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What the Math Class You Are Best at Says About You

This article is written by a student writer from the Her Campus at PSU chapter.

Disclaimer: This is a joke, please do not take it seriously.

 

As a liberal arts major, I can firmly say that math is one of the most difficult subjects for me, only slightly behind science. When I was a kid, I always struggled in math and had to spend hours teaching myself concepts that most kids could understand within minutes. That all changed when I got to Algebra and for once, I understood everything that was going on and could easily apply the concepts we learned in class to my exams. I thought the next year would be the same way but Geometry proved way more difficult. This led to a pattern of years that I would do well in math followed by years that I would do absolutely horrible. I couldn’t understand why I was so good at one type of math and so bad at another, so I started thinking about why I understood some concepts in math better than others and started asking my friends the same question. Based off of the math classes I am better at compared with the ones some of my friends are better at, I have decided to finally answer the question that no one actually asked which is what the type of math you are best at says about you. 

 

Algebra:

If your best math class is Algebra then that means you like following rules and are pretty logical. You love having set formulas and explanations and like that Algebra doesn’t require a lot of creativity, just the ability to use PEMDAS. This also means that you aren’t very good at explaining why the answer is correct in a creative way without literally showing the exact way you did it. If life could have an exact formula, you would follow it as best as you could because you don’t have the need or the creativity to deviate. 

 

Geometry:

Let me start off by saying to everyone whose best class is Geometry, how? Geometry is for those who are super creative and like to explain the why behind each step they take. This is why people who are good at Geometry are so good at proving why a square is a square or whatever. People who are better at Geometry are also better visual learners in that they like to use shapes in order to help them solve problems instead of just relying on formulas. This can mean that they prefer to attack the problems in life from many different directions instead of just following a simple formula. 

 

Precalculus or Trigonometry:

For those of you who excel at Precalc and Trig, you probably have an amazing memory. This is evidenced through your ability to memorize the Unit Circle and the formulas that go along with it. You also are probably equally average at both Algebra and Geometry in that Precalc combines both of those subjects meaning that you are probably pretty good at Math overall and will one day go into a STEM field. I can’t really say what being good at actual Calculus says about you as I didn’t get to Calculus but if you excelled at Precalculus, you probably excelled at Calculus meaning that you are smart.

 

Statistics:

If you are someone whose best class is Statistics, congratulations you are an anomaly and good at both English and Math. Statistics requires the ability to read and quickly comprehend problems and apply formulas in order to solve those problems. As a kid, whenever you were given those logical reasoning word problems, you solved them quickly and were right about 90% of the time. You may be a liberal arts major and if you’re not, you should become one quickly while you still have a chance. 

 

And to those who are good at all 4 of these math classes, you amaze me. This concludes my decoding for now.

Reese Bernstein is a senior at Penn State majoring in Psychology with a focus in business. She is from "right outside" of DC in Northern Virginia. Along with writing for Her Campus, Reese is a member of a sorority and occasionally goes to the gym when feeling motivated.
Arden Ericson will graduate Penn State in May of 2023. As one of the Campus Correspondents for Her Campus at PSU, she is a double-major in Public Relations and French Language. After graduation, she will pursue a career that combines her passion for educational equity, social justice and French.