anyone take Discrete Math?

[pioneer22]

Hi everyone,

I am currently planning my fall schedule, and wondering whether to take Calc 3, or Discrete Math....I have heard Discrete Math is very logic-based, and can be tough depending on your grasp of the material.

Has anyone hear taken Discrete Math, or have any experience with it?

I also plan on taking Orgo 1 + lab, Physics 1 + lab, and a Python course, so I don't want to suffocate from coursework.

Thanks

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[mwsapphire]

I have not taken discrete math, but taking orgo , Calc based physics, python, and Discrete math is definitely something to carefully consider- it could be a major overload. If those are the only classes you are taking ( as in, just 12 credits and not 15) , and you don't work or anything it's probably fine, but anybody I've seen taking Orgo/Math/and calc bases physics concurrently burns out pretty fast. ( I've seen a handful of friends do this, and it's very stressful).

 

[pioneer22]

I have not taken discrete math, but taking orgo , Calc based physics, python, and Discrete math is definitely something to carefully consider- it could be a major overload. If those are the only classes you are taking ( as in, just 12 credits and not 15) , and you don't work or anything it's probably fine, but anybody I've seen taking Orgo/Math/and calc bases physics concurrently burns out pretty fast. ( I've seen a handful of friends do this, and it's very stressful).

Well, I've taken AP Physics in HS, so Im not worried about that course at all. Also we covered some Orgo in AP Chem, so I feel like I will be fine with hard work in that class.

 

[mistafab]

I took discrete math - but I can't talk about it.

 

[mwsapphire]

I took discrete math - but I can't talk about it.

that was clever

 

[slamm27]

I took a class that was basically discrete mathematics but it was called something different. Many people who took it at my college failed and had to retake it. It is a historically difficult class because it is logic based. I made it out of that class with a B-... so it dropped my GPA a bit. I also registered for it before I committed to pre-med so if I would have known the hit I would take GPA wise, I probably wouldn't have taken the class. It was also the last class required to fulfill my math minor so I had to take it... but idk looking back now I'm not sure it was worth it even though it was one of the more fun/challenging classes. You could always register (have a backup class so you fulfill your full time status) and then drop it if it's too much

 

[pioneer22]

I took a class that was basically discrete mathematics but it was called something different. Many people who took it at my college failed and had to retake it. It is a historically difficult class because it is logic based. I made it out of that class with a B-... so it dropped my GPA a bit. I also registered for it before I committed to pre-med so if I would have known the hit I would take GPA wise, I probably wouldn't have taken the class. It was also the last class required to fulfill my math minor so I had to take it... but idk looking back now I'm not sure it was worth it even though it was one of the more fun/challenging classes. You could always register (have a backup class so you fulfill your full time status) and then drop it if it's too much

Thanks.
What made it so difficult? Was it the professor?

 

[Lawpy]

Hi everyone,

I am currently planning my fall schedule, and wondering whether to take Calc 3, or Discrete Math....I have heard Discrete Math is very logic-based, and can be tough depending on your grasp of the material.

Has anyone hear taken Discrete Math, or have any experience with it?

I also plan on taking Orgo 1 + lab, Physics 1 + lab, and a Python course, so I don't want to suffocate from coursework.

Thanks

This depends on the university, professor, personal aptitude/interest etc. and so it's hard to say. If you like math, really you could go either way. Ochem and physics (algebra-based?) are not difficult despite the fears associated with them. Python course may be pretty fun, so I don't see how this courseload with either calc 3 or discrete math would be suffocating.

Personally, I thought discrete math and calculus were fun math courses. But what I find interesting may not be the case for you so it depends.

 

[slamm27]

Most of the concepts were simple yet complicated. Thats really the only way I could describe it- some concepts were super simple but for some reason there were always a handful of students that just could not grasp it. I would say yes, the professor wasn't the easiest or most understanding... But the class really does require that you put in the work to understand the material. And it's all or nothing- you either fully understand the concept or you don't. I'd suggest taking a look at this guys videos (TheTrevTutor) and see if you can follow along.

To put it in perspective, I did very well in calc I-III, then took this class and struggled a little bit due to how different it was. Not trying to discourage you at all though. If you think you'll enjoy the class WITHOUT sacrificing your GPA... I'd say go for it. Probably one of my top 3 favorite classes I took in undergrad

Thanks.
What made it so difficult? Was it the professor?

 

[premedvideos1]

I took discrete math. It is a logical based class with and/or, series and other math concepts. I would say it is difficult if you do not have time or interest in math/computer science. Also, it depends on professor. My professor did not teach much. So, I used YouTube to learn many things.

