I failed out of college after trying to major in biology...?

[Larry M]

Actually, it was community college. I failed math many times and it hurt my GPA to the point that I was almost put on academic probation, but I left just before that happened. I got tutoring and studied very hard, but I did not improve one bit. I did so well at everything except math(trig, advanced algebra), including biology and chemistry. Do I have a learning disability?

The thing that really troubles me is that I had accumulated 95% of all the necessary credits for my associate degree, but only 2 math classes stood in the way. I took the same math class several times and failed it every time, or dropped it when I knew I would fail. If I could just pass math, I could have had a masters in biology by now. Coming so close to my degree is what makes this so frustrating. I wasn't interested in majoring in anything else except biology or some science major. I have no deep interest in any of the humanities.

I'm not even sure what I want to do anymore, but it seems continuing my education is no longer an option, and so it seems I'm stuck with few options in life and low paying jobs. I have no problem with self-learning, I've always done that, but I can't get a degree or recognition for it. So many people tell me I'm "smart" and that I should go back to college, but I don't think they understand my situation and how awful my grades were(we're talking about almost zeros on math tests, not almost passing). I'm almost 30 and lost my job but do local volunteer work. Any advice?
I don't think anxiety is my main issue. I used to study math for several hours a day and got tutoring. I failed anyway. It makes sense that math anxiety would co-exist with a learning disability or difficulty(I don't hear about people who are math geniuses having "math anxiety") - the anxiety is very often caused by being bad at it. Eliminating the anxiety doesn't exactly help a whole lot in many people - because you remove the anxiety and they are still awful at it. The way some people who are bad at math claim they have "math anxiety" seems to me to be a cover for just saying they are terrible at it - it's seems better if it is more of a psychological issue rather than an intellectual one. It also sounds more politically correct to say anxiety causes you to be bad at something than you are "dull" or "inadequate". Unlike before, the idea of studying math actually makes me feel nauseous and sick. This is because of how terrible I am at it.
Actually, my tutor did give me some tests to see if I had a learning disability. The results basically said no, but I do have some extreme difficulties with math. Probably the reason I do not have an LD is that according to the tests I have no problem understanding even the most difficult mathematical concepts. It's the step by step process of solving problems that I have difficulty with. At times, even if I understand everything and even know the step by step process, I often make many silly mistakes. In some ways my problem seems similar to dyslexia because I often misread things and write numbers in reverse - some recent research is showing that in fact some dyslexics are terrible at math, as well as reading. Some may just be terrible at math, like me. I was never diagnosed with dyslexia either, but it wasn't so long ago that my spelling was atrocious and I was a slow reader, so you never know. My hand-writing was always terrible too, even I can't understand what I write with a pen.

 

[Nicole]

never give up. math isnt my subject either. i struggle to pull it together for the class. in the 8th grade i failed it for 2 terms, then the last 2 terms i gradually picked up my grade and passed with a B. in the 9th i passed with a low A. in the tenth i almost failed again, but in the second semester i got a 93 and made an 86 for the year. what im trying to tell you is that its like an unhill battle. dont give up. work harder. try to figure out what the mian reason why u cant learn math is? for me its because i have to work with all the numbers and that is more confusing than working with words. i try to think of equations as sneetnces and basic operations that i do to them like digramming and classifying them. i also strive to find diff ways to memorize how to solve a problem. im always making reviews before test and getting extra help from teachers. i always do all my homework and study guides, too, rather than giving up on the class.

 

[Deathbunny]

Those levels sound like a psychological issue--fear of it--especially with the fact at least chemistry requires some use of or knowledge of algebra. Either that or the way you need to learn math was not what you are getting from that school.

I'm thinking that you're putting way to much fear and anxiety into the math portion and you're shooting yourself in the foot. Other than a lot of counseling on the subject, perhaps approaching things from a different perspective would be useful.

Plan on retaking the classes, but put that off for a while. In the meantime, get yourself some of the cheesy learning software for high school geometry, algebra, and the like along with reading "the idiot's guide to..." trig, geometry, calculus, etc.

Don't try to learn the stuff, just read the books, do the software, and repeat that cycle a couple of times.

The idea, is to expose yourself to the information you'll need to pass the courses in a repetitive manner where your risk is very, very low.

My bet is, if you get enough familiarity this way, when you take the courses again, you'll have enough of this stuff stuck in your head that some of it will be usable even with all the anxiety. Might even make the anxiety go away.

And--if your issue isn't anxiety based--you'll have a pretty good background to start your classes once more anyway. Being a more self-paced way to learn, it would also cover the second possible problem--how you were taught.

Good luck and don't underestimate the "humanities". An interest in biology and chemistry might be a useful foundation for a "soft" degree like global health or anthropology... people degrees.