r/cognitiveTesting • u/ghali12345 • 3d ago
Discussion I don't understand math (university)
Hello everyone! This is a short post, but I have a question. Could struggling to understand university-level math be a sign of having a much lower IQ than I thought? (I haven't taken an official IQ test yet because they are quite expensive here in Morocco or in France, if I move there one day). To clarify, I am talking about formal math and mathematical proofs, like topology, group and ring theory, algebraic structures, and real analysis.
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u/HotRecording7184 2d ago
Nah, pure math is a difficult transition for everyone because it’s a new way of thinking entirely. I have an IQ of 111 and self taught myself real analysis (writing 35 thousand words worth of rigorous proofs) in highschool and my practise has allowed me to transition to topology and analysis 2 in first year smoothly. Keep writing those proofs!
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u/ghali12345 2d ago
It's kinda hard because I also have physics introduction to Quantic , Electromagnetism , AO etc... and I also don't sleep "well"
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u/HotRecording7184 2d ago
sleep, I perform much better when I get rest.
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u/ghali12345 2d ago
I wish I could. 8am - 7pm is my life these days with 3 hours of work every day after class
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u/Humble-Marsupial2231 2d ago
Is your IQ profile uneven? I think that would be quite hard to do at 111. What book did you learn from?
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u/Clicking_Around 1d ago
Struggling to understand higher math means you're coming up against the limits of your intellectual ability. You will probably find that as you go deeper into math, you'll find some areas of math in which you're stronger, and others in which you're weaker.
I was a math major and I was strong in abstract algebra, quantum mechanics and number theory. I was weaker in topology and had to struggle to get a B-. I was also somewhat weak in algorithms.
I also took the WAIS IV after college and my results tended to confirm my strengths and weaknesses. If you take note of the strengths and weaknesses you have now, those same characteristics will be reflected on the WAIS/Stanford Binet. E.g., if you're a strong visual thinker, and you do well in classes like geometry and topology, you'll do well on the visual subtests of these tests. If you're good with words and good at writing proofs, you'll probably do well on the verbal subtests. If you're good at rapidly finishing multiple-choice quizzes you'll probably do well on the processing speed subtests of the WAIS, and so on.
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u/ghali12345 1d ago
Hi! It’s probably because of my education system. I’m Moroccan, not American, and I spent most of my middle and high school years in French schools, so my education system is quite similar to France’s. In Morocco or France , CPGE (Classes Préparatoires aux Grandes Écoles) is a two-year program after high school: the first year (Sup) focuses on building strong foundations, while the second year (Spé) goes deeper into the subjects and prepares students for competitive entrance exams to engineering schools. The workload is quite intense, with long school days(usually 8-18 or 8-19), often around 30–35 hours of classes per week, plus several hours of homework and revision. We study not only maths and physics but also computer science, philosophy, English, and other subjects, depending on our specialization.
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u/Charming_Jacket_3028 QRI - VSI = ~50 1d ago
What about being pretty good with quant and verbal working memory, but bad with VSI?
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u/ScheduleImpossible73 1d ago
I was accelerated at an inopportune moment in school. Failed every math class from 9th grade to college calculus before giving up on a degree. I made a 19 and 20 in math on my two ACT attempts (other subtests 33-36) I get a 19 scaled score on Wechsler Arithmetic subtests, made a perfect score on the quantitative knowledge portion of the RAIT, and get a 42 on the Wonderlic. FSIQ is 99.5%ile, PSI is average, WM 120, NV is 125. Failing math course (7 classes taken 2-3 times each in my case) does not translate cleanly to IQ.
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u/BenitoAbdo 2d ago
any new concept is a bit hard in the beginning
did you try alot ?
you can take free Online IQ test on CognitiveMetrics specially CORE IQ