 

[cactusman]

I'm guessing @freak7 or @Matthew9Thirtyfive , or maybe some of the people who do a lot with coding and bioinformatics (@Lucca @Endoxifen @libertyyne I think) may have taken discrete.

 

[Lucca]

I'm guessing @freak7 or @Matthew9Thirtyfive , or maybe some of the people who do a lot with coding and bioinformatics (@Lucca @Endoxifen @libertyyne I think) may have taken discrete.

I didn't take Discrete but AFAIK it's Boolean logic and proofs.

 

[Matthew9Thirtyfive]

I didn't take Discrete but AFAIK it's Boolean logic and proofs.

I took it as part of my math degree. It's exactly what you described with the addition of set theory.

 

[pioneer22]

I took it as part of my math degree. It's exactly what you described with the addition of set theory.

how was it? harder / easier than calculus?

 

[Matthew9Thirtyfive]

how was it? harder / easier than calculus?

Different. It teaches you different skills. It's a lot of proof writing and logic. Some people find that easy and others find it difficult. I'd say it's less scut work than calculus for sure, but more writing.

 

[vsantav]

I took it since it's a requirement at my school for my major. It was basically all logic puzzles and proofs, some people struggle with it but others don't. The one thing I did notice is that it didn't really seem like there was a middle of the pack in my discrete class, you either did really well or pretty poorly.

 

[pioneer22]

I took it since it's a requirement at my school for my major. It was basically all logic puzzles and proofs, some people struggle with it but others don't. The one thing I did notice is that it didn't really seem like there was a middle of the pack in my discrete class, you either did really well or pretty poorly.

gotcha. anything to do to do really well, or is it kinda 'you get it or you dont'?

 

[P0ke]

Calculus 3 is easier if you're looking to preserve your GPA. From what I recall, calc 3 was basically doing what you did in calc 1-2 in 2 and 3 dimensions, so it's expanding on what you know already. Discrete math is going on an entirely different track with logic, proofs, sets, etc.

Just noticed that you're also taking physics, and calc will go more hand-in-hand with that

 

[Matthew9Thirtyfive]

gotcha. anything to do to do really well, or is it kinda 'you get it or you dont'?

Do the practice problems. Proof writing is a learned skill. Logic and set theory make sense once you do a few problems for each topic.

 

[Matthew9Thirtyfive]

Calculus 3 is easier if you're looking to preserve your GPA. From what I recall, calc 3 was basically doing what you did in calc 1-2 in 2 and 3 dimensions, so it's expanding on what you know already. Discrete math is going on an entirely different track with logic, proofs, sets, etc.

The skills you learn in discrete are more transferable than in calc 3. It's really not that it's more difficult. It's just new and different.

@pioneer22 I'd still recommend discrete math over calc 3 if you're not a math major, and I love calc.

 

[P0ke]

Easier as in less time put into learning something new. Just like med school material isn't conceptually difficult, but med school is far from easy because of the crazy amount of time spent learning new material. I took both classes, and I don't think I'll end up using either as a doctor. All I remember from discrete was writing that aleph null Hebrew symbol a bunch of times.

The skills you learn in discrete are more transferable than in calc 3. It's really not that it's more difficult. It's just new and different.

@pioneer22 I'd still recommend discrete math over calc 3 if you're not a math major, and I love calc.

 

[wholeheartedly]

It might be possible to check out a free online resource for discrete math over the summer and see what you think about it before you start it in the fall. I'd imagine MIT Open Courseware might have something available. They've got everything else under the sun.

Also, how much much programming experience do you have? It's valuable to have, but sometimes there's a steep learning curve for this stuff when you're first starting so it can be a bit more time consuming.

 

[Matthew9Thirtyfive]

Easier as in less time put into learning something new. Just like med school material isn't conceptually difficult, but med school is far from easy because of the crazy amount of time spent learning new material. I took both classes, and I don't think I'll end up using either as a doctor. All I remember from discrete was writing that aleph null Hebrew symbol a bunch of times.

Sounds like you had a crappy prof. I definitely learned a lot that I can apply to medicine (maybe not directly, but definitely indirectly). You definitely don't need either to succeed in med school, but of the two, discrete math is definitely higher yield if you have a good prof.

Also, this is undergrad, not med school. The amount of time he is going to have to put in to learn the new material for DM is not substantially more than the work he'd have to put into calc 3. It's not a hard class.

 

[P0ke]

Sounds like you had a crappy prof. I definitely learned a lot that I can apply to medicine (maybe not directly, but definitely indirectly). You definitely don't need either to succeed in med school, but of the two, discrete math is definitely higher yield if you have a good prof.

