# I got an A in algebra **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [December 17, 2012, 12:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-got-an-a-in-algebra/644234 "2012-12-17T00:02:41Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Digital\_is\_the\_new\_Analog](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/a88e4f/32.png) [@Digital\_is\_the\_new\_Analog](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Digital_is_the_new_Analog)\ **Post date:** [December 17, 2012, 4:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-got-an-a-in-algebra/644234/21 "2012-12-17T04:07:37Z")
Congrats, **Frank** (and others…)! Way to show that it’s never too late. I have a 42 year old friend who I helped with her algebra class about two years ago. It’s hard to go back to school, but so rewarding when you do well. -D/a ---
**Author:** ![D-bear](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/aeb1de/32.png) [@D-bear](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/D-bear)\ **Post date:** [December 17, 2012, 5:30am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-got-an-a-in-algebra/644234/22 "2012-12-17T05:30:30Z")
> [@NIKI50](#): > > Ok. Thanks for posting this d-bear and Frank. > I’m 46 years old, female so no longer the cute young thing looking for a job. > I also failed out of any math type class I was forced to take in school and was essentially just pushed thru school. > After getting laid off in March of this year I decided enough was enough and started taking accounting and bookkeeping night classes last month to help me get a better job. > Fridays class was on Algebra and I have been feeling like an idiot ever since. > After reading your posts I will keep on keeping on, working hard to make this work. Good teachers are the key in my opinion… Keep an open mind, don’t think for a minute that you _ **can’t** _ do this. The only way I was able to get out of High School was to take remedial math, and I got a “C” in that. I had to take math 060, algebra 090, algebra 099 and just finished algebra 121. Sure, some of it was remedial, but it’s do-able. If I can do it… anyone can… ---
**Author:** ![Covered\_In\_Bees](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/7ab992/32.png) [@Covered\_In\_Bees](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Covered_In_Bees)\ **Post date:** [December 17, 2012, 6:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-got-an-a-in-algebra/644234/23 "2012-12-17T06:10:06Z")
Congratulations! Though honestly, I’m not surprised. You’re smart and algebra is easy, seems like a match made in heaven. ---
**Author:** ![Frank](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/3d9bf3/32.png) [@Frank](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Frank)\ **Post date:** [December 17, 2012, 9:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-got-an-a-in-algebra/644234/24 "2012-12-17T09:50:42Z")
> [@congodwarf](#): > > Really? I loved Mymathlab when I took Algebra and Stats. I don’t think I would have passed them without it. What didn’t you like about it? Mostly the inconsistency of the form in which it expected answers. Sometimes it wanted the answer simplified, sometimes not, and I could never get it right the first time. Secondarily, as mentioned, the graphing (Where the hell is 121 on this thing?), and thirdly that it did not train me to put braces around my solution sets. That last cost me points on a couple of exams. > [@Pai325](#): > > Congratulations! What’s next for you? Business math, whatever that is. > [@Covered\_In\_Bees](#): > > You’re smart and algebra is easy, seems like a match made in heaven. I did not find it to be easy; it was serious work. There was a point in the semester where all I had to do was log into Pearson and I would burst into tears. I took it online, which I think was a mistake. The business math I’m taking as a live class. ---
**Author:** ![Nature\_s\_Call](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/nature_s_call/32/19006_2.png) [@Nature\_s\_Call](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Nature_s_Call)\ **Post date:** [December 17, 2012, 1:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-got-an-a-in-algebra/644234/25 "2012-12-17T13:54:52Z")
First of all: congratulations! You are deservedly proud. Second (I couldn’t resist) > [@Frank](#): > > I’m pleased. And, frankly, surprised. Could you be surprised in any other way? “I am pleased, and don’t call me Frank.” “These hot-dogs are great,” Tom said frankly. You know the Little Mermaid is good at math. She wears an algae bra. (I’ll stop now) ---
**Author:** ![gwendee](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/35a633/32.png) [@gwendee](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gwendee)\ **Post date:** [December 17, 2012, 2:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-got-an-a-in-algebra/644234/26 "2012-12-17T14:01:55Z")
Good on you! When I was in college at 30 my advisor started to explain that I might be able to get the math requirement waived because “they’ve done studies that show that after a certain age a person simply cannot learn math.” It sounded like BS to me. I’m glad no one discouraged you with similar nonsense. I passed algebra - though I did not get an A. You rock! ---
