Calculus

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I will be attending Rutgers University in the fall as a bio major on the premed track. I am in AP statistics and I was in precalculus and trig last year as a junior. I never took calculus in high school and will be required to take it to fulfill med school requirements. Should I take it over the summer at the local community college so that I can gain a foundation of the subject and won't be lost when I am in calc 101 in college?

I think you would be fine just taking the calc class in college as you seem to be very proficient in math already. (Go Rutgers! When I apply next year I hope I get accepted!)

Originally Posted by mvalentine2419

I will be attending Rutgers University in the fall as a bio major on the premed track. I am in AP statistics and I was in precalculus and trig last year as a junior. I never took calculus in high school and will be required to take it to fulfill med school requirements. Should I take it over the summer at the local community college so that I can gain a foundation of the subject and won't be lost when I am in calc 101 in college?

I took Pre-Calc in high school. I went into university as an engineering major. I was completely lost in Calculus. I had no idea what anyone was talking about, and I failed my first test.

Depending on how your school's math program is, you might have an easier or tougher time. A lot of factors determine how well you do in a course.

I would recommend that you try to audit a Calculus course if you can. Just sit in on a few lectures to get a bit of foundation on the subject. A lot of community colleges will allow you to do this, and it won't cost you a dime.

Originally Posted by mvalentine2419

I will be attending Rutgers University in the fall as a bio major on the premed track. I am in AP statistics and I was in precalculus and trig last year as a junior. I never took calculus in high school and will be required to take it to fulfill med school requirements. Should I take it over the summer at the local community college so that I can gain a foundation of the subject and won't be lost when I am in calc 101 in college?

Pre-calc comes before calc 1. You should be adequately prepared for calc 1 by taking pre-calc. there is no need to "pre-take" it before taking it. if you want to take it and get it out of the way during the summer that's a different story

I took Honors Calculus during my senior year of high school, and I (nearly) aced my school's calculus readiness exam. FWIW, I'm not in college yet, so I can only offer advice on the jump to calculus. What does Calculus 101 involve? If it has an introduction to derivatives and doesn't expect you to know it prior to, you will be fine. If that is the case, just make sure you have a good grasp of trigonometry and algebra. If you need to know derivatives, I would just go over some Khan videos or something. It really isn't difficult once you can get a handle of what you're doing. If you post the Calculus 101 description, I could offer more specific advice. Good luck!

Do I need Calculus for medical school? I am terrible at math and I am looking to avoid it and just take college level algebra? IS this okay, or am I stuck? I am hoping for either DO or MD its no matter to me, I just need to know if it is a must.

Thanks

Well if you take it at a community college it will transfer to Rutegers and you won't have to take it again. I would sorta recommend this because your first semester will be easier that way.

Also you don't need calculus to apply to medical school. The bare min though is statistics + another math, though having calc 1 along with stat will suffice the requirement for all schools.

Some schools require calculus for physics, some don't. And there's a reason for that- physics is applied calculus, and makes a lot more sense if you understand the relationship between equations. That should be pointed out. If ze world was mine, I'd recommend calculus as part of a premed's liberal arts well rounded education. I feel like it's just something to have educated yourself yourself with. A background in math is important for not being a derp with numbers- numbers don't ever go away. I took calc at age 17 and I still remember it's applications nearly ten years later, such as relationships between displacement, velocity, and acceleration. You study those things with respect to vascular fluid dynamics in Med school btw. In conclusion, you only live once, and you're going to be a doctor for Pete's sake, not a janitor. Get an education and learn a little mathematics. The foundation you lay will benefit you through the many math and science topics you will study not just during ugrad, not just during Med school, but throughout your life. I don't see too many college subjects that would affect a person like that.

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Originally Posted by theWUbear

Some schools require calculus for physics, some don't. And there's a reason for that- physics is applied calculus, and makes a lot more sense if you understand the relationship between equations. That should be pointed out. If ze world was mine, I'd recommend calculus as part of a premed's liberal arts well rounded education. I feel like it's just something to have educated yourself yourself with. A background in math is important for not being a derp with numbers- numbers don't ever go away. I took calc at age 17 and I still remember it's applications nearly ten years later, such as relationships between displacement, velocity, and acceleration. You study those things with respect to vascular fluid dynamics in Med school btw. In conclusion, you only live once, and you're going to be a doctor for Pete's sake, not a janitor. Get an education and learn a little mathematics. The foundation you lay will benefit you through the many math and science topics you will study not just during ugrad, not just during Med school, but throughout your life. I don't see too many college subjects that would affect a person like that.

