Terrified of taking calculus and physics!

[BacardiGirl]

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I was not a very good math student in HS or my first go at college...managing to pass with C's at best. I took Algebra I, II, Geometry, and 1 semester of Physics in HS, and Basic math and Intermediate algebra in college 9 years ago. Needless to say, I think those courses are interesting/numbers are fascinating...BUT, I just don't seem to do well in assignment or test situations. I comprehend the material in lectures, but as soon as I am set free to do it on my own, I blank out. So, looking at having to take Calc and 2 semesters of Physics for Pre-Pharm..I am freaking out a bit, very very worried about it! Any suggestions to make these awful classes easier to understand? 🙁

 

[AngelaCL]

If it's been 9 years since you've taken a math class, I would not take calculus now. Take basic algebra or algebra II/trig or something so that you get a firmer grasp of the basics before trying calculus.

Other than that, I just recommend going to office hours a lot - that's how I did well in physics. Math classes build on the basics a lot, so if you don't understand what's going on week 1 you're going to have trouble week 14. Avoid this by getting help from the get-go - office hours, a tutor, a math lab, a remedial course. The more you stay on top of it the better it will be.

 

[inquirer89]

Hey, I'm in the same boat. I did ok in HS...made a B in Honors PreCal and a low A in Stat...but I never took Calc or Physics. I don't really like math either. My advice...for both of us lol...is to do as many practice problems as possible and review homework and quizzes for the exams. They say that practice makes perfect in math/scientific classes. Have confidence and take a deep breath. You'll perform better in exams when you enter it knowing that you studied and well prepared. Good luck!

 

[crazy4clana]

Don't worry, I am TERRIBLE at math but I got through Calculus just fine. Use you resources; prof's office hours, tutors, study groups...anything that will get you by. Seeing your professor weekly (at least) is GOLD especially if you don't understand what's going on in class. As long as you keep up with the material, you should be good to go. But you better get used to math and chemistry because you will be doing A LOT of that in pharm school. Physics is well physics...same thing, just work hard and it will pay off.

BTW, I recommend The Idiot's Guide to Calculus, made it a lot easier to understand. 😉

Good luck!

 

[UES Girl]

I was not a very good math student in HS or my first go at college...managing to pass with C's at best. I took Algebra I, II, Geometry, and 1 semester of Physics in HS, and Basic math and Intermediate algebra in college 9 years ago. Needless to say, I think those courses are interesting/numbers are fascinating...BUT, I just don't seem to do well in assignment or test situations. I comprehend the material in lectures, but as soon as I am set free to do it on my own, I blank out. So, looking at having to take Calc and 2 semesters of Physics for Pre-Pharm..I am freaking out a bit, very very worried about it! Any suggestions to make these awful classes easier to understand? 🙁

Do no not be afraid of them - do not freak yourself out before you even take the actual classes.🙂 A lot of people whine and complain about physics and calculus - but they are not half as bad as people say. I've seen your threads on SDN, you seem like you got a good head on your shoulders - study hard, attend all the lectures and I'm sure you are going to do great !🙂

 

[GatorChick09]

Get tutoring! Most schools offer free tutoring so take advantage of it. Or you can go to your professor's office hours-- it's also a good way for your professor to get to know you, which can benefit you later if you need a recommendation letter or you're half a point from an A or something. When I was taking Chem 2 I visited my professor at least once a week to ask questions and stuff, and at the end of the semester I was .8 points away from a B and he gave it to me 🙂

Also, try to schedule your classes so that when you're taking Calc or Physics, you're not taking any other time-consuming classes so you can focus on it.

 

[markk122]

Don't worry, I am TERRIBLE at math but I got through Calculus just fine. Use you resources; prof's office hours, tutors, study groups...anything that will get you by. Seeing your professor weekly (at least) is GOLD especially if you don't understand what's going on in class. As long as you keep up with the material, you should be good to go. But you better get used to math and chemistry because you will be doing A LOT of that in pharm school. Physics is well physics...same thing, just work hard and it will pay off.

BTW, I recommend The Idiot's Guide to Calculus, made it a lot easier to understand. 😉

Good luck!

This is 100% true. Bother the crap out of your professors. Every single day! Get all the help you need.
Calculus is easy.... just do a million problems, no way around it.
Physics on the other hand.... just stinks. sorry.

 

[crazy4clana]

Forgot to add, if you have very little experience with any type of calc, you should probably take pre-calculus first. Trust me, the students who took pre-calc did A LOT better than the students who knew nothing about about calculus in my class. You have to have SOME type of foundation.