**Author:** ![congodwarf](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/e36b37/32.png) [@congodwarf](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/congodwarf)\ **Post date:** [December 17, 2012, 3:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-got-an-a-in-algebra/644234/27 "2012-12-17T15:26:36Z")
> [@Frank](#): > > Mostly the inconsistency of the form in which it expected answers. Sometimes it wanted the answer simplified, sometimes not, and I could never get it right the first time. Secondarily, as mentioned, the graphing (Where the hell is 121 on this thing?), and thirdly that it did not train me to put braces around my solution sets. That last cost me points on a couple of exams. Oh yeah, you just brought back some memories. 😃 It definitely helped that my professor had been tailoring his online class for almost a decade so his own portion of it really balanced out the Pearson portion. I do remember typing up a long tutorial for my classmates because of all the complaints about not being able to figure out the damn braces. ---
**Author:** ![TriPolar](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tripolar/32/3008_2.png) [@TriPolar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TriPolar)\ **Post date:** [December 17, 2012, 3:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-got-an-a-in-algebra/644234/28 "2012-12-17T15:47:03Z")
I’m impressed. I never got an A in algebra. ---
**Author:** ![Lancia](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lancia/32/17174_2.png) [@Lancia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lancia)\ **Post date:** [December 17, 2012, 4:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-got-an-a-in-algebra/644234/29 "2012-12-17T16:07:13Z")
> [@gwendee](#): > > Good on you! > > When I was in college at 30 my advisor started to explain that I might be able to get the math requirement waived because “they’ve done studies that show that after a certain age a person simply cannot learn math.” I’m glad nobody told that to me, here’s my story: I’m 31. I decided to return to school a year ago this past spring because I was sick of my chosen profession (hospice worker). I planned on going into business school, but knew my math sucked shit big time. I was homeschooled through highschool and never took algebra further than simple “10 - x = 7, solve for x” stuff. I took some college classes in the late 90s, and my placement test placed me in intermediate algebra - the dreaded Math 65. Being a moron and not understanding ky limitations, I enrolled - and failed. Rinse and repeat _four fucking times_ until I gave up on math. 14 years later, In prep for restarting my college career, I started at the absolute lowest math class the college had - remedial arithmetic. Literally gradeschool stuff: basic multiplication, addition and subtraction, long division. We ended the course with basic fractions and decimals. Four math courses later, I have successfully conquered my nemesis Math 65, and have decided not to major in business but… (drumroll)… mathematics. I have passed all my math classes with straight A’s and in four terms have gone from academic probation to the President’s Honor Roll. I absolutely love math. I cannot explain why. Mathematics has an inherent beauty that is beyond description, and practicing math is a cross between studying a new language and dabbling in witchcraft… It is black magic mixed with art and music. I’m lucky that the closest university is also a top-ranked math school by the AMS. So, **Frank** , kudos to you. I hated math, now not only love it but have decided to make the study and practice of advance mathematics my career. Anyone who says someone can’t learn math as an adult is full of shit. You - and everyone else with similar accomplishments - have much to be proud of. Oh, and Pearson’s… we were required by the school to buy the stupid key for the classes, even though all my math instructors to date have directed nothing but scorn and ridicule towards mymathlab. They much prefer Kahn Academy, which I confess I never utilized so know nothing about. Again, many many congratulations. ---
**Author:** ![Spice\_Weasel](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/spice_weasel/32/5435_2.png) [@Spice\_Weasel](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Spice_Weasel)\ **Post date:** [December 17, 2012, 5:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-got-an-a-in-algebra/644234/30 "2012-12-17T17:32:05Z")
What wonderful news and thanks to everyone sharing their stories in this thread. Algebra is the only kind of math I really like. (Well, that and statistics.) ---
**Author:** ![Dorjan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dorjan/32/12440_2.png) [@Dorjan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dorjan)\ **Post date:** [December 17, 2012, 5:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-got-an-a-in-algebra/644234/31 "2012-12-17T17:40:58Z")
Excellent work! ---
**Author:** ![phouka](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/c5a1d2/32.png) [@phouka](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/phouka)\ **Post date:** [December 17, 2012, 5:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-got-an-a-in-algebra/644234/32 "2012-12-17T17:54:31Z")
Congratulations, Frank! So much in mastering math comes down to hard work and a refusal to give up. I’ve tutored kids in math, and had to explain to them that math rarely just ‘makes sense’ the first time or the tenth time you look at it, that they had to do it ten times in a row, and when they got up in the morning, then it would make sense. ---
