How do I catch up in math classes?

I'm a college sophomore with ADD. What happens if I fail the lowest math class my college offers?

• When I was 9 years old I was diagnosed with ADD. It never seemed to manifest itself in any subject other than math. Reading came pretty easily, and so I had no problem there. But junior high was especially rough as far as math goes, and grades declined significantly. In high school I had a little difficulty in Spanish, Latin, and Greek (I got accepted to a private classical school starting in ninth grade,) but did well in rhetoric, English, and history. Because my grades were very good in the latter subjects, the head of school worked with me to help with math deficiencies. In particular, she assigned a teacher to work with me in a 'math lab.' While my classmates were learning pre calculus, I was stilling trying to catch up to 6th and 7th grade math throughout high school, and did manage to pass all my math labs. I graduated with a pretty good GPA. After high school, I took a year off to work fulltime. Then I switched jobs to work part time, and enrolled in a community college to be a part time student. Right now I'm a first semester sophomore, and have a GPA of 3.30. Anyway, the classes I took in high school don't transfer to my college because the high school is a private, unacredited school, and so this summer I took the 8-week Pre Algebra course. I almost failed it. I asked the instructor to withdraw me from the class. She did, and that was nice since a W doesn't effect my GPA. Still, I'm scared because that's the lowest course the college offers, and I don't want to fail it when I take it again. I'm a little upset, too, because I have to take three more of these courses just to take a 4-credit College Algebra course that I need for my History degree. I plan to trying to get into law school after I graduate, and thereafter I'd like to be a prosecutor, So it's a little annoying that I have to kill my GPA by taking these classes, even though rhetorical skills are more important in law than math. I've been getting conflicting advice about what to do next. Some people I know suggest that I should tell my college that I have ADD and see if I can get some help. Others say I should just take the math classes and hope for the best. Sorry this post was so long, but I wanted to be as thorough as possible in order to provide people with the fullest information I possibly could provide. Thanks : )

• Answer:

  Hey First of all, don't get disheartened. Math may have given you a tough time, and it might be a little difficult to concentrate at times, but hang in there - a little more effort, a little practice, and you'll get into a good college. What you need is a program which is quick to do, and keeps you attentive and involved, even if it's for a short time - but that short time must be worth a lot more if compared to traditional study. We suggest you try our programs at http://www.tenmarks.com/ - We build your core skills, slowly, at your pace, mastering one concept after the other. You can do it when you want - no schedule. Plus, you learn through short, multiple choice question worksheets - no need to attend long lessons. We have hints and short, snappy video lessons which are visual and fun, and will help you learn on your own, so you don't have to wait to ask. And we have loads of programs you can try, all state mapped - or just let us take an assessment, and we'll set up a curriculum just for you. We're sure you can get there if you just practice your core skills and algebra a little bit, and do it in a fun way, which keeps you engaged. Best of luck, TenMarks Instructor