Is pre-calculus and calculus much harder than algebra?

Teaching myself precalculus & trigonometry?

• Okay, so i screwed up on my 9th,10th,and 11th grade days. i wasn't serious about school on 9th grade ( i failed algrebra 1, but made it up through summer school), and on 10th i cared more but still had the lazy habits. on 11th i tried hard. Math hasn't been a problem for me. I've changed to another school at near end of Fall Semester on 2010 when i was in junior year in high school. they said that there weren't room in any other classes and that i was to go to an algebra class again. i stayed there for the whole year of my junior year. this year, which is my senior year, i'm learning adv. algebra, a.k.a, algebra 2. i asked the counselor yesterday if i could get into a precalculus class, but then the counselor said that i have to ask the teacher. today the teacher said that i can't be in precalculus for just half a semester, i have to be in the class for the whole year. So now I'm stuck with not knowing any precalculus because it is very important for me since my college major will be Business management, which requires calculus 1 and 2. I recently bought the "Mathematics Describing the Real World: Precalculus and Trigonometry" from The Great Courses. Will this be enough? will this teach me what i need to know? and if it doesn't, since i'm going to a community college, if i take precalculus on my freshmen year, will i still be able to transfer to a 4 year university after 2 years and after i take calculus 1 and 2. So the real question here is, will the product i bought be enough? Also, if not, will i be able to take precalculus, then calculus 1 and 2, and transfer to a 4 year university on time, (considering i passed all classes) in 2 years?

• Answer:

  Let's be real here. You can learn anything at all. There is no stopping a motivated person from learning anything. I mean that. Right now I am learning science. One class (Astronomy) in 1985 and failed HS Biology. If you are willing to learn than you cn learn anything.