I think also that fundamentally if you are rote learning and never really "Got" the math, then it probably will be completely useless to you down the track. If what you learned was conceptual thinking and HOW to learn, then you probably won't even notice whether you are using what you learned from those math classes.
I struggled with learning expository writing as a first-semester freshman in college. Overall, I had trouble seeing the forest for the trees and learning how to use the correct style needed for good writing of this type.
Then I had a flash of insight: good expository writing is a lot like a proof in geometry or the derivation of an equation. You have to move logically from one idea to the next one, you can't use an idea or term without defining it, and you have to justify what you claim.
In that moment, I visualized how to use these principles to structure sentences, paragraphs, and an entire essay. I still had to work very hard and think a lot to produce a three-page paper, but I went
immediately from getting low Bs or Cs to As.
I use these ideas in contract work that I do, which involves critical reading of manuscripts and grant applications (I review federal grant applications reasonably often, so I can read like a friendly but tough reviewer).
I tell my clients about my geometry-based principles, and they seem to be helpful to grad students through faculty members.
