Math Prep

[meliora27]

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Hi all,

I'm going to be beginning the whole "pre-med" most bacc rout in a month or so. I graudated from a liberal arts college with a degree in political science and philosophy and completed an honors thesis on Chinese Healthcare Policy. As it was a liberal arts school, I had a lot of electives in accounting, business, and econ courses and ended up taking a finance job out of college. It's only been a year and I know that this is not for me. I've always been interested in science and medicine and don't want to go through life regretting not following a dream. I'll be taking pre-calc and an EMT course this summer before starting bio and gen chem in the fall. It's been a while since I've taken a math class and I was wondering if anyone can suggest a review book for brushing up on some skills before taking pre-calc since it's been a while. Math has never been my strongest subject and I've had to work really hard in it for As and Bs. Any suggestions are welcome. Thanks in advance.

 

[cheezer]

The secret to doing well in math is doing lots of problems.

And good luck finding a book. =)

 

[rhlsg]

If you really want to get started, I'd suggest getting an algebra book and doing a lot of practice problems so you familarize yourself with different equations. You'll be doing this a lot, especially in Physics. AND Trigonometry will be a MUST for Physics.

Having said that, if you're taking a pre-calc class over summer, you should be fine.

 

[meliora27]

Any other suggestions?

 

[uzbekistevie]

I was in a similar position two years ago. (degree in accounting, business job, just finished an EMT class.) Except math has always been a strong point for me so I thought that I could go straight into physics without any math review. I was wrong. In the first week of physics I knew I was not going to do well without a math refresher so I dropped physics and signed up for college algebra/pre-calculus. Only it had been almost 10 years since I had needed to factor polynomials or anything like that and had no idea what was going on. So I dropped that class and enrolled in intermediate algebra. Then the next semester I took both the college algebra/pre-calc class and trigonometry. Then I finally felt ready for physics.

I guess my tip is this: Don't be afraid to drop down a level if you're not comfortable with the class or think you need more help with math. You want to give yourself every opportunity to succeed. Use any resources avaible to you such as tutoring centers, extra discussion sections or whatever it is you need to do well in the class. If it takes more time, it takes more time. I'm glad I spent a year brushing up on math so I could easily get A's in physics rather than struggling through to get B's or C's because of some timetable I had in my mind. Oh, and I think you should DEFINITELY take trigonometry before you take physics. It was one of the best decisions I made and it will help you tremendously. Good luck!

 

[Meatwad]

While I may not have personal experience with this (I'm traditional age, 21, and a mathematics major still in undergrad), I agree with the above poster. Math is one of the few subjects that is really cumulative; you can't jump into certain topics and hit the ground running (you could argue this is possible in some subject like biology, etc.) Definitely build you foundations, understand the material, and move on with confidence. Pre-calculus is a very easy class, I remember taking it in high-school. Even calculus 1 and 2 are both very easy if you do a lot of practice problems. You'll do fine.

 

[meliora27]

A friend of mine who's still in undergrad saves all of his textbooks. I let me have his "Intermediate Algerbra" text. Do you think going through the book for a few weeks before precalc starts would be helpful or should I just get a "crashcourse" review in Algebra at a local bookstore?

 

[LUCPM]

If you have taken math during your undergrad years and you feel ok with basic algebra, either way should be fine. When I started my post-bacc, my math was 10 years old and I had to review algebra for about a week before I took precalc. It was very frustrating at the beginning because I made a mistake on almost every single problems. However, by the end of the week, I was able to pick up the pace and felt pretty comfortable.

You will also be glad you have precalc prior to any science class. It will make your life so much easier in the long run.

Good luck!

 

[uzbekistevie]

I think either the borrowed text or the "crash course" will be fine. Both of them will get you what you want -- a review of math concepts necessary for your pre-calc class.