How to Ace Any Math Class in College

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1Learning Basic Study Skills for Math

2Solving Problems

3Acing Your Exams

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Math can be a very daunting subject, no matter which area you are focusing on. Algebra, geometry, calculus, or differential equations may all seem impossible, but with a few tips you can ace any of them. All branches of math require the same study skills and consistent effort to be successful. By doing lots of practice problems and focusing on understanding instead of memorization, you can ace any math class.

Steps

Part 1

Part 1 of 3:

Learning Basic Study Skills for Math

1. 
   1
   Pay attention and participate in class. Math cannot be learned passively by listening to the teacher talk about it. You must pay attention to the examples given in class and write them down. Not everything will be written down on the board so you need to listen to your professor to get all of the important information.

   • Get to class on time so you don’t miss any important announcements at the beginning of class.
   • If your professor emphasizes a concept multiple times, it is probably very important and likely to show up on a quiz, test, or exam.
2. 
   2
   Take good notes. If the professor writes something down on the board, it is probably very important. All examples should be written down, so you don’t forget them. Everyone takes notes differently, but as long as you have the important information written down, you can refer back to them later while studying.

   • If you find it difficult to listen and take notes, consider recording the class with a tape recorder and listening to the lecture later to take more detailed notes.
   • Be sure to review your notes after class (within two days of class) to make sure you understand everything. Note the concepts that you found challenging or don’t understand and study them later.
3. 
   3
   Learn the vocabulary. Math has a vocabulary all its own and you need to know it in order to be successful in any math class. You may think you know the definition of a word only to find out that it means something different in the context of math. Put in the effort to learn the vocabulary and you will find your class to be much less difficult.

   • Make flashcards for words that you come across and don’t know. Review these flashcards often to strengthen your knowledge of these words.
4. 
   4
   Ask questions. If you don’t understand something, ask your professor about it! If you miss something small in the beginning, it could affect your comprehension much further down the course. You are probably not the only one with the question and everyone learns when you ask something.

   • Listen when others ask questions as well. You’ll probably learn something.
5. 
   5
   Do math every day. You will not be able to succeed in your math class by cramming the night before your exam. Review your notes, read through examples in your textbook, or work practice problems every day to check your understanding and keep everything current. Read through your homework the night it is assigned and try to do some of the problems.

   • It is much easier to do your homework when you have just learned something instead of trying to remember it a few days or weeks later.
6. 
   6
   Work many practice problems. The more problems you work, the better you will be at solving them. When doing any practice problem, try to first solve it without using your textbook or your notes. If you get to a point where you are stuck, you can look at your notes. Do problems beyond what is assigned in your homework.

   • Use the student solutions manual to check your answers and see a potential place where you went wrong.
   • Use pencil and have an extra eraser around to easily and cleanly erase mistakes.
7. 
   7
   Understand the principles of a formula. It is not enough to simply memorize a formula. You must also understand why that formula works and when to use it. If you don’t understand the formula itself, it is hard to use it or know when it is appropriate to use it.

   • The memorized formula is useless if you don’t have a working knowledge of what the variables stand for.
   • For example: The Pythagorean Theorem is $a^{2}+b^{2}=c^{2}$, but you have to know that $a$ and $b$ are the sides of a triangle while $c$ is the hypotenuse in order to use it properly.
8. 
   8
   Recognize that mathematics is cumulative. Because every concept builds upon something else you have learned, you can’t just ignore the first few weeks of material and expect to get an “A”. Not only do you need to pay attention in your actual class, but you need to have mastered material from previous courses as well.

   • A college calculus class is going to be much more difficult without a strong foundation in algebra and trigonometry.
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Part 2

Part 2 of 3:

Solving Problems

1. 
   1
   Read and re-read the problem. Carefully read the problem and make sure you understand exactly what it is asking. Reading through it a second time will help clarify anything you might not have understood during the first read-through. While you are reading, try to determine what exactly the problem is asking.
2. 
   2
   Write down everything you know. As you read through the problem, write down all of the important information. Before you begin solving, make sure that you have written everything down correctly. This will save you time later when you are checking your answer. Unless you know the information isn’t necessary to solve the problem, write it down.

   • If a diagram will help, draw that as well.
3. 
   3
   Identify the relevant formulas. Once you have determined what the question is asking and what you know, you can identify any formulas that you will need to solve. Put together a solve plan using these variables and formulas. Oftentimes, there will be multiple steps necessary to get to the final answer. Try to figure out what these steps are before solving.

