How to Avoid the Freshman Dream
Description
A detailed tutorial on avoiding the freshman dream. Step by step tutorial including several examples of the freshman dream for reference.
Overview
The freshman dream is a mistake commonly made in algebra that was named for the probability that only freshman would make this mistake. In reality, this mistake can be made by anyone, regardless of your academic standing. The freshman dream is employed when you are given a squared binomial. If your equation looks like (x + n)^2, people using the freshman dream will write this as x^2 + n^2. However, this is wrong! Your equation should look like (x + n)(x + n) in the first step, and from there it is obvious to see that you would need to use FOIL to solve for it.