 

[cystapharm]

just look at the solution manual and see how they solve. sit there and analyze their method. it helps build your own understanding. there are a ton of free tutoring in math, University or CC. utilize those. Skip the idiots study guide. those are a waste of time. those help to review for PCAT but not while your taking the course. there was a guy in my class who carried trhat book around everyday but he still failed at the end. He dropped like after the 2nd exam.

 

[cystapharm]

This is 100% true. Bother the crap out of your professors. Every single day! Get all the help you need.
Calculus is easy.... just do a million problems, no way around it.
Physics on the other hand.... just stinks. sorry.

I'm always too chicken to bother professors. I konw it may be a good or bad thing depending on the professor. they may see that you are trying hard but at the same time see how slow and/or annoying you are! and if you are trully slow that may totally backfire. for example I asked my professor one time if the parenthesis went around this or this and turned out it was a stupid question. they instantly know what level you're at and if youre up to par with math!

 

[tharper14]

DEFINITELY take college algebra and pre-calc... 9 years is way too long to remember the stuff. Trust me, it had been about 10 years since I'd done any math, and I started at college algebra and worked my way up, did fine. Still hated calculus though 😛

You'll need pre-calc for physics too.

 

[cystapharm]

my physics class was easy. All we did was answer questions based on formulas given. it was str8 forward. know which formula to use. there are a lot of direct/ indirect relationship questions and if you know the formula you should figure out the answer.

 

[Pharmpills]

start from the basics, alot of people just skip and go to calc. then complain about math being hard. i went from college algebra, to trig then calc. then calc2 then stat. lets just say i almost made a perfect Ganstaz 99 on the math of the pcat😀. As for physics i would STRONGLY encourage taking it at the very end bc there is a strong possibility it will pull down ur gpa as it does with most ppl. I regret taking physics early but oh well lesson learned. i mean u can take it and get it over with but make sure u have easy classes to prop it up in case of a bad grade. As for calc. its not so bad just calc 2 is a pain in the middle to the end of the class.

 

[crazy4clana]

I'm always too chicken to bother professors. I konw it may be a good or bad thing depending on the professor. they may see that you are trying hard but at the same time see how slow and/or annoying you are! and if you are trully slow that may totally backfire. for example I asked my professor one time if the parenthesis went around this or this and turned out it was a stupid question. they instantly know what level you're at and if youre up to par with math!

I disagree, its good to have a relationship with your teacher so they know exactly where you are...they won't judge you, and if they do, they shouldn't be teaching in the first place. Seeing them weekly is fine too if you don't want to see them everyday. And if your teacher is generous, they might tip the scale in your favor if you're on the borderline of grades. Even a less intelligent student who sees their professor ends up looking better than the student who never got help and failed. I stress the importance of this because there were so many times I would have done way better in a class (A grade) if I just saw the professor for an hour a week!

 

[yazzman]

I was not a very good math student in HS or my first go at college...managing to pass with C's at best. I took Algebra I, II, Geometry, and 1 semester of Physics in HS, and Basic math and Intermediate algebra in college 9 years ago. Needless to say, I think those courses are interesting/numbers are fascinating...BUT, I just don't seem to do well in assignment or test situations. I comprehend the material in lectures, but as soon as I am set free to do it on my own, I blank out. So, looking at having to take Calc and 2 semesters of Physics for Pre-Pharm..I am freaking out a bit, very very worried about it! Any suggestions to make these awful classes easier to understand? 🙁

no barcardi either...only after you pass the class....

 

[cystapharm]

I disagree, its good to have a relationship with your teacher so they know exactly where you are...they won't judge you, and if they do, they shouldn't be teaching in the first place. Seeing them weekly is fine too if you don't want to see them everyday. And if your teacher is generous, they might tip the scale in your favor if you're on the borderline of grades. Even a less intelligent student who sees their professor ends up looking better than the student who never got help and failed. I stress the importance of this because there were so many times I would have done way better in a class (A grade) if I just saw the professor for an hour a week!

i disgree when it comes to math. for me its bad at least. I tend to ask stupid math questions! the teachers don't need to know that forgot some basic stuff about sine and cosine! Plus I skipped pre-calculus and teachers don't like that. I have proof that some professors are tougher on you with the grading if they know that you've been skipping levels like in a situation with a guy who took precalc b4 he even took algebra. or something liek that...i forget which class.

i was unlucky i had a calculus teacher that was a bastard.

 

[crazy4clana]

I have never heard of anyone doing WORSE after going in to see a professor, that's definately not ture. Maybe it's just an anomoly for you.

