Is Probabiltity and Statistics harder than college algebra??

TXMOM · Aug 29, 2004

I've taken both, and after awhile, once you get into it, it is a little easier than college algebra. But that's my opinion :lol: Have you asked the prof for help? When is your drop date?

ayndim · Aug 29, 2004

I have just graduated from LPN and continuing for RN. I am currently enrolled in the so called "the lesser evil of the two subjects" (probability and statistics), but I am hating it. Dont understand it at all. I think that I might should switch to college algebra?? Need some advice!!!!!

I found both pretty easy but I love math. You probably don't want to hear this but I think you should do both. They are both so different and will help you in different ways. Statistics is neat because when you read surveys and research reports you have some clue about how they arrived at and interpreted the data. BTW, at our university both are required for a BSN. If you are only taking one I think I would go with college algebra. But if you don't like math I think you will like stats better. The formulas in it are pretty simple compared to college algebra. I also found stats boring at first but it does start to get interesting. What are you having trouble with?

Good luck with either.

TXMOM · Aug 29, 2004

I I also found stats boring at first but it does start to get interesting.

Me too! It was very interesting because you can apply it to real life as well. It was neat to hear something like "75% of mice like cheerios" or something and then after taking this class, I can understand what it really means! I really enjoyed it after a few weeks.

nontrad1964 · Aug 29, 2004

Hi

I never made it through college algebra in the 1980's. could hardly do it in highschool, but did good in stats 20 years out of highschool. I hate all the unknowns of algebra, especially where more than just the X to find. Stats first freaked me out when I saw all the letters, but not bad cause they all stood for something. Just like in nursing abbreviations that dont make sense at all. Who would have that a c means with or a p means after. Our teacher gave us one master cheat sheet to use on tests and I crammed as much as I could on it and that is what saved me on tests and quizzes. WE had a large quiz after each chapter and I kept up on the daily work and those are what kept my grade up.

Hope they never make me do algebra cause I dont know if I could get through it.

Good Luck.

Dixiecup · Aug 29, 2004

OMG! I think algebra is much more structured and cut and dry. Statistics was like putting a page of Hebrew in front of me and saying, ok,read it!:rotfl:

zenman · Aug 29, 2004

Take the probability and statistics course. You can earn money in bars and pay your way through school by betting that you can, for example, guess people's birthdays, etc..

Gompers, BSN, RN · Aug 29, 2004

OMG! I think algebra is much more structured and cut and dry. Statistics was like putting a page of Hebrew in front of me and saying, ok,read it!:rotfl:

I'm with you!!! I've always been great at math - was taking honors calculus in high school - and I almost failed statistics in college! Maybe it was my instructor (grad student with no clue how to teach) but who knows. To this day I have no clue how to do statistics.

Agatha · Aug 29, 2004

Originally Posted by Dixiecup
OMG! I think algebra is much more structured and cut and dry. Statistics was like putting a page of Hebrew in front of me and saying, ok,read it!:rotfl:

I'm with you!!! I've always been great at math - was taking honors calculus in high school - and I almost failed statistics in college! Maybe it was my instructor (grad student with no clue how to teach) but who knows. To this day I have no clue how to do statistics.

I took stats twice first time for a D=diploma for a BS in guess what?? Mathematics. Even with that single D, I still graduated Magna, so obviously, I'm not a slouch. It was the semester I graduated.

The professor > told me, "Nothing personal, and it won't affect your grade, but you should be home taking care of your children, and you shouldn't have left your husband." He went on about how he and his wife had made these commitments and had put their children first.

I'm so stupid to not have gone to the department head. what's it called when you suck it up at the time, and complain 10 years later?

Well, we got our grades just before the graduation ceremony. Guess what? The very professional, young blonde next to me was given a 20 pt bump, which gave her an A. Gee, I would've liked an A too, or at least a B. 20 pts would have given me a B+.

grrrowl, grumble, b*****, moan. pity party going on here. :bluecry1: please, don't be put off. it's nearly over.

back to your question, I definitely liked Algebra better. But it probably depends on the teacher. When I went for a 2nd degree, I retook stats to get the D erased and had the highest grade in the class, no sweat.

Havin' A Party!, ASN, RN · Aug 29, 2004

Level of difficulty for stats is probably the same as Algebra I. Not too bad at all.

Toughest part I recall were the word probs. (Helps to know algebra IMHO.)

mariedoreen · Aug 29, 2004

Stats does goes easier if you have good algebra skills. I went into it with great algebra skills (my fav subject) and that did help me... but just like another poster said, it was like taking a foreign language. The hardest part was remembering which formula to use when.. I got through it with an A (although strangely felt like I had learned hardly anything) but if I'd had the choice would have taken College algebra over Stats any day (but didn't have the choice, need both for BSN). On the other hand, I've talked to a lot of people who struggled through College algebra... it depends on you. If algebra's not your thing, stick with stats.

susanna · Aug 29, 2004

Dude (OP), you know what? I took statistics too and hated it and just memorized stuff and got an A without understanding the material too well.

But, to tell you the truth and to give you the best advice I would have given myself, statistics is really, really useful and I wished I had paid attention better in class instead of goofing off because I thought it was just a dumb course I needed to get out of the way. I could kick myself now: When I couldn't sell it back to the store, I gave away my $100 statistic book to someone I didn't know and now I'm trying to research things for my job, and you know what? ALL of the literature and methods I'm looking at are loaded with statistics and so I'm guessing that is how a lot of people do their studies and pull meaning from their results. So if I were to go back in time, I would have paid a lot more attention in my statistics class in instead of listening to other people tell me how useless the course was and not paying attention. So I say statistics over algebra because its useful (you already know algebra anyways from high school so its going to be just as boring anyways as statistics is).