Advice on a math class for a pre-med freshman

[Mary M.]

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I'll be starting my freshman year in the fall, and I need to sign up for my first semester courses very soon. I'm pretty stuck on what to do about my math class. My options are college algebra and trig- while I think I may feel more comfortable going into my science courses with a foundation in college algebra, I'm worried (perhaps unnecessarily) about how starting out in a lower-difficulty math course would reflect on med school applications. I've never really been a "math person"- I'm actually pursuing a major in the humanities. Assuming I do well in my science courses, will college algebra be a dent in my transcript, or am I paranoid for no reason?

 

[I'm No Superman]

am I paranoid for no reason?

Yes. it will not matter at all, assuming you eventually take calculus, and even then I believe there are some schools that don't even require it, most do though.

 

[binko]

I think doing what you know you can do well in is probably the better idea. It's what I wish I'd done. Easier classes contribute to your GPA the same as hard ones.

 

[Crayola227]

hopefully your school had some process where you took a math exam to determine at what level you should start

it doesn't matter if you start with Math 60, the important thing is to start where you need to, if you get straight A's between math 60 and calculus, you're golden

worse would be starting higher and getting poor grades. not worth it.

I started at Math 95 which is a step down from college math and worked my way up, getting straight A's through Calculus

 

[Matthew9Thirtyfive]

In my freshman year, I tested into calculus, but it had been a few years since high school, so I went into the precalc course first. I got an A, and it didn't stop me from getting my math degree. It's just another good grade going into my GPA. I say start lower and work your way up, getting As along the way.