Calculus III or Statistics

[nickmx50]

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I'm taking Calculus II this winter, and I'm contemplating what to take in the spring. I've noticed some med schools are asking for a full year of calc or statistics. I tested into Calc I so I skipped statistics completely. When I see comments like, "Statistics is strongly recommended" makes me wonder If I should go back and take it instead of Calc III. Or if I take Calc III will they assume I have sufficient math skills anyway?

 

[Drrrrrr. Celty]

I'm taking Calculus II this winter, and I'm contemplating what to take in the spring. I've noticed some med schools are asking for a full year of calc or statistics. I tested into Calc I so I skipped statistics completely. When I see comments like, "Statistics is strongly recommended" makes me wonder If I should go back and take it instead of Calc III. Or if I take Calc III will they assume I have sufficient math skills anyway?

i'd take stat..
unless calc 3 is required for your major
then yes.. stat is the better

 

[JJMrK]

Stats is probably a much easier A. I'd take that as well.

 

[DendWrite]

If you did well in Calc 1 and 2 and like math, Calc 3 could be an easy GPA boost (but it really depends on how it's taught at your school -- ask around). Stats is going to be much more useful to you in the long run (interpreting studies, reading papers etc). I'd take both if you are good at math and enjoyed Calc. I know that a -lot- of schools recommend statistics and it's actually one of the few pre-med classes that you'll probably find directly corresponds with something you might use in real life.

If you only have time to do one, and you already have Calc 1 and 2, do stats for sure.

 

[Jorriss]

Calc III.

It's an easy A, the problems are easy mechanically, but it's just such a rich course.

I really dug sequences/series and Calc III blew it away.

Take Calc III if you want a good course.

 

[SN2ed]

Take stats. I know I was surprised by the number of schools that strongly recommended or required it in addition to calc. Conversely, no schools recommend or require calc III.

 

[nickmx50]

thanks for the info. Sounds like Stats is the way to go.

 

[roaming]

engineering major here.

different types of people like calc 3 from those that like stat. as to what an above poster said about calc 3 being easy, i would not bank on that. it really depends on your professor and your university. i started with calc 3 in college, then took probability, differential equations, and statistics, and calc 3 was by far the hardest of the those courses because most our exams were hard proofs. i would say if you want more application things, try to take a combination of probability & statistics in some sort of applied mathematics department where you will have a lot more examples than proofs.

 

[JonathanMD]

I vote for stats.

Not only is it an easier class but it'll give you a better understanding of research articles when they break down the results. Even if you're not interested in research itself, you're still going to be reading lots of articles.

 

[alexlex143]

I took Calc III for fun. It was challenging for me but my professor was a total dud...most boring human being I've ever met in my life. I'm sure it could have been much more interesting and much easier if I had a better professor. even having him though, it wasn't too bad. I liked sequences and series too and the concepts weren't hard. IMO, though, it's a bit of a gamble.

I would suggest taking stats. It's an easy A. easier than calc III at least...

 

[nickmx50]

Thank for all the continuing feedback. For the record I'm not looking for an easy "A". I've very confident I can get an "A" in either. My concern is creating the best possible profile to get into med-school and secondly learning the best skills to help me when I get there.

 

[MilkmanAl]

Calc III.

It's an easy A, the problems are easy mechanically, but it's just such a rich course.

I really dug sequences/series and Calc III blew it away.

Take Calc III if you want a good course.

Easy A? Not so sure about that...In any event, Calc 3 is almost completely worthless for a med student, while stats is actually pretty useful. No matter where you go, I can't see Calc 3 being an easier A than stats. That class is super crazy easy. A "year of calculus" just means through Calc 2, anyway. In sum, stats is easier and quite useful, while Calc 3 is totally unnecessary no matter how you look at it. I don't see any choice, here.