   • If you get stuck, find an example problem that is similar to the one that you are trying to solve. Adapt the process used to solve the example problem and solve your own problem.
4. 
   4
   Solve the problem. Apply the formulas you have decided to use and solve the problem. Check one more time that you have written everything down properly to avoid common mistakes. If you are using a calculator, take care to type in all of the correct numbers and mathematical functions. Show all of your work so that you can get partial credit if you do make a mistake.

   • Showing your work allows your professor to see that you understood and helps you find possible mistakes more easily.
5. 
   5
   Check your answer. There are a few ways to double-check your answer. The first is the common sense check. Does the answer you came up with, make logical sense? If you can plug your answer back into the original problem this is another great way to check. The final way to double-check is to go back through your calculation and make sure there are no errors.

   • If you were calculating the area of something and you came up with a negative number, you did something wrong because this doesn’t make sense.
   • Re-do the math in your calculator and make sure you get the same answer.
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Part 3

Part 3 of 3:

Acing Your Exams

1. 
   1
   Review old homework and quizzes. Don’t throw away any assignments during the course. Look through them when you get them back and try to correct your mistakes. Understanding what you did wrong will help you from making that mistake again. It will also make it easier to study when it comes time for a big test or exam.

   • Go through all of your homework and quizzes and rework these problems until you get them all correct.
2. 
   2
   Attend review sessions. Your class will likely have a review session before the exam where they will discuss what will be on the exam. You will probably also go through some example problems that will help you study for the test.

   • If you have a conflict with the review session, make sure to get notes from a friend who was able to go.
3. 
   3
   Use the study guide. If you are given a study guide, this is a fantastic tool to help you prepare for an exam. Make sure you have mastered all of the topics listed on the study guide. Do any problems suggested on the guide and find even more problems that are similar to these. Focus on the concepts that you have the most trouble with.

   • Keep doing practice problems until you are confident that you can solve any math problem of that type.
   • Avoid moving on to a new topic until you have completely mastered the one before it.
4. 
   4
   Seek extra help. Attending office hours or getting a tutor are great ways to get extra help. Office hours are time allotted by your professors and teaching assistants to help you with any pertinent questions. Take advantage of this time and ask any questions that you have on the material or the study guide. Your campus probably has a tutor center where you can also get extra one-on-one help.

   • If you have a conflict with office hours, see if you can schedule a separate session to get all of your questions answered.
5. 
   5
   Form a study group. Get together with two or three other students and make a study group. You can work problems together and help each other when you get stuck. It is likely that people in your study group will have mastered concepts that you may still need work on and vice versa. Teaching others what you know also helps you learn.

   • Try to meet at least once a week to go over homework and study for quizzes or tests.
6. 
   6
   Use your time wisely. For any test or exam you are likely going to be constrained to a time limit. Know how much time you have and how best to use that time before you get to the test. Go through the whole exam answering the easy questions first. After you have done these, go back and answer the more difficult questions that will take more time to answer.

   • If you know you have 40 minutes to answer a 10 question exam, you have about 4 minutes to focus on each question.
7. 
   7
   Check your work when you are finished. If you finish your exam early, it is essential to double-check your work. It’s really easy to accidentally write down a number wrong, so make sure you haven’t done this on any of your problems. Go back to questions you may have had a particularly hard time on and see if you have thought of a better way to solve it while taking the rest of the test.

   • If you only have a few minutes, skim through your answers. Check for minor copy errors and to see if they make sense.
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Expert Q&A

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• Question

  How can I study for a math test?

  

  Daron Cam
  Academic Tutor

  Daron Cam is an Academic Tutor and the Founder of Bay Area Tutors, Inc., a San Francisco Bay Area-based tutoring service that provides tutoring in mathematics, science, and overall academic confidence building. Daron has over eight years of teaching math in classrooms and over nine years of one-on-one tutoring experience. He teaches all levels of math including calculus, pre-algebra, algebra I, geometry, and SAT/ACT math prep. Daron holds a BA from the University of California, Berkeley and a math teaching credential from St. Mary's College.

  

  Daron Cam

  Academic Tutor

  Expert Answer

  It can help a lot to review the vocabulary and the basic math concepts that were covered right before the test. Usually the test questions will reflect what you most recently learned.

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