Benefits of Calculus?

[Beau Geste]

---

Members don't see this ad.

Aside from being a pre-req at some schools, what other advantages are there for taking Calculus? I'm on the fence about taking this course.

 

[DrBowtie]

If you haven't taken physics, it will help you understand some things better.

 

[Law2Doc]

Aside from being a pre-req at some schools, what other advantages are there for taking Calculus? I'm on the fence about taking this course.

As with most prereq courses, you won't likely ever use it down the road. The advantage is simply knowledge. Some folks actually find it interesting too. But if you are looking for someone to say it makes some future course easier, or enables you to take a physics course that looks better to med schools, or will give you a leg up on the MCAT, etc. that isn't really the case.

 

[Beau Geste]

Yeah, I should have clarified -

aside from the MCAT and from Physics, are there any benefits to taking Calc?

At first I thought I wouldn't take it, but I need a better reason for myself than "It's not on the MCAT" because there are tons of things that aren't on the MCAT that are useful so I wanted a consensus about Calc.

I probably wouldn't take it until after Physics, anyway, if I did.

 

[Dave_D]

Yeah, I should have clarified -

aside from the MCAT and from Physics, are there any benefits to taking Calc?

At first I thought I wouldn't take it, but I need a better reason for myself than "It's not on the MCAT" because there are tons of things that aren't on the MCAT that are useful so I wanted a consensus about Calc.

I probably wouldn't take it until after Physics, anyway, if I did.

Well there's a couple of good reasons. For one pretty much any of the natural sciences will use calc quite a bit.(Physics 1 makes so much more sense after you take calc 1 since if you understand it it's obvious where so many of the formulas come from. It's actually hard to figure out the formulas without calc.) I'm sure that someone who majored in chem or economics could tell you how calc allows one to analyze and model data. Basically calc lets you understand how quantities change and also how things accumulate. (Which depending on your specialty may be important. Like how much faster should I give this patient anesthetic) Come to think of it I wouldn't be surprised to find out rates of growth of say cancer are far easier to get a handle on with calc.(You know, exponential growth which is another topic calc talks about and is an example of accumulation.)

At the very least calc forces you to keep your algebra skills up to snuff. (Really, that's the hard part of calc. At least in calc 1 the concepts are not that complex but you really need to have good algebra skills to work through the problems.) Of course I liked calc, can you tell? 😀

 

[dr.z]

I haven't seen any calc after the 2nd year in undergrad.

 

[blee]

Isn't calculus the 'M' part of the BCPM GPA?

 

[Beau Geste]

Isn't calculus the 'M' part of the BCPM GPA?

M= Math,

Math prereqs depend on which schools you apply to.

According to the MSAR, none of the schools I want to apply to require it.

I've had all the Math preceding Calculus (Algebra, Trig, Pre-Calc)

 

[JimmyG]

I took Calculus my freshman year just because I had just had it in high school. I could not remember how to do a derivative or an integral or any of that Cal I jazz I learned if you asked me to right now. So, honestly, I can say, it will not help me much in the future unless I took it again. But, I feel most of the problems I have faced so far in school I can just complete with my algebraic skills. Granted, I'm still PRE med, so I can't speak for what we may encounter down the road...

Just from a class perspective, I am now in Physics II (algebra based, though) and my calculus skills haven't helped me a bit. I really don't think there is any class I have taken so far that calculus may have helped me at all (and I'm at the end of my pre-reqs plus some extras)....unless, of course, you want to take calculus-based physics one day. I liked calculus, a lot, and if you are interested in just learning the math, then take it. Otherwise, I wouldn't worry about it...

 

[Maurizio]

Well there's a couple of good reasons. For one pretty much any of the natural sciences will use calc quite a bit.(Physics 1 makes so much more sense after you take calc 1 since if you understand it it's obvious where so many of the formulas come from. It's actually hard to figure out the formulas without calc.) I'm sure that someone who majored in chem or economics could tell you how calc allows one to analyze and model data. Basically calc lets you understand how quantities change and also how things accumulate. (Which depending on your specialty may be important. Like how much faster should I give this patient anesthetic) Come to think of it I wouldn't be surprised to find out rates of growth of say cancer are far easier to get a handle on with calc.(You know, exponential growth which is another topic calc talks about and is an example of accumulation.)

At the very least calc forces you to keep your algebra skills up to snuff. (Really, that's the hard part of calc. At least in calc 1 the concepts are not that complex but you really need to have good algebra skills to work through the problems.) Of course I liked calc, can you tell? 😀

I think calculas will come in handy in research more than in med school itself.

 

[Beau Geste]

If I were to take calculus,

which would be better -

calc w/analytical geometry

or

calc for bus/social sciences

I'm not applying for an MD/PhD program, but I keep getting this nagging feeling I need to take Calculus of some sort.

 

[ShyRem]

the first one.

 

[relentless11]

I still run into calc in physiology in regards to pressure-volume curves. Although not crucial, as many have stated it is very helpful to have. If it has to do with a rate, you can be sure that a derivative is behind it, if it has to do with a curve, then you can probably use an integral for it.

Regardless of doing an MSTP or not, you will have to read scienfitic papers to keep up with the forever advancing medical sciences, and I'm sure you will run into something that would be easier to understand if you had some calc foundation.