 

[SaveThisLabRat]

Is the physics on the PCAT or in pharmacy school going to be trig-based or calculus based?

 

[AngelaCL]

If you're worried about making stupid mistakes in front of the professor - well, would you rather make those mistakes in his office, or on an exam? Either way they will find out what you don't know.

I did have one professor (organic chem) that was really condescending and rude to me in office hours - but I did end up learning the stuff. I went to office hours, I saw a tutor every day, and I formed study groups. I ended up with a B - the hardest earned B in the history of the world! But other than that one douchenozzle, other professors have been very happy to have me ask for help. I was in the physics professor's office every week and he ended up writing my letter of recommendation - he probably didn't write that I was a brilliant mathematician, but I'm sure he did write that I'm eager to learn and work really hard.

 

[cystapharm]

I didn't say that I don't seek help where needed. I do have a strong support group and a network of smart asian math friends to help me with math. Plus as mentioned in other threads I have a close family member that teaches math at a university so I have other poeple I can ask my "stupid" questions to and not get punished for it because they won't think I don't know basic sublevel math. I never took precalculus but got an A in calculus due to the strong network of friends. I also go to the school's tutoring center and seek help there. I never ask my math professor any questions ever in Calculus 1. They know me thru me blurting out answers durign class. They only need to know the smart side of me not the dumb side.

🙂

 

[drugdoc]

Physics isn't on the PCAT. So far in my P1 year, I don't recall using any physics, either.... We had a physical chemistry course, but it wasn't really at all like my physics 101-type course.

 

[BacardiGirl]

Thanks for the valuable info!
I found that meeting with the profs DOES seem to help...I ask my biology profs for help all the time, thru email, and it seems to be a help in understanding the materal.

 

[BacardiGirl]

I know it sounds cumbersome, but maybe I can take college algebra, then pre-calc, then Calc I....seems like a lot of math, but perhaps that's what it will take for me to gradually learn it..

 

[jsp]

A word on PHYSICS: a serious inquiry as to why we have to take it.

This is how it is at UF at least...

Everyone that wants to be an engineer or do anything relevant to physics, takes physics with calc....pre-pharm, pre-health whatever students can settle on the no calc route....

so if you look at the no calc class, you have a 300 person auditorium full of people who do not care one ounce about physics.... about electric fields, circuits and magnets....etc. ie, information that has no relevance to pharmacy. People don't feel like learning it, then you end up with a class avg on the exams around 50%. Its not that everyone is stupid, its just that nobody wants to learn it.

WHY DO WE HAVE TO TAKE IT????? I know someone wants to reply about it building problem solving skills or something lame like that, but common.... physics 1 was borderline ok, but Physics 2 is like electrician training or something.

So, from my observation, pre-health type people struggle in physics not because it's hard, but because there is usually not enough interest in the subject for them to put time in to learn the material.

If you really do all the little things (homework, practice tests, ask when you have questions, pay attention in discussion), you should be fine. But it seems to be easier said than done!

 

[NewRx]

my physics class was easy. All we did was answer questions based on formulas given. it was str8 forward. know which formula to use. there are a lot of direct/ indirect relationship questions and if you know the formula you should figure out the answer.

Here is a quick example of physics: Let's say you are using Newton's second law
F= ma.

Now let's say a problem want to know the final velocity of an object or particle. Another clue like the radius is given in the problem. Do not freak out!!

First and foremost, physics (like most other science courses, even biology and A&P with tons of memorizing) is a thinking course. You learn your formulas and how they apply and then you'll start to figure out clues. In our present situation, we are given the force (F); the mass (m) and the radius (r). Without plugging in the numbers work out a suitable formulas and only in the end add numbers (unless the problems require several steps and you must find things independently). Let's give it a go.

A nice way to find velocity is by substituting acceleration!! Centripetal accelaration is v^2/r. Since we also have the Force and mass was given, we can use Centripetal Force formula: Fc = mv^2/r. Here we would simply solve for v^2 and you have:

v= √rFc/m; plug your # and you solve for v in m/s.





As conceptual as it seems, physics can be fun. I did poorly with a brainiac professor who simply could not explain the physics. Refusing to be defeated and have my GPA seriously crippled, I then took the physics/calc based and made A+ from a lousy C in the regular trig based physics.

