Why is college math so hard?
Your students will thank you when they ace college math… without tears.
Michael thought he was doing fine in high school math—until college hit.
Like running into a wall.
He tried. He really did. But solving matrices, taking triple integrals, finding complex roots… something just didn’t click.
He meticulously followed the professor’s steps (just like he had in high school), but it was pure mechanical repetition. That nagging feeling—“Do I actually understand this?”—never left. He felt like he was brute-forcing his way through Linear Algebra and Calculus I, with no real grasp of what he was doing.
Why Michael struggled in college math & science
His high school math teacher, Alyssa, always said it was important to understand why math rules worked, not just memorize steps. But Michael rarely cared. And why should he? He had a good memory and could always coast by following rules without the “why.” It started in middle school with:
- “Flip the second fraction when dividing.” (Who cares why?)
- “A negative × negative = positive.” (Don’t care why—just memorize it.)
He did the same even in pre-calculus:
- “Bring the power down and subtract one.”
Once, Alyssa handed back his A-graded test and said, “You got your A, but make sure you know why the rules work. Otherwise, you’ll hit trouble in college and won’t be able to solve real-world math problems.”
“An A is an A,” Michael replied, convinced he was just fine at math.
Then college changed the game
Everything shifted when Michael started his computer science degree. Linear Algebra, Calculus I, Discrete Mathematics… The workload exploded overnight. Michael did what he’d always done—crammed relentlessly—only to find that the rule he’d just memorized didn’t apply to the next problem.
His memory, once reliable, wasn’t enough anymore. And that sinking feeling of being the dumbest student in class grew worse each week.
Some of his peers dropped out, saying, “This major isn’t for me.” By the end of the first year, a third of the freshmen had quit, all because the math felt insurmountable.
The Evening Talk
Alex—a tall, friendly guy from Redmond—was handling the math (and programming, and graph theory) just fine. Not effortlessly, but he seemed to grasp something Michael didn’t. One evening, walking back from a seminar, Michael struck up a conversation:
“I wish we were already in our second year,” Michael grumbled. “I’m so sick of this math grind!”
“My dad warned me about this,” Alex said.
“Oh, right—your dad’s a computer scientist!” Michael said. “No wonder you’re cruising through Calc and Linear Algebra.”
“Actually, he’s a civil engineer,” Alex corrected. “But he studied calculus 30 years ago and still uses it at work.”
“Your dad proves theorems at work?” Michael laughed sarcastically.
“No, of course not,” Alex replied, smiling. “He’s not proving theorems or solving integrals by hand. Computers handle the heavy calculations. He analyzes the results and checks his designs.”
“Designs of what?” Michael asked, still skeptical but now curious.
“Mostly bridges. His company works on roadway projects.”
“Ah, got it,” Michael said, though he didn’t really. He couldn’t picture what “analyzing results” meant, but it sounded impressive. He imagined himself staring at complex data on a screen, discussing it with a team—though he had no idea what that data might be or how to get there. “Why didn’t you go into civil engineering like your dad? You’d have a math tutor on call.”
“I’ve always wanted to work with computers,” Alex said. “But yeah, his help with math still applies. The foundations are the same, whether you’re building bridges or writing code.”
“Lucky you,” Michael muttered. “You’ll breeze through our math classes.”
That night, Michael couldn’t stop thinking about their talk.
What do calculus and bridges have in common? And why do computer scientists even need calculus? I thought we’d be learning programming and hardware—not endless theoretical math…
Then he remembered Alyssa’s warning: “Michael, make sure you know why the rules work. Otherwise, you’ll struggle in college and won’t solve real-world math problems.”
He grabbed his phone and searched for “real-world math problems.” He spent the whole evening reading about how math is used in biology, architecture, computer science, even archaeology. For the first time, the symbols on his homework felt connected to something tangible—no longer soulless abstractions. He sensed something huge looming in his studies, something that wasn’t just scary and meaningless anymore.
You Can Make a Difference for Your Students
This story is based on real experiences of engineering students—those who graduated and those who dropped out. Many college students feel this way about math: lost, frustrated, like they’re brute-forcing their way through without ever getting it. Others say it finally clicked when they saw how the math applied to real life.
As a middle or high school math teacher, you can shape how your students will face college math!
DARTEF videos are short (~5 minutes), classroom-ready clips designed to:
- Show students how math powers careers (e.g., robotics engineers using trig, biologists modeling growth).
- Answer the “Why do we need this?” question before college.
- Fit seamlessly into your lessons with just a projector.
Preview the videos you'll get access to:
Spring is the perfect time to bring this change to your classroom! Try DARTEF videos in your class this week.