Engineering question

[stupibname]

I have a question for anyone who has/is taking engineering. I took BC calc 11th grade and IB HL Math 12th grade and am unsure whether to skip the first two years of calc in college and take differential equations freshman year... IB Math is not really calc intensive and I fear I might have forgotten some of what I learned in 11th grade. Does anyone have any input on the soundness of this... is it smarter to just retake calc for a realitively easy A an forego the Ap credit or skip to diferential equations? On a side note if I have AP credit for general chem should I skip this as well and take orgo or do med schools frown on this? Thanks for any input

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[sandg]

I have a question for anyone who has/is taking engineering. I took BC calc 11th grade and IB HL Math 12th grade and am unsure whether to skip the first two years of calc in college and take differential equations freshman year... IB Math is not really calc intensive and I fear I might have forgotten some of what I learned in 11th grade. Does anyone have any input on the soundness of this... is it smarter to just retake calc for a realitively easy A an forego the Ap credit or skip to diferential equations? On a side note if I have AP credit for general chem should I skip this as well and take orgo or do med schools frown on this? Thanks for any input

This is my personal opinion; hopefully you'll get some other advice. I would recommend going to diff eq's. Here's why:
I myself was/am doing engineering besides pre-med, and any way you slice it, that's a lot of work. If you opt out of calc, that will free up some space for you to fit in a pre-med or general education class. Many of my pre-med classes did not count toward my engineering requirements. My junior year, I was taking organic chemistry as an "extra" fifth class because there were 3 engineering lectures and labs as well as a history/humanities/etc. class I had to fit in. I am not whining, but those were not the most fun of times. So the moral of the story is, as you get into the heart of your engineering and pre-med work you will probably appreciate having saved yourself some time. Good luck.

 

[tinkerbelle]

I loved Diff Eq, and it's a great course. But it would be nice to have a mini-refresher before jumping into such a hardcore math class. So I think you should retake clac II and go for the easy A. A lot of people in my class (including me ) did the same exact thing.

As for General Chem, it was practicaly the exact same stuff I learned in high school. It was such a waste of time retaking the class. I'd take the AP credit and move onto orgo.

Good luck Engineering is a great major (hard, but still pretty awesome)!

 

[JETER]

I loved Diff Eq, and it's a great course. But it would be nice to have a mini-refresher before jumping into such a hardcore math class. So I think you should retake clac II and go for the easy A. A lot of people in my class (including me ) did the same exact thing.

I agree with tinkerbelle about waiting on the diff E Q, but for a different reason. Without a doubt, differential equations in the most important math course that you will use in engineering (as an undergrad; after that partial becomes king). HOWEVER, you won't really get into engineering applications using diff E Q until your upper-level courses. I took it when I was a soph, and I had to continually look back as a junior and senior, because I forgot so much of it.

My suggestion: take linear algebra and stats (both easy classes) your freshman year, then move on to differential and difference when you are closer to actually using it in engineering.

I hope this helps.

 

[Shredder]

i have other advice: screw engineering. its unnecessarily hard for a premed to have to go through, and your gpa will suffer. either that, or other aspects of your life will suffer. something will suffer though, rest assured.

as far as skipping classes, ive skipped everything i have been allowed to free up hours so i can take other interesting classes or take fewer hours. sometimes this has led to classes being harder for me than others, but if you work at it you can get As.

 

[Hoberto]

I had 6 whopping years between Calc and Diff EQ. Trust me I had forgotten most everything....but did fine in the class. It's a cool class and you'll use it a lot in undergrad. I took a Maple based course and it was awesome. I even used Maple in my research and in grad school. If there is something like this offered where you are I highly recommend it.

As for the dilemma....you could attend both the Calc and diff eq and decide which one to take after the first week or two.

 

[Hoberto]

(after that partial becomes king)

No kidding on that one!

 

[wire]

I was an engineer for undergrad, here's my advice. Engineering is hard enough to get the grades for med school. Take Calc 1 and Calc 2 - Easy A, and you might be surprised about what they throw at you that you didn't previously know. Remember Calc 1 and Calc 2 are also counted in your science GPA for med school, so it helps your cumulative and your science GPA.

 

[heech]

I have no idea why there're so many years between BC Calc and linear algebra/differential equations in your courses. Here's the setup I had:

- BC calculus in high school,
- 1 year of calculus in college (University of California), consisting of these 3 quarter-length courses: linear algebra, differential equations .. and.. uh.. oops. Managed to forget that 3rd one already.

That was the extent of my math requirements in engineering at UC Berkeley.

 

[cunam_amoris]

Take all the calcs the engineering school offers. I am getting my masters in mechanical this semester before med school in August. Should be easy for you if you had calc in high school.