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I'm a mathematician, and I have found that--both for me and my mathematician friends--we generally liked Algebra, Algebra II, Pre-Calc, etc. in high school, and hated geometry. Conversely, those who are not mathematically inclined often prefer geometry. I think a lot of it has to do with the visualization.

In addition, high school geometry is taught in a similar way to upper level undergraduate and graduate level math: It is based on proofs. Proofs make things feel more concrete, and they can actually be easy to follow. But high school Algebra is not usually taught with proofs, so the students are left wondering where all these concepts came from.

All math is, in some form or another, directly related to geometry, especially statistical theory.

...both for me and my mathematician friends--we generally liked Algebra, Algebra II, Pre-Calc, etc. in high school, and hated geometry. Conversely, those who are not mathematically inclined often prefer geometry. I think a lot of it has to do with the visualization.

Thanks for that reply...you have no idea how much sense that makes to me. I am a true visual learner and I also have a great memory. I actually found doing the proofs fun, and surprisingly not much of a challenge.

And I DID memorize the Pythagorean theorem, so I got something out of the deal.

I’m a civil engineer. Growing up I always thought (and my grades confirmed) that math was my worst subject. When it came time to take my SAT, I got the same score in math and English...twice; total score back then was 1220, but I think they’ve since changed the scoring method.

I hated geometry, got a D one grade period and Bs and Cs the other. I went ahead and signed up for honors Algebra II; had to work my butt off and still barely pulled B/Cs. Which set me up for some regular everyday math class my senior year. My Algebra II teacher wouldn’t recommend me for trig & analytic geometry because of my grades. I sat through a week of that (I thought of it as remedial) math class my senior year and couldn’t stand it; biggest bunch of morons in that class that I had ever seen in my high school career. I talked my mom into signing an override so I could take trig & analyt. Again worked my butt off, but pulled A/Bs. Best thing I ever did for myself in high school. And I guess I did it because I was ashamed to be in that “remedial” math class that I could have coasted through. Amazing what a bit of shame and some hard work can accomplish.

That explains it. I was a straight A student in typical high school math but flunked geometry. I was good in college level calculus but struggled to get a C in trig. I always thought I was bad at math because of it, thanks for making me feel better all these years later.

I’m not a mathematician, but I liked algebra I (in middle school), II, pre-calc, calc and geometry. I excelled in geometry in HS, but did quite well in all of them. Did just fine in Calc I and II in college, but 2nd semester chemistry pretty much dinged me out of engineering. It was one of those weed-out courses and I hated it; nothing sparks learning like taking a class in a room with 300 fellow classmates and a professor droning on in barely understandable English.

Later on I picked up a lot of applied stats without much problem and wondered why my classmates struggled with it. I suspect my music training at a youngish age helped with all things mathematical.

Conversely, those who are not mathematically inclined often prefer geometry. I think a lot of it has to do with the visualization.

That was me. My teacher let me be a 'student instructor' in geometry class.
Algebra? I found it difficult.
Overall my math skills were/are not so good. It caused me to rethink my two loves, chemistry and physics.

we generally liked Algebra, Algebra II, Pre-Calc, etc. in high school, and hated geometry.

Can't believe you said that. I LOVED algebra. It was the most important course I ever took. I use it almost daily.

Geometry, on the other hand, was a burden. Important for someone selling carpet but other than that useless and no fun.

Of course I loved statistics too. That's very conceptual/visual too but in a way that is different than geometry.