**Author:** ![Sunspace](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/sunspace/32/1250_2.png) [@Sunspace](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sunspace)\ **Post date:** [December 17, 2012, 7:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-got-an-a-in-algebra/644234/33 "2012-12-17T19:26:21Z")
Congratulations, **Frank**! Just wait until they spring [calculus and imaginary numbers](http://www.gocomics.com/calvinandhobbes/2009/02/18/) on you! 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![friedo](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/8edcca/32.png) [@friedo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/friedo)\ **Post date:** [December 17, 2012, 7:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-got-an-a-in-algebra/644234/34 "2012-12-17T19:48:24Z")
Nice job! Are you going for a GED, or just learning math for fun? ---
**Author:** ![Nava](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/da6949/32.png) [@Nava](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Nava)\ **Post date:** [December 17, 2012, 8:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-got-an-a-in-algebra/644234/35 "2012-12-17T20:13:11Z")
> [@phouka](#): > > Congratulations, Frank! > > So much in mastering math comes down to hard work and a refusal to give up. I’ve tutored kids in math, and had to explain to them that math rarely just ‘makes sense’ the first time or the tenth time you look at it, that they had to do it ten times in a row, and when they got up in the morning, then it would make sense. That never worked for me: either I got a good explanation, and then it made sense within minutes, or I got zero explanation, in which case it didn’t make sense. So in the end it comes down to good teachers or, in the case of Set Theory, a post in GQ… some 30 years after I had Set Theory in class! ---
**Author:** ![chrisk](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/6de8d8/32.png) [@chrisk](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/chrisk)\ **Post date:** [December 17, 2012, 8:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-got-an-a-in-algebra/644234/36 "2012-12-17T20:22:47Z")
Good going! ---
**Author:** ![Pai325](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/c68b51/32.png) [@Pai325](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Pai325)\ **Post date:** [December 17, 2012, 10:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-got-an-a-in-algebra/644234/37 "2012-12-17T22:25:23Z")
> [@Frank](#): > > Mostly the inconsistency of the form in which it expected answers. Sometimes it wanted the answer simplified, sometimes not, and I could never get it right the first time. Secondarily, as mentioned, the graphing (Where the hell is 121 on this thing?), and thirdly that it did not train me to put braces around my solution sets. That last cost me points on a couple of exams. > Business math, whatever that is. > I did not find it to be easy; it was serious work. There was a point in the semester where all I had to do was log into Pearson and I would burst into tears. I took it online, which I think was a mistake. The business math I’m taking as a live class. I think you will like business math. Algebra is very abstract, but business math should have more real world problems. ---
**Author:** ![Morgenstern](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/f9ae1b/32.png) [@Morgenstern](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Morgenstern)\ **Post date:** [December 17, 2012, 10:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-got-an-a-in-algebra/644234/38 "2012-12-17T22:33:56Z")
I’m impressed too **Frank**. To me, math was just a necessary evil. Existing only to keep me humble. ---
**Author:** ![Nancarrow](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/c37758/32.png) [@Nancarrow](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Nancarrow)\ **Post date:** [December 17, 2012, 11:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-got-an-a-in-algebra/644234/39 "2012-12-17T23:02:02Z")
> [@gwendee](#): > > Good on you! > > When I was in college at 30 my advisor started to explain that I might be able to get the math requirement waived because “they’ve done studies that show that after a certain age a person simply cannot learn math.” And then you asked ‘what age is that?’, and your advisor said ‘oh never mind that, you wouldn’t understand’, right? ---
**Author:** ![Punoqllads](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/d2c977/32.png) [@Punoqllads](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Punoqllads)\ **Post date:** [December 18, 2012, 12:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-got-an-a-in-algebra/644234/40 "2012-12-18T00:28:24Z")
> [@StGermain](#): > > What’s the value of _x_? [Me help](http://talkcarwash.com/system/picture/image/1987/full/pearls2008029341516.jpg). Credit: Pearls Before Swine [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-got-an-a-in-algebra/644234.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-got-an-a-in-algebra/644234.md?page=3)