A few days ago
prettygirl

am i dumb?

ok well i’m going to be a junior soon in high school. I currently take very high level classes such as gt/ap and get pretty good grades. However, when it comes to math i am an idiottt. (Let me stress that again idiot). Anyway, I have done several sat practice tests and have done so well on the english, getting almost a perfect. However i do horribly on the math section. (Think 400 and below). What should i do? Does being very horrible at math make me stupid? I keep practicing but not much is changing. Help please.

Top 10 Answers
A few days ago
TJ

Favorite Answer

you’re not dumb obviously, if you are good at english. For some people math is just not their thing. there are careers that’ll let do what you like without involving any math. BUT if you like math but you just don’t seem to get, get tutoring and any help you can also do a lot of practice problems as they’ll help you out a lot.
1

A few days ago
homeschoolmom
You are not dumb (especially if you can score close to perfect on the English practice tests).

Many students have trouble with math because they were never really taught math – they were just taught a bunch of formulas and when to use them, but not WHY they work. You need to find a different text to study (really, learn) from. There are tons of great math textbooks available for homeschoolers (you don’t have to be a homeschooler to buy them, but that’s how you find them). Some of the better ones – Teaching Textbooks (expensive, but excellent), Saxon (cheap, proven track record), Math U See (mid-range price, VERY hands-on), A Beka (inexpensive, Christian content). There are MANY others at various prices, but you need to look for something that helps you better understand the “why” of math.

BTW – the advice to take the ACT is good (if the school/s you’re interested in will accept it). Girls generally score higher on the ACT.

2

A few days ago
baadevo
sounds to me like you are very smart in English and related subjects and also that you work very hard. Different people have different strengths and weaknesses. Everyone has strengths and everyone has weaknesses. It sounds as if Math is not your strong suit. Welcome to the club! I am sure one of your worries is college admission and all of the stuff that goes with that. You might see if your school has tutors available or if you can afford it try an outside tutor. Sometimes a different approach to math will turn on a light and it starts to come into focus. Practice is a good thing but it probably is not going to help a lot if you don’t get it to begin with. What you need is a better understanding not more frustration with what you do not understand.
0

A few days ago
Anonymous
Nah. I suck at math, and I have a BFA degree and a Master’s degree. I was even a 4.0 student in grad school and got scholarships and everything.

I also hated math, and was bad at it. It’s just a different way of thinking. It’s not for intellectual, problem-solving people. Math has right and wrong answers – there’s no creativity to the solutions.

I took as little math as possible (2 years in h.s. and none in college) and focused on other courses. I have a great job now and I’m doing just fine.

As far as test scores go, don’t sweat it. Focus on getting high scores in your strong areas and no one will care about your math score.

3

A few days ago
Tommiecat
no I don’t think you’re dumb. But I bet you have trouble structuring word problems… a lot of people do. You have to learn how to take your time to list what is known and what is unknown and some times you have to do 2 problems in some cases to find 2 unknowns to get to your final answer.

also remember all your values have to match.

Like for example they give you a known in miles say like 2 miles then they want the answer in feet. so be sure to convert every thing to feet …. 1 mile = 5280 ft 2 miles= 10560 ft

0

A few days ago
han
a lot of people have troubles in math, i have troubles only because i cant concentrate on it. but you are very lucky to be wonderful in english, i know many people who have to redo that entire class because they failed. to help you study on math, just practice it a lot, like study what your working on, very slowly, and understand one part at a time. if you want hands on work, then try searching on google for math games or something similar and it will help you study. i hope this helps you!
0

A few days ago
Duffsta
I sucked at maths at school i suck at maths now, i still earn over $100,000 a year, i’m not dumb and neither are you.
1

A few days ago
godess of chocolate
I’m right there with u straight A’s then u get to the math c-… but it doesn’t make u stupid….Does it???
0

A few days ago
Amanda W
duhh…. ur not dumb! i’m that way.. really good in english and reading but not as good im math! =]] so ur not dumb.. ppl have stregnths in certain areas and math is not urs! =]]
0

A few days ago
Anonymous
u aint dumb and it wont matter unless your job has something to do with math.
0