 

[FLPharm2Be]

I don't particularly like physics, but I did have to take the calculus-based course for my bs. I have to say for those of you who need physics for their prereqs and are not particularly intimidated by Calc 1, I would recommend that you consider the calc based course because you learn faster and probably easier routes to solving problems. All you really need to remember are simple derivatives and integrals. Remember in the first couple weeks of calculus and you learned about limits, remember how tedious those were, and remember when you learned about derivatives and it was so much faster and you never wanted to go back to limits. That is how it is in calc based physics, much faster routes to the answer and the calc you need is no more complicated than what you learned in the first month of calc 1. Just something to think about if you need to take physics. 🙂

 

[BacardiGirl]

I don't particularly like physics, but I did have to take the calculus-based course for my bs. I have to say for those of you who need physics for their prereqs and are not particularly intimidated by Calc 1, I would recommend that you consider the calc based course because you learn faster and probably easier routes to solving problems. All you really need to remember are simple derivatives and integrals. Remember in the first couple weeks of calculus and you learned about limits, remember how tedious those were, and remember when you learned about derivatives and it was so much faster and you never wanted to go back to limits. That is how it is in calc based physics, much faster routes to the answer and the calc you need is no more complicated than what you learned in the first month of calc 1. Just something to think about if you need to take physics. 🙂

I believe the physics req at the University of Minnesota is 'Physics for Bio/Pre-Med', so maybe it won't be AS bad as I assume. But I probably won't take it until towards the end of the pre-reqs since I will want to load up on math beforehand. Math = terrified!

 

[favored]

Can you bomb the math section and still have a good score on the PCAT if you do great in all the other sections?

 

[twester]

I was in the same boat. I did fairly well at math in college, but sucked at physics (failed it in high school, dropped it in college and changed majors). 21 years later, I had to hurdle the psychological barrier labeled "Physics". I did that by taking courses I knew I could excel at with a little work first. That helped build my confidence. When it was time for physics, I was still anxious - but not really frightened. I ended up getting an A in physics.

Do all the problem sets and then do more of them. If you find yourself staring at a problem that doesn't make sense. Look up the answer. The answer! Not the steps to the answer. Go back and try to manipulate numbers to get that number. When you do, make sure you understand why. I called it Physics by reverse engineering. It worked for me, but was very time consuming.

Another approach I used was to focus on units. To use the above example,
FORCE (F) = MASS (m) X ACCELERATION(a). We all know that the unit of force is kg-m/s^2. Mass is kg and acceleration is m/s^2; kg X m/s^2 gives kg-m/s^2. That's a very simple example, but can work for any physics equation. The tricky thing is to understand the concepts behind the math.

Don't tackle physics until you can do algebraic manipulations in your head. So lay the groundwork in math first. You can do that by doing problems until your fingers are callused and by getting the appropriate help when you run into difficulty.

Physics is an important pre-req class. It's training for understanding pharmacokinetics concepts (and not just plugging numbers into equations). And a good grade in physics shows adcoms that an applicant has some higher reasoning skills, which is important in a healthcare setting.

 

[eric4321]

There is a lot of good advice, esp. to re-work the problem if you find you got the wrong answer - LAST RESORT is to look at the solution manual's way. I will look at the solution manual once i have the right answer, just to see if there is a more elegant/shorter way to solve the problem.

I came back to college math after [way] more than 9 years, and to test out of stuff, I studied online modules by west texas a&m univ - their website is wtamu dot edu or dot.com, something like that. Tested out of ALL algebra, even though I got Cs and Ds way back when. This was during like the last 4 days before spring semester started, so a person can catch up really fast if they are driven.

Use ratemyprofessors.com to pick the teacher that you feel will help you. Sometimes you will see "very nice, but confuses the whole class often" which is different from "total jerk every day" but might be equally bad for your grade.

I did trig and calculus first, since again, grades were bad when i was 19 y/o. Figured, give up on pharmacy if math is a disaster. It wasn't. Got A's in trig, business calculus, physics (with algebra) 1 and 2.

I did Physics last, since it is not on the PCAT. Other classes that are not critical for the PCAT are Bio2, AP2 and Organic2, although you will have to learn a few items out of a Kaplan book or Collins course.

What you don't want to do is try the pcat without finishing Chem1, Chem2, Org1, Bio1 and AP1 [yes, all of those, trust me].

 

[naseuy]

Hated Calculus and hating Physics (due to the teacher), but you just have to suck it up and deal with it. If it's something that you're weak at, you're just going to have to work harder.

 

[Chill Pill]

I thought pre-calculus was harder than calculus I. It was probably the teacher though.

 

[RxShazzie]

my suggestion is to find a really easy prof and stay on top of it! i