precalculus

[highlyfavored]

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Has anyone taken calculus without taking precalculus? If so, was is really difficult to start with calculus?

 

[smallkitty00]

Has anyone taken calculus without taking precalculus? If so, was is really difficult to start with calculus?

I didn't take precalculus before calculus and it wasn't too bad. They will teach you everything, pretending like you knew nothing before. I only went up to Algebra 2 in high school and I got all A's for my calculus. So, don't worry!

 

[Snowcat]

They usually give you a quick run-through of precalculus before starting off in calculus. You don't really need the precal, it's just a good foundation.

 

[highlyfavored]

Thanks, guys! I would like to skip precal, but the college where I'm going to take the class requires precal before letting me register for calculus. I'm disappointed, b/c I'm on a schedule here and I have a couple of other classes I need to take for admission into pharmacy school for 2007. 🙁 This will hold me up for the summer, cause I'll have to take precal 1 and 2 before taking cal 1. 😡

 

[Julianne]

Thanks, guys! I would like to skip precal, but the college where I'm going to take the class requires precal before letting me register for calculus. I'm disappointed, b/c I'm on a schedule here and I have a couple of other classes I need to take for admission into pharmacy school for 2007. 🙁 This will hold me up for the summer, cause I'll have to take precal 1 and 2 before taking cal 1. 😡

Is there any way that you might be able to test out of the lower level classes? I was able to take a "competency" test to gauge my math skills and placed into CalI (I ended up taking Precal/Trig anyway since I had been out of school for over 10 years at that point and felt I needed a refresher)...

 

[highlyfavored]

[Good news

I just got off the phone with the head of the math dept. He gave me a waiver so I can bypass precal! 😀 He said if I fail it I will be in big trouble with him. he, he!! It's been a long time since I've taken algebra and trig, so I'm hoping you guys are right about the professor giving a little background info. The head of the dept said they may not do that since it's in the summer and a short time period. Oh, well, I'm in! 😀

 

[JustTiff]

Has anyone taken calculus without taking precalculus? If so, was is really difficult to start with calculus?

I am also taking calculus without precalculus. I was counting on a review at the beginning so I'm glad that's what some people posted because that makes me feel better. I am trying to shorten my timeframe, with all of the science courses I still need, I'll probably be doing my prereq's for another year. I'm worried about taking on so much at a time, A&P, Chem, Physics, and part of the year also doing Calculus. 😱
Good luck!

 

[ndearwater]

Don't worry guys! I'm horrible at math and took calculus over a summer (Summer C, I think it was 12 weeks) with NO pre-calculus and I got a B. It was by no means easy but it did not assume you knew anything more than basic trig and algebra. Any "pre-calculus" was covered in the class.
But still it was a wretched way to spend the summer- word to the wise, do not miss even 1 class!
Good luck you'll be fine! 🙂

 

[Snowcat]

Congrats on getting into calculus!

Also - in case anyone needs this info: if you really need to get into calculus to stay on track with your schedule, you might want to look into independent study. I took Calc 1 as independent study from Louisiana State Univ (http://is.lsu.edu), then continued with the following calc sequence at my school.

Some colleges may count independent study courses against you (i.e. not have them weigh as much as "regular" courses), but hey, sometimes you gotta do what you gotta do. 😉

 

[highlyfavored]

Congrats on getting into calculus!

Also - in case anyone needs this info: if you really need to get into calculus to stay on track with your schedule, you might want to look into independent study. I took Calc 1 as independent study from Louisiana State Univ (http://is.lsu.edu), then continued with the following calc sequence at my school.

Some colleges may count independent study courses against you (i.e. not have them weigh as much as "regular" courses), but hey, sometimes you gotta do what you gotta do. 😉

That doesn't look too bad...good price too. I thought about taking it throught texas tech (http://www.depts.ttu.edu/distancelearning/). I decided not to do independent study, b/c I wasn't sure if I'd understand all the concepts without having someone go over them. 😳

 

[Snowcat]

That doesn't look too bad...good price too.

It was the cheapest course I could find on the Internet ... last year, I don't know about now. Haha no, I don't attend or work at Louisiana State - I haven't even been to Louisiana! Some places were charging $1200!!

 

[BiOGoly]

Has anyone taken calculus without taking precalculus? If so, was is really difficult to start with calculus?

You don't really need "precalc" before you take calculus. However, you really ought to be up to par on Algebra skills and at least know basic trig functions (law of cosines, trig identities, ect.). Calculus is a big topic and often can be a very different experience depending on the instructor. My former instructor liked to work mathematical concepts from previous classes into the calculus problems on exams, so if you didn't brush up you could easily fail...even if you had the calc fundementals down (wasn't a popular guy, but as a grad student could probably give a rat's). Just do a lot of problems, that's the best way to learn...

 

[darkangel77]

I did up to Algebra II/Trigonometry in high school before going into calc in my first year. I didn't have a very good teacher so needless to say, I didn't do very well. I retook the course last summer at Yale University and came out with a B.

 

[attia]

they do think that u know the basics basically basic trig i think u should know the trig circle i had trouble with that cause i didnt take precalc

 

[pAwSN]

I don't think precalc is really necessary if you have a good background of at least algebra and trig. I didn't take precal, but I did have to do a lot of review of trig and basic algebra on my own because i had it so long ago. I did well in calculus and now im in calc II doing pretty well

 

[luckyPharmD.stu]

I can totally understand if you are going to skip precalculus for calculus. Precal is nothing compared to calculus. I mean nothing. If you want a little boost to your gpa, take precal; it is much easier compared to other courses that I had.

 

[starsweet]

Maybe it's just me, but I thought calculus (at least I and II, not III and IV) were a lot easier than precalculus with all the trig functions.