Math course selection

[deleted1038633]

Good morning everyone,

I'll try to keep this post short and sweet. I'm a freshman in undergrad and thankfully my grades are all well and intact. I will soon be picking classes for my spring term of my freshman year and I was kind of stuck at my math courses to take. I am a biology major and I've done some fair amount of research. I've seen a trend that taking both Calculus and Statistics is something medical schools prefer. I will be taking statistics during summer and potentially Calculus during spring. I had the option to pick between Elementary Calculus and Calculus I. So here are my two questions.

Would it seem "worse" if I picked elementary calculus instead of Calculus I? I took Calc BC in high school but had a really terrible experience in that class so I'm kind of scared I'll get screwed over.

And for my second question, are medical schools fine with classes being taken in summer online? Aka my statistic class.

Thank you very much for your time for whoever reads this

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[zorcandpals]

Generally fine to take a class or two in the summer. They don't like online classes but in Covid time I think it wouldnt be too hard to explain assuming a lot of places are still doing online come summer.

Whats the difference between elementary calc? Does it cover differential and integral calculus? It might look nominally worse but in the end, I dont think it will matter.

 

[deleted1038633]

Generally fine to take a class or two in the summer. They don't like online classes but in Covid time I think it wouldnt be too hard to explain assuming a lot of places are still doing online come summer.

Whats the difference between elementary calc? Does it cover differential and integral calculus? It might look nominally worse but in the end, I dont think it will matter.

So here' the description for elementary calc for my university:

Course Description (3 credit hours.) Calculus of one real variable related to rational, exponential, and logarithmic functions. Topics include the limits of functions, derivatives of algebraic, exponential, and logarithmic functions and their inverses and the definite integral and its economic applications: Consumer Surplus, Producer Surplus; and applications of integrating growth and decay models. Also included are applications of the derivative including maximum and minimum problems in business and economics.

Here's the description for calc 1 for my university:

Course Description: Introduction to calculus of one real variable; limits; continuity; derivatives; applications of derivatives including Newton’s method, graphing techniques, optimization, indeterminate forms and l’Hospital’s rule; antiderivatives; includes transcendental functions.

So yeah, honestly I'm not sure. I feel like I should just go with Calc 1 but I lowkey got PTSD from that Calc BC class I had in high school... but to be fair, the class was extremely rushed and I had 6 other heavy classes to care about. So idk.

 

[LunaOri]

It looks like the elementary class is more about applications of calculus for business/economics, and the Calculus 1 is more theoretical. Does one of these interest you more than the other? Are either of the professors especially good?

 

[deleted1038633]

It looks like the elementary class is more about applications of calculus for business/economics, and the Calculus 1 is more theoretical. Does one of these interest you more than the other? Are either of the professors especially good?

Tbh, none of them interest me. After I got screwed hard on Calc BC in my senior year of high school, I hated math ever since. Maybe I should look into the professors though.. but apart from that, I don't know if medical schools would really care on which one I take for my upcoming spring term..

 

[zorcandpals]

Given the descritpions; it seems that elementary calc is also part of a series similar to how calc I is part of a series. I don't really think one will be easier or harder than the other nor is it really going to matter which one you take.

 

[deleted1038633]

Given the descritpions; it seems that elementary calc is also part of a series similar to how calc I is part of a series. I don't really think one will be easier or harder than the other nor is it really going to matter which one you take.

Oh okay. Honestly, I was just going off what my pre-med counselor told me. He told me that taking elementary calculus is just as fine as taking calc 1 for medical schools and that if I don't want to annoy myself with hard math, I might as well just take elementary calculus since "it's less work and less in difficulty."

 

[LunaOri]

Take the easier course. I doubt that medical schools would care.