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The only time in physics ( Albeit non-physics based) that there was visible use of calculus was as you said, in linear momentum ( I.e acceleration derived becomes velocity), other than that I never saw how to apply it to things like torque, circuits, or light. However, I do feel like calculus did help me learn to be a lot stronger with my algebra skills, but after being two years out of calculus 1 I don't think I can even remember how to use the chain rule or do more complex integrals or derivatives. The reality is that for a premed calculus is just simply not that applicable and will mostly be forgotten beyond algebra.

Originally Posted by serenade

The only time in physics ( Albeit non-physics based) that there was visible use of calculus was as you said, in linear momentum ( I.e acceleration derived becomes velocity), other than that I never saw how to apply it to things like torque, circuits, or light. However, I do feel like calculus did help me learn to be a lot stronger with my algebra skills, but after being two years out of calculus 1 I don't think I can even remember how to use the chain rule or do more complex integrals or derivatives. The reality is that for a premed calculus is just simply not that applicable and will mostly be forgotten beyond algebra.

Not true. My E&M course in college used calculus to derive a bunch of formulas and rules. There were also some line integrals that we used for something or other. It's been a while since I've had E&M.

Also you have it backward. dv/dt = a(t).

To OP: Just go ahead and take calculus. I'd only had Algebra II in high school before taking calculus in college; I hadn't even had pre-calc. It's tough, but totally doable if you put forth the effort.

Like the OP, I also did not take Calculus in high school. During my freshman year I took Pre-Calc the first semester (just to get back in the "math mode") and then calc the second semester. Math was easily one of my most disliked classes in HS, but when I took these courses in college I found them much, much easier. The key for me taking math in college was just practicing a lot of problems, making sure I fully understood how to do them before moving onto harder problems.

1/2 of my calc class in college had taken calc in high school. I had not, I still got an A but definitely had to work a lot harder than everyone else. Also a lot of the people who took calc before got Bs. It's like retaking a class, you may still remember the basics but you still have to put in the work to re-learn the details.

Originally Posted by serenade

The only time in physics ( Albeit non-physics based) that there was visible use of calculus was as you said, in linear momentum ( I.e acceleration derived becomes velocity), other than that I never saw how to apply it to things like torque, circuits, or light.

My AP Phys C class in high school used calc for everything from linear momentum to moment of inertia.

Originally Posted by nburnett3

There were also some line integrals that we used for something or other.

Maybe for line charges?

Originally Posted by mvalentine2419

I will be attending Rutgers University in the fall as a bio major on the premed track. I am in AP statistics and I was in precalculus and trig last year as a junior. I never took calculus in high school and will be required to take it to fulfill med school requirements. Should I take it over the summer at the local community college so that I can gain a foundation of the subject and won't be lost when I am in calc 101 in college?

Save yourself money and just buy a used calc book. You can easily teach it to yourself.

I took Calculus AB last year - my senior year of high school. It's really no big deal, if you're willing to work. I've never been one to get A's in mathematics (mostly because I never did the homework or studied.) I took calculus seriously, did all my homework, and reviewed theorems and identities. I easily aced the class. You'll be just fine if you pull your weight by doing the same things: do all your homework, make sure you understand concepts rather than how to work problems, and memorize derivative and antiderivate rules. Calculus is conceptually different from any preceding math class, but if you're confident in your basic knowledge, especially trig, composition of functions, logs, and exponents (i.e. algebra II/pre-calculus stuff,) you'll be fine.

If you want to do yourself some good, review trig functions prior to starting college, and I'm sure you'll be ahead of most of the class. Good luck!

Calculus is required for some medical schools. If not, then it may be required in order to graduate. If either one of these is your case, then it will count towards your science GPA (different than overall GPA) so study study study