In all reality most high school students don't pay attention in their math courses and only do minimal effort for what grade they required. To be honest I was

In all reality most high school students don't pay attention in their math courses and only do minimal effort for what grade they required. To be honest I was taught how to do scientific notation in one day in high school and if you asked me the rules for how many places to keep through operations I could guess but I truthfully wouldn't know. I have taken 2 chemistry courses and many other high level lab courses in college and have only heard that scientific notation was preferred not required (for the chem courses) and given no refresher course. From personal experience I have met people who made it through AP Calculus in high school (passing grade in class not test) who really have difficulty understanding and passing a basic college algebra course. Summary: just because people are introduced to problems in high school doesn't mean they can do them.