Besides, doing calc will probably reinforce your old algebra skills too and thats useful.

 

[NonTradMed]

Well, I know Washu med school requires it as a pre-req and as others have mentioned it, it helps in physics.

As an undergrad, i had to take it because it was required and I was engineering so I couldn't complete my coursework within four years without having taken calc in high school (my undergrad set up our coursework with expectations that everyone had a minimal of one or two semester of calc in high school).

It's also useful in research, understanding certain science papers, and in my case, in our biology lab calculations. Maybe it was just my school. I'm at a different school now for some bio classes and the science courseload here is alot less calc intensive. I guess it will depend on what school you go to. Some schools seems to expect you to have calc and will teach everything with that foundation, while other schools will not and will feed you the stuff through algebra. My advice? Best to take calc because you never know where you're gonna go. Besides, taking calc will look good on your college application, shows you are willing to take 'difficult' classes. Again, could just be that my school looks at it that way, but that's been my experience.

 

[eralza]

Aside from the pure academic joy of learning the area under a curve for physio stuff (as stated by previous poster), the benefit for a basic medical education would be about nada. When we had our lecture on respiratory physiology last week, I looked at the curve that was flashed on the screen for 30 seconds and thought, "wow, I could use calculus to figure out the area under that thing!"... then we were off on another topic and the thought was wiped from my mind (until this minute).

 

[Tribeca]

Megboo,

I'm like you, I'm debating whether to take calc. I'm already finishing up on physics so it won't help me in that area. I'm just scared it'll hurt my BCPM grade if i don't do well. I remeber taking it in HS and having to work super extra hard for it. I don't remeber how i did in the class, but i'm guessing not too terrible.

My friend, who is now a Pharm.D., says it's just "brain push-ups." You won't have an immediate need for it, but it'll help exercise your brain for professional school.

Maybe I'll take calc the last semester before i start med school (if accepted). Or maybe i just won't apply to schools that require calc. TeeHee. 😛

 

[montessori2md]

I think calc would only you help you understand research and/or certain areas of medicine if you actually REMEMBER any of it, which I dont 🙂 It's been 8 years since I took it, but then, it'll be that long again before I'm "really" an MD, so I'm sure it's gonna do me no good. 🙂

 

[dbhvt]

My friend, who is now a Pharm.D., says it's just "brain push-ups." You won't have an immediate need for it, but it'll help exercise your brain for professional school.

Don't underestimate the usefullness of calc as 'brain pushups', as you say. I strongly believe that really digging into calculus can expand your mind in a particular and very helpful way. This is something you can't really get from bio classes.

 

[Beau Geste]

Here's another thought....

how many of you that took Calc only took Calc I, and how many took Calc II (and III if available)?

I am thinking I will probably take Calc in the summer, but the non-calc-based physics since I plan on taking physics and o-chem together and also have my business to run this fall.

But I was curious as to how many took Calc and how far they went with it.

Thanks.

I wish I knew how to do a poll for this!

 

[saxquiz]

I would think that the admissions people at med schools would favor you taking "difficult" classes like Calc rather than buisness math or some other joke course. Plus, Calc is fun... if you have a good teacher that is. Otherwise, it'll be hell and unless you're a math person, the concepts won't come together like they should. I'd take it if I were you just so you know what all the fuss it about when people talk about Calculus throughout your life.

 

[Static Line]

Aside from being a pre-req at some schools, what other advantages are there for taking Calculus? I'm on the fence about taking this course.

It's usually required as a pre req as just another way for many schools to measure your ability to reason through difficult problems.

 

[Beau Geste]

It's usually required as a pre req as just another way for many schools to measure your ability to reason through difficult problems.

No, it's not required for any of the schools I want to apply to. Otherwise I wouldn't even have asked the question.

 

[JimmyG]

I only took Cal I. Didn't go any further.

My roommate in undergrad was a math major and we also went to high school together and had the same Calculus teacher in high school. I remember some conversation going kind of like Cal I was easiest, Cal II made little sense and then Cal III was easier again. I just remember thinking after our little discussion on Calculus, I wasn't going to go any further than Cal I....

But, you may get better views from people who actually TOOK the courses 🙄

 

[Beau Geste]

I would think that the admissions people at med schools would favor you taking "difficult" classes like Calc rather than buisness math or some other joke course. Plus, Calc is fun... if you have a good teacher that is. Otherwise, it'll be hell and unless you're a math person, the concepts won't come together like they should. I'd take it if I were you just so you know what all the fuss it about when people talk about Calculus throughout your life.

This is a good point. I'm going to take it!

 

[relentless11]

No, it's not required for any of the schools I want to apply to. Otherwise I wouldn't even have asked the question.

Yea I've never heard them say its "required" but statistics doesn't cover the whole thing either. At UC, they say like statistics only covers a portion of this requirement. The lowest math course we have is calculus, so no where to go..haha.

 

[2Sexy4MedSchool]

Aside from being a pre-req at some schools, what other advantages are there for taking Calculus?

The one and only reason for anyone to take calculus who isn't an engineer/science geek is....


.... you will finally learn how many licks it takes to get to the center of a tootsie roll pop.