I’ve just finished my junior year. I finished my first semester with all A’s and 2 B’s, 1 in Honors Chem and the other in Honors Pre-Calculus. My second semester, I finished with only 1 B in Honors Chem. It’s now summer and I’m looking to fill out my common app, as I’m doing this I’m thinking about my major. I’ve decided that I want to major in aerospace engineering and possibly minor in business. The problem is, in 9th grade when I took Geometry…my teacher’s lessons didn’t really get through to me. I tried just reading the books, it didn’t help and I also asked for help. Something was blocking me from understanding Geometry, and I’ve researched my major (aerospace engineering) and know that I must understand geometry in order to become successful in that field.
My question is, will there be classes assigned to me when I get to college to re-learn geometry? Or is there anything I can do myself to understand it?
It depends on what you didn’t learn. You will never have to do Euclidean proofs ever again. Nobody’s going to reteach how to graph lines or solve right triangles in lecture, and you’ll likely use those. There will likely be a brief refresher on trig functions before you use them in calculus. Most schools have a math help center where you can go for a bit of help if you need it.
What you could do is find one of the math books that the math class you’ll be taking in the first semester of college has used in the past online and do the intro chapter or the first few chapters of it. The first couple chapters of freshman-level college math books usually go over some concepts that high school students usually learn.
Geometry is a VERY different type of math course than any that most people ever encounter. In most math classes, you learn a new type of problem, then learn the procedure for solving it.(
OK, so I have a quadratic equation. I’ll set one side equal to zero, factor the other side, and solve…)
Geometry is different.It requires not only that you know a LOT of formulas, but that you learn to “let the problem lead you.” Those proofs you agonized over aren’t about the theorems you’ve memorized, though that’s certainly the starting place. The proofs are about looking at what you know, and using it to lead you to something you didn’t already know.
Lots and lots and lots of very intelligent people find Geometry HARD. (And, funny enough, a lot of kids who struggle with math in general love geometry.) It’s not about smart or not smart, it’s something intuitive, like a sense of direction, that some people find easier than others.
So, to answer your question: yes, you’ll need the formulas. You may need to calculate area or volume, to find the 3rd side of a right triangle or the angle of elevation.
But you’ll have access to the formulas, and they’re easy to apply.
What gets most people is the proofs. And, no, you’ll never have to do Euclidean proofs again unless you end up teaching Geometry.
You’ll want to be familiar with geometry, trig (especially various coordinate systems such as polar, spherical, etc.), calculus etc. for aerospace engineering.
Writing solid mathematics proofs is very important if you major in math or a related field. Might not be much so in other fields.
The two-column proofs they teach in geometry - I haven’t found a single use for them outside the standard geometry course.
It’s funny, because I LOVE proofs. I love doing them, I love teaching them. I think they teach a lot about logic, about the fact that each statement needs support from a concrete reason, and about how to move from what you know to what you would like to know.
But it’s indirect knowledge. It’s like those training wheels you had when you were 5: they provide support as you learn a new skill. Once you have the new skill, you leave those supports behind.