Also, this is undergrad, not med school. The amount of time he is going to have to put in to learn the new material for DM is not substantially more than the work he'd have to put into calc 3. It's not a hard class.

Nah didn't have a crappy prof, just took it like 10 years ago.

 

[Matthew9Thirtyfive]

Nah didn't have a crappy prof, just took it like 10 years ago.

I took calc 3 like 8 years after I took calc 2. That was fun.

 

[freak7]

Never took discrete by that name, but discrete math topics were covered over a large variety of my classes.

Edit: Including but not limited to: theoretical computer science, logic, combinatorics, probability, number theory, algebra (boolean and finite), and topology. It's different.

 

[itscleanslateme]

discrete math was a beast... it was unlike any other math classes I took (attempted math major). Like you said, it is very logic heavy. That semester I took, discrete math, linear algebra, stat, and humanities course and it was the worst semeseter I ever had gpa wise.

That being said, ppl with computer science background seemed to grasp the material fairly easily.

 

[WellWornLad]

It would help if explained your reasons for taking each. I assume from the Python course that you're getting some comp sci exposure, but what are your goals?

I majored in comp sci and took a formal logic course as well as discrete math. I will echo others here in telling you that some people just "get" logical analysis and some don't. The former will find discrete math to be surprisingly easy, and the latter will struggle.

Whether calc 3 or discrete math is more useful will depend entirely on what you want to do with it. I do think discrete math deals with concepts that will be reinforced (and therefore not forgotten) if you continue programming. I can't even remember what I did in calc 3, think we did a lot of vector calculus that didn't really make sense to me until I did linear algebra.

Honestly, I think linear algebra was the most useful mathematics class I ever took by a long shot. If you're going into medicine but want a solid comp sci/programming background for applied research, informatics, machine learning, etc., I can't recommend it enough.

 

[bluedevil5126]

Sounds like you could be aiming for a computer science background, not sure if it's your major or not. But as you probably well know, computers are discrete machines and they're used to measure continuous signals (ECG, EEG). How do we cross that domain? If you're interested in examining this relationship, your course could provide that.


Discrete math is rather broad from my understanding but if you're aim is to go for a computer science background (which obviously can be used for biomedical applications), I think it'll be useful. Haha of course balance of your other courses is key. I'm a math oriented person and it was my most demanding class in the semester I took it.

 

[pioneer22]

I am a current freshman leaning toward a CS major...I am taking an intro CS programming course now, and plan on doing Object Oriented Programming (Python) this fall, and Discrete Math is a requirement for the major and minor, so I was planning on taking it. Calc 3 is also a requirement, so I was wondering which I should take next year, since Organic and Physics, and Python could be demanding in coursework, so I didn't want to overload.

 

[Foodology]

I took Discrete Math and found it annoying because my professor was overkill when it came to proofs. It's kind of like comparing Organic Chemistry and Genetics, they're related but very different. It's super logic based and it required quite an investment in studying time, but I would suggest it if you're into computer science. I'd take calculus III if I were you, I love love love math but didn't care much for this class...

 

[pioneer22]

I took Discrete Math and found it annoying because my professor was overkill when it came to proofs. It's kind of like comparing Organic Chemistry and Genetics, they're related but very different. It's super logic based and it required quite an investment in studying time, but I would suggest it if you're into computer science. I'd take calculus III if I were you, I love love love math but didn't care much for this class...

Thanks.
I originally planned on Calc 3 in the fall, and pushing Discrete Math to Jr year, but I plan on doing Data Structures in the Spring of next year, so I need to take Discrete Math either before or along with Data Structures :/

 

[leonardoson]

I'm in discrete right now. It is a HUGE shift in thinking compared to the math courses you have taken so far. You learn how to prove things using logic. I find it fun! All those interesting math problems you hear about are in this course, (monte hall, island with cannibals and vegetarians, bridge crossing etc...). It also teaches you logical reasoning skills.

Calc 3 is also a cool course, venturing into multivariate functions and operations on them. The vector calculus is vital for physics and will make your intro physics math trivial. The homework gets long when you start setting up triple integrals though since 3-d functions are hard to visualize.

Take what sounds most interesting, I don't think you could go wrong.

Also don't be afraid to challenge yourself with a hard workload. You may be surprised at what you can actually handle.

 

[freak7]

Calc 3 is also a cool course,

Understatement of the day.

 

[Matthew9Thirtyfive]

Understatement of the day.

It's no analysis course. Pleb.