Preparing for Pre-Calculus...

[RuralPhysician8]

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I was not really sure where to put this topic. I am pretty sure I have decided which university to attend; I have already been accepted to it, I just have to finish up my senior year of high school. Anyway I will be required to take pre-cal before physics courses and because I am not the strongest math student (I currently average a "B" and all my other classes are "A"s) I was wondering if anyone had some good advice on studying and when to take it in college. I have ordered a pre-cal textbook that I plan on studying on the side. Also, I can take it next semester in high school as one of my final courses, but I am concerned that if I do not achieve atleast a "C" then I may inhibit my eligibility for some scholarships. Should I take the slight risk and give it a try?

 

[Digsbe]

Take pre-reqs as soon as possible. That way if you do poorly you still have time to retake the class in a worst case scenario. Don't wait until senior or junior year to do pre-reqs and trying to scramble together a schedule that lets you graduate on time and have all your med school pre-reqs.

I never took pre-calculus, but in my undergrad I took trig, stats and calc 1. Math is also not my gift and I didn't particularly enjoy it. The trick (for me at least) to surviving calc 1 was to do practice problems for roughly 10-30 minutes per day with more intense study before an exam. Everyone studies differently but with almost all mathematics the way to get through things is to work out the math problems until you are confident in your abilities to solve them without the use of notes. If you find yourself struggling in pre-calc and fear you may make below a C (and lose scholarships) then drop the course before the drop date. However, you don't want too many W's appearing on your transcript and you should be able to explain why you dropped with a good reason for doing so. I took calc 1 and dropped it when my grandmother died. I was taking the max credit load at my undergrad university. Calc 1 was a very time intensive class and in order for me to make good grades in all my classes I knew that I had to drop one in order to do well and have the time to be with my family and go get through the funeral and burial (my grandmother's burial was out of state for me and I had to take a few days off to travel).

 

[RuralPhysician8]

Take pre-reqs as soon as possible. That way if you do poorly you still have time to retake the class in a worst case scenario. Don't wait until senior or junior year to do pre-reqs and trying to scramble together a schedule that lets you graduate on time and have all your med school pre-reqs.

I never took pre-calculus, but in my undergrad I took trig, stats and calc 1. Math is also not my gift and I didn't particularly enjoy it. The trick (for me at least) to surviving calc 1 was to do practice problems for roughly 10-30 minutes per day with more intense study before an exam. Everyone studies differently but with almost all mathematics the way to get through things is to work out the math problems until you are confident in your abilities to solve them without the use of notes. If you find yourself struggling in pre-calc and fear you may make below a C (and lose scholarships) then drop the course before the drop date. However, you don't want too many W's appearing on your transcript and you should be able to explain why you dropped with a good reason for doing so. I took calc 1 and dropped it when my grandmother died. I was taking the max credit load at my undergrad university. Calc 1 was a very time intensive class and in order for me to make good grades in all my classes I knew that I had to drop one in order to do well and have the time to be with my family and go get through the funeral and burial (my grandmother's burial was out of state for me and I had to take a few days off to travel).

Thank you and my condolences regarding your grandmother. I have been using the same strategy to study a general chemistry textbook (my high school chemistry class was not at all thorough) so I will also use it for pre-cal. I plan on doing some intense studying over the holiday break coming up, if I feel comfortable after reading a few chapters into pre-cal, would it be a bad ideal to take it as my final high school math class?

 

[Digsbe]

Thank you and my condolences regarding your grandmother. I have been using the same strategy to study a general chemistry textbook (my high school chemistry class was not at all thorough) so I will also use it for pre-cal. I plan on doing some intense studying over the holiday break coming up, if I feel comfortable after reading a few chapters into pre-cal, would it be a bad ideal to take it as my final high school math class?

Thanks, she passed away last year but I still appreciate the condolences.

It wouldn't hurt to take pre-cal in your senior year of high school. It may be beneficial though to see if you can take some form of AP math credit or a class that transfers and counts as college credit. If you have already been accepted into a university I don't think taking pre-cal in high school and making a C in it would hurt you unless that would somehow rescind your acceptance.

 

[MedPR]

I suggest taking it senior year. That way it will hurt you the least (in terms of chances at matriculating) If you do poorly.

Sent from my SGH-T999 using SDN Mobile

 

[RuralPhysician8]

Thanks everyone, I will look into taking the class next semester. So to keep myself on track during my undergraduate curriculum, should I take all my pre-medical courses right before my junior year?

 

[MedPR]

Thanks everyone, I will look into taking the class next semester. So to keep myself on track during my undergraduate curriculum, should I take all my pre-medical courses right before my junior year?

