Do I need to know how to factor expressions containing rational exponents to prepare for caculus?

I am self studying Pre cal from a pre cal textbook. I have already taken pre cal during my junior year of high school, and calculus during senior year. I was very lost in my calculus class because there were many things I didn't learn and many things I forgot from Precal. I know there are those fundamentals that are essential for one's foundation and success in Calculus such as trigonometry and logarithms. But is knowing how to factor expressions containing rational exponents one of them? of course it is better to know it than not to know, but is it often used in calculus? Will it hurt me a lot in calculus (I'm going to take it again in college) if i don't know how to do it?