<p>Alright, so I’m not necessarily the brightest when it comes to math. However, while STEM doesn’t come naturally to me, it is something that I am strongly passionate about, and I love learning math and science, despite my suckiness in the courses. I kind of work harder than everyone else, and still get terrible grades on tests. Like for Algebra 2, I got 70s and mid 60s, and in rare cases, mid 80s (whenever that happens, I was ecstatic). Freshman year, I took H Algebra 1, and I got Bs for both semesters. Sophomore year, I took Regular Geometry (got As in both semesters), and H Algebra 2 (got Bs in both semesters). It’s the summer before my junior year, and I spontaneously have decided that I would like to study Pre-Calc over the summer using UT Austin’s OHS. I am an extremely determined and stubborn person, so I can literally sit for 12 hours and study without complaining or acknowledging anyone. My goal is to get to IB Math SL next year, and take BC Calc senior year. </p>
<p>Is this possible for someone who isn’t the brightest in math?</p>
<p>It’s possible, but you don’t seem to have very good foundations in math, and this could come back to screw you up in IB Math SL. (Also bit confused: does your school not allow you to skip into BC Calc from Pre-Calc?)</p>
<p>It really depends on how rigorous your school is. At mine, lots of kids skip Pre-Calc or Algebra 2 because we are very, very slow. I skipped IB SL 3-4 by studying the textbook.</p>
<p>Honestly, I feel like with the persistence that you have, it’d definitely be possible for you to take the class over the summer. My biggest concern would be if you were to get stuck on a concept, since you won’t have a teacher to ask for help. Do you have a sibling, friend, or neighbor that’d be able to help you with Pre-Calculus if you had an issue? If not, it’d be useful to use resources like KhanAcademy to try to get any help you may need.</p>
<p>Also, some people are better at some mathematics over others. I wasn’t very good at Algebra either, but I was still confident with Pre-Calculus. If you’re not sure how you’d do with it, you look at a couple of Pre-Calculus concepts online and get a feel for whether or not it’d be a good course for you to take without having a physical teacher.</p>