Retake Calculus?

[PB2464]

I'm starting my informal postbac program in two weeks. I'm retaking all of my prereqs, as my advisor suggested, to help prepare for the MCAT (I forgot a ton!) and because most are at least 7-8 years old. I plan on studying for two years, with the second year consisting of Org Chem/upper level sciences/MCAT prep
My full-time schedule for this Fall is:
---
Bio I
Chem I
Phys I
Applied Calculus
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No labs
13 hrs

I received a C in Calculus in high school when I took the course for advanced credit. My current advisor let me decide on whether I should retake Calculus. She suggested that I take Applied Calculus for non-science majors, as it will be easier. I agreed, but after thinking, I'm not sure that I should even retake it. Also, I'm pretty sure that Applied Calculus will do nothing to erase a C in Calculus I.
So, should I retake Calculus or take a course such as Behavioral Neuroscience, as she also suggested? I want to have a full-time workload but I don't want to add Organic Chem into the mix to keep the level of difficulty down for my first semester.
I haven't had any math since senior year of high school so I'm even wondering if I'll be able to jump right into Calculus I anyway. I'd probably have to start over with Pre-Calc.

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[cheezer]

i basic knowledge of calc will help with physics and chem 2. non sci calc shouldn't be too bad. it might not erase the c, but it'll refresh your fundamental math skills.

either that or i'd just review trig, logs, derivatives, oh and integration

 

[njbmd]

I'm starting my informal postbac program in two weeks. I'm retaking all of my prereqs, as my advisor suggested, to help prepare for the MCAT (I forgot a ton!) and because most are at least 7-8 years old. I plan on studying for two years, with the second year consisting of Org Chem/upper level sciences/MCAT prep
My full-time schedule for this Fall is:
---
Bio I
Chem I
Phys I
Applied Calculus
---
No labs
13 hrs

I received a C in Calculus in high school when I took the course for advanced credit. My current adviser let me decide on whether I should retake Calculus. She suggested that I take Applied Calculus for non-science majors, as it will be easier. I agreed, but after thinking, I'm not sure that I should even retake it. Also, I'm pretty sure that Applied Calculus will do nothing to erase a C in Calculus I.
So, should I retake Calculus or take a course such as Behavioral Neuroscience, as she also suggested? I want to have a full-time workload but I don't want to add Organic Chem into the mix to keep the level of difficulty down for my first semester.
I haven't had any math since senior year of high school so I'm even wondering if I'll be able to jump right into Calculus I anyway. I'd probably have to start over with Pre-Calc.

Retaking Calculus is not going to erase a "C" in a previously taken course and is likely unnecessary unless you feel that you love the challenge of this math course and would like to have an update of the subject matter.

You DO need to have a very strong working knowledge of university-level algebra and trig in order to do well in your chemistry and physics coursework. If you don't need or want calculus, then make sure that the math you do NEED is up to par. Most people struggle with Chemistry and Physics because of poor math skills. If this is not you, then take an upper-division biology (or chemistry) course that will be of interest to you and do well.

 

[PB2464]

Maybe I will go ahead and drop the Applied Calculus course and take College Algebra, as a refresher, along with the other courses. This way I'll still be a full-time student but keep the level of difficulty down for my first semester. I can then always retake Calculus I in the future and will be better prepared.

 

[stbxTechie]

I received a C in Calculus in high school when I took the course for advanced credit.

Was this a college course, or just an HS-level AP course?
If the latter, how does the credit for it show up on your college transcript?

I haven't had any math since senior year of high school so I'm even wondering if I'll be able to jump right into Calculus I anyway. I'd probably have to start over with Pre-Calc.

Taking a more basic review math course might not be a bad idea; Calc is also a surprisingly poor refresher for more basic stuff like Trig and Algebra. I tried taking Calc I as an undergrad after C's in precalc in HS and ended up with a C- my first time around... and then re-took it as a grad student and got a B, and neither time did they spend really any time on the stuff I could have used a refresher in for algrebra/trig/precalc (*bleep*ing proofs by induction and set theory stuff would have helped a lot with CompSci grad classes.)

 

[PB2464]

I received college credit through a local university for the AP Calculus course that I took in high school. I ended up with a B for the year but they reported my midterm grade, C, to the university. I should have never transferred that credit. Oh well.
Jumping into this Applied Calc course just sounds like a bad idea.

 

[PB2464]

Ok, I dropped the Applied Calculus course and signed up for College Algebra. My only concern is that College Algebra may be too easy and a waste of time.
Any other suggestions? Should I jump into Pre-Calc instead?
I'm still debating careers in medicine and pharmacy. I know that Calculus is on the PCAT. So, I'm trying to prepare for that while also retaking a course I received a "C" in.
Should I just take an upper level Bio course and forget about math for now?

 

[stbxTechie]

I received college credit through a local university for the AP Calculus course that I took in high school. I ended up with a B for the year but they reported my midterm grade, C, to the university. I should have never transferred that credit. Oh well.

So the college transcript shows the (reported) HS grade, not just "credit for the AP course"? How annoying!

I wonder if it's worth getting in touch with both and seeing if there's any possibility of having that changed; it's not likely, but it's not impossible either - when my wife decided to go back to nursing school, she was able to boost her GPA by going back and completing a class she got an "F" in (MicroBio) rather than retaking it.

Ok, I dropped the Applied Calculus course and signed up for College Algebra. My only concern is that College Algebra may be too easy and a waste of time.
Any other suggestions? Should I jump into Pre-Calc instead?

Does your college have a math placement test at any level? Even if you're not technically required, going in for that might be a handy diagnostic of what you know.

Can you get your hands on a syllabus (or at least the name of the textbook used) for each? Do you generally prefer to dive into harder material, or would you find take something that might be a little more review to be a stronger foundation?

Should I just take an upper level Bio course and forget about math for now?

Some kind of a math refresher might be very helpful for Chemistry and Physics; OTOH, you've taken them before, so if you did well then hopefully that won't matter as much.

There's no one right answer there because it's so individual - heck, given what you said about the PCAT, the right answer might well be the applied calculus class. Probably the best thing to do at this point is to find a good way to take stock of what you really are still comfortable with or not, and to try to match that to the classes.

 

[PB2464]

Thanks for the help. I'm going to take your advise, skim through the physics/chem books to see how comfortable I am with the math, then decide on where to start.
Taking College Algebra is a waste if I'm already familiar with the math used.
Depending on my comfort level, I will take College Algebra or Pre-Calc. I will then be ready to take Calc, if needed.