Formal math, finance, accounting, etc. How high did you get?

[QuarterMillionMan]

Most here are astute with their finances and I often wonder how high in college or even high school did you get in math, finances, or accounting. I was always good with math and numbers but upon entering college I had to take a remedial basic math course before even enrolling in Math 100. That was a wake up call for me. Thereafter, I didn't take any other math courses but I wish that I had pursued more math or finance. Science was my worst for instance after my first day in physics 100 class I dropped it not knowing what was being said but that's besides the point and off topic but anything is fair game to discuss.

[corn18]

I got a BS in Electrical Engineering, so we went through 300 level math (calculus). I don't remember taking any 400 level courses, though. I thought I would never use it again until I got to test pilot school and it was very helpful there.

Would love to go back and learn more so I could follow the quantum physics stuff better, but I don't know if I have the fire to make that happen.

[disneysteve]

It's been a long time so the details are fuzzy but through high school, I was in the gifted math classes so we were doing advanced, college-level stuff in 11th and 12th grade. In college, as a Bio/Pre-Med major, I was required to have 2 semesters of calculus.

You mentioned physics. Although that is a science class, it's really applied calculus, so you need to have a really solid math education in order to be able to get through physics.

I did take a basic accounting class in high school (or possibly junior high, I don't remember). I never took any finance or economics classes.

[Singuy]

College calculus as it was required as prereq. I have been a numbers guy and always struggled with language. Word problems in math class were my Achilles heel.

[QuarterMillionMan]

I'm not sure if statistics qualifies but I took an entry level statistics class in college, chi-squre, p value, skewness, measures of central tendencies, etc. I did my masters thesis in social work doing a quantitative statistical analysis but it's all foggy what I did.

[cypher1]

Focusing on AS degree in Accounting, with current semester classes are Managerial Accounting, Statistics for Business and Economics. Last two semesters I had Financial Accounting 1/2, Macro/Microeconomics. Last college math class was 20 years ago for pre-calc, which I realized math beyond that wasn't my thing.

I always liked budgeting/personal finances, but never took any classes on them in HS or college. This forum really steered me in that direction of accounting and finance as another skill set outside of my main career.

[Jluke]

Math minor in college so calc II and III, linear algebra and differential equations, a math modeling course.

chem major/pre-med with physics and chemistries.

macroeconomic course and accounting class as part of liberal arts education

at least that’s what I remember.

the math definitely helps me with overall personal finance.

[srblanco7]

Civil (structural) Engineer undergrad degree so the list is fairly long - 4 semesters calculus, engineering classes were math/science-centric, engineering economics, macroeconomics elective, as well as graduate classes that we focused on probability & statistics. For the last decade, most of my time is focused on financial statements...lots of numbers

[bjl584]

I made it as far as Calculus I

I also had a few classes on Accounting and Finance

[disneysteve]

Somebody else’s post reminded me that we also had a biostatistics class in med school. It’s important to understand all of that when reading journals and medical studies or doing research yourself.

[kork13]

Basic stuff in high school (algebra, geometry, etc.)... Calculus 1 & 2 in college. I started Calc 3, but dropped it & changed majors (from engineering to operations) before I bombed the course ... I was well on my way, and also wanted to avoid the dreaded differential equations course on my horizon.

I also took some general 200-300 level courses in economics, statistics, and electrical/computer/mechanical/aeronautical/civil engineering (I went to an engineering school). But my major was in space operations, so most of my advanced work was in physics & astronautical engineering. Physics 1 & 2, meteorology, nuclear physics, space weather, orbital mechanics, multiple in astronautical engineering, and so on (big nerd, but those were alot of fun... Especially nuke). They weren't directly math classes (definitely not finance), but as DS mentioned, alot of it involved math-based applications. Strangely, in spite of the similar fundamentals & cross-applications with physics, chemistry was (still is) my biggest challenge.

Once I leave the military, I do plan to go back to school for some flavor of a finance or business related masters degree.

[Fishindude77]

Just high school educated here, but used rather complicated math daily my entire career.
As a business owner and contractor your world is pretty much an ongoing array math problems to solve, one after the other.

[ua_guy]

I received a business degree from a Liberal Arts school. Satisfied the math requirement by taking Calc 1 freshman year. Also took basic and managerial accounting, finance, micro/macro econ courses, statistics. Minored in psychology because honestly, it was more interesting.

None of it meant I was good at personal finance when I graduated, but a few teachers and professors along the way actually did dive into the subject, meaningfully.

My accounting professor spent a class on personal finance. He used the equation of Assets = Liabilities + Equity, and GAAP principles to show us what personal finance looked like on a general ledger. I remember his main point was this isn't rocket science - personal finance is literally keeping tabs on what money you take in every month, subtract your monthly expenses, and the number at the bottom should be in the black every month. Amortization tables are where I learned about mortgages.

My business law professor explored tax implications of retirement plans and spent part of a day on them. She encouraged us to start saving in an IRA now, if we could. I think I was 21. We definitely explored investments and retirement savings in other courses.

A High School math teacher spent a few classes on finance equations. I remember one of the lessons was about the pitfalls of vehicle financing. She showed us how shopping on payments can be dangerous and usually results in higher interest rates, longer terms, versus setting a budget for the cost of the vehicle and calculating a payment structure in advance.

[LivingAlmostLarge]

1 year calc and i'm terrible at math compared to my DH as he likes to say. But then he more recently realized that I might be terrible compared to him but most other parents have trouble teaching their kids math in 5th grade. So he shut up about it.

[kork13]

A High School math teacher spent a few classes on finance equations. I remember one of the lessons was about the pitfalls of vehicle financing. She showed us how shopping on payments can be dangerous and usually results in higher interest rates, longer terms, versus setting a budget for the cost of the vehicle and calculating a payment structure in advance.

This reminds me that my high school math teacher also spent a few lessons talking about the stock market... We each selected a few stocks, notionally "bought" some shares, and followed their performance for a little while. I seem to remember picking Coca Cola (KO) & Red Hat (RHT, now privately held). No idea how they did, but it was an interesting series of lessons... Though it clearly didn't make a huge impression -- that came in college from another advisor.

I think he also did a few applied lessons on interest rates (savings & debts), though I don't recall the details of his approach.