The Math Struggle

There is always one subject you struggle with most. For me, it’s Math. I have never been the best at it and I’ve never fully understood all the concepts. This became a problem when I took the math placement test before starting college. Luckily McDaniel gives you as many chances as you need to pass it. They also offer non-credit courses you can take to relearn the material to make sure you pass.

Because of my busy and ambitious class schedule every semester, I had no time to devote to the non-credit class so every time the placement test was offered at a time that I was available, I would try again. After many trys through the last three years, I finally buckled down and studied for it like I used to in high school. I had friends who understood the material helping me and I was ready for it. I finally passed! It was a wonderful feeling.

You don’t realize how much information from high school you lose before college…until you have to use it. My advise for the in-coming First Year students is to look over the arithmetic and basic algebra you learned in high school before taking the placement test. Passing the test is a lot easier when you take it right after learning it. The longer you wait, the less information you will remember. No one likes taking placement tests but they are necessary so you might as well get them out of the way so you can enjoy your summer. Passing them will also allow you to take cooler classes earlier in your college career. The English, Math and Foreign Language placement tests are not meant to trip you up, they are really meant to assess how much you remember from all those years of school you’ve already gone through. Don’t let them scare you and you will be good to go.

Not taking the placement tests seriously is probably my biggest regret of things I could have done differently before my first year at McDaniel. I’m very thankful that the faculty here is willing to work with students who are not geniuses in every subject, however, I know that it is somewhat my fault as well. Thanks to the extra chances, I will be able to take my Quantitative Reasoning class for the McDaniel Plan and still be on track to graduate on time!