The generic timeline (at least at my undergrad) for biology/pre-med majors was as follows:

Freshman year = bio 1, bio 2, chem 1, and chem 2
Sophomore year = molecular cell bio, biochem, orgo 1, and orgo 2
Junior year = upper level bio, upper level bio, physics 1, and physics 2
Senior year = 2 upper level bio.

The reason I suggested you put off math (which you admit is a weak point for you) is because the first 2 years of premed are typically considered the weed-out years. Classes are going to be harder and professors are purposely going to try to get students to quit the pre-med track (presumably). No reason to add to that by subjecting yourself to a class you know you won't be comfortable in. I don't like english classes and I took 2/3 of my english requirement the last semester of undergrad for that very reason.

 

[RuralPhysician8]

The generic timeline (at least at my undergrad) for biology/pre-med majors was as follows:

Freshman year = bio 1, bio 2, chem 1, and chem 2
Sophomore year = molecular cell bio, biochem, orgo 1, and orgo 2
Junior year = upper level bio, upper level bio, physics 1, and physics 2
Senior year = 2 upper level bio.

The reason I suggested you put off math (which you admit is a weak point for you) is because the first 2 years of premed are typically considered the weed-out years. Classes are going to be harder and professors are purposely going to try to get students to quit the pre-med track (presumably). No reason to add to that by subjecting yourself to a class you know you won't be comfortable in. I don't like english classes and I took 2/3 of my english requirement the last semester of undergrad for that very reason.

Thanks for verifying the "weed-out" time period, I had heard about it but I did not know the usually time period, I will take that into account as I register for classes in the summer. So how is this for a freshman year...
Semester one
Biology 1
English
Social Science
Chemistry 1
Semester two
Biology 2
A course toward satisfying a minor
Chemistry 2
A course going toward a major, which will probably be Microbiology.
I do not think I will "technichally" be a pre-medicine student, but the university's Microbiology program has the same requirements.

 

[weezynation]

The generic timeline (at least at my undergrad) for biology/pre-med majors was as follows:

Freshman year = bio 1, bio 2, chem 1, and chem 2
Sophomore year = molecular cell bio, biochem, orgo 1, and orgo 2
Junior year = upper level bio, upper level bio, physics 1, and physics 2
Senior year = 2 upper level bio.

The reason I suggested you put off math (which you admit is a weak point for you) is because the first 2 years of premed are typically considered the weed-out years. Classes are going to be harder and professors are purposely going to try to get students to quit the pre-med track (presumably). No reason to add to that by subjecting yourself to a class you know you won't be comfortable in. I don't like english classes and I took 2/3 of my english requirement the last semester of undergrad for that very reason.

Wow your school had you take biochem your sophomore year? It must really depend on the school so OP should probably make sure it's a sophomore level class. At my school, the joke was to take biochem your junior year so you could fail it and then retake and pass your senior year with a C so you could graduate.

 

[mwahnster]

Wow your school had you take biochem your sophomore year? It must really depend on the school so OP should probably make sure it's a sophomore level class. At my school, the joke was to take biochem your junior year so you could fail it and then retake and pass your senior year with a C so you could graduate.

Agreed. At my school, the prereqs for biochem were bio 2 and orgo 2, so you couldn't really take it until at least jr yr.

 

[Mehd School]

I suggest you enjoy your last semester of high school.

Intense studying over Christmas break isn't something a 17 year old should have to do.

Work hard, but you need to relax man.

 

[MedPR]

Thanks for verifying the "weed-out" time period, I had heard about it but I did not know the usually time period, I will take that into account as I register for classes in the summer. So how is this for a freshman year...
Semester one
Biology 1
English
Social Science
Chemistry 1
Semester two
Biology 2
A course toward satisfying a minor
Chemistry 2
A course going toward a major, which will probably be Microbiology.
I do not think I will "technichally" be a pre-medicine student, but the university's Microbiology program has the same requirements.

Just try to time your classes so that you can do well and also complete your major/minor in 4 years. My schedule was like this.

Freshman 1st semester:
Bio 1
Chem 1
Humanities
Calculus 1

Freshman 2nd semester:
Bio 2
Chem 2
Humanities
Spanish
1 credit pre-med class

Wow your school had you take biochem your sophomore year? It must really depend on the school so OP should probably make sure it's a sophomore level class. At my school, the joke was to take biochem your junior year so you could fail it and then retake and pass your senior year with a C so you could graduate.

Yea, second semester. I thought it was normal until I talked to pre-meds at other schools and they all either didn't need to take it or were able to take it whenever. 👎