you would fear it.
Here’s something I tell all my girlfriend’s -if you fear math and you walk around hating it, then it WILL be difficult. Learning math, like learning a new language (like learning almost anything new in life) requires one big essential ingredient that folks forget to mention -belief in yourself.
And, pardon me for getting all WOMYN’S LIB on you but (while there are some basic) biological explanations for why women tend to be worse/fear/hate math, a lot of this is, sadly, conditioning from a very young age. So know that a large part of this is not your fault. Our culture doesn’t emphasize math skills for women as much as others do.
The remedial classes will help -I agree, but again, a very important thing to remember is that your math ability will be affected by your thoughts and what you project.
I’m seeing some people here right out these long equations and I KNOW how intimidating (and even ridiculous) they’re attempts at simplicity may see for you. When you don’t have a foundation -it’s all greek.
A basic, that you probably already know, but bear with me:
To get 50% of a number, divide it by 2.
100/2=50 (50 is 50% of 100)
250/2=125 (125 is 50% of 100)
If you can get this far, you’re off to a good start.
Percentages can be easy to estimate this way. With a little work you can guess what half of 869 is? (869/2) About 430something, right?
Guess what? You now know that 430something is 50% of 869.
With a little more work, what’s half of 430something…about 215?
Well, now you know what about 25% of 869 is.
You’ll do fine. Just start practicing a little when you can and you’ll get better. Don’t forget to acknowledge when you’re using math and when you’re right, it’ll help build your self-esteem. :)
I definitely recommend taking the course instead of trying to refresh yourself. I tried that route when I just couldn’t work the course into my schedule and oh lordy, it was one of the most painfully obnoxious times of my life. It’s totally worth paying someone to hold your hand and walk you through it.
I’m not good at math either. Just wait til your 4th grader needs help on fractions and you have NO clue! Or you have to google how to divide a decimal to help your 5th grader! I’m in big trouble here soon!
Math sucks ass!