[goosejuice]

Do you find it surprising though?

Certainly not everyone is in the same place in their learning journey as you. Material on calc, at a university level, is typically going to focus on calc. Yes it is assumed that you have learned the fundamentals before taking that course.

I was in a similar situation as you. If you really want to learn it there's no substitute for skipping over the fundamentals. I did that and did fairly well but it's all long forgotten. Never use the stuff :)

[conwy]

> Never use the stuff :)

So many people tell me this that it's become cliche at this point.

I find it demotivating, but unfortunately I have to press through, as there is literally no other way I'm going to gain entry to my university's bachelors program.

A part of me wonders if this kind of fundamental knowledge could be actually useful, similar to being able to cook your own food instead of takeaway.

Kind of like how "first principles" thinking can apparently lead to new discoveries because you're not just mimicking / re-using the same structures that were already built.

[goosejuice]

My experience certainly isn't representative! I just happen to build things where university level maths rarely comes up. Stats comes up more than anything and sadly only had to take one course in that area.

Since you bring up food. As a former professional baker it would also take me some time to make croissants professionally at the level I used to. At least for me personally, if I don't use it I lose it. But I can certainly pick up faster than someone seeing it for the first time if I needed to.

Along the way you'll pick up some intuition that you can use elsewhere that's hard to quantify. Outside of the loans I don't regret taking any of the maths required for my CS degree.

Personally, I found the calculus lifesaver by Adrian Baker to be helpful in my studies as someone that was missing some fundamentals

[RF_Savage]

Being able to check the numbers software and manufacturers provide is a good use.

[vnce]

I’m a product manager and I use the concepts to read and understand new algos, research papers, etc. you’re right that you won’t be calculating (that builds problem solving) but grasping the principles will help you proceed to more advanced concepts in other fields

Good luck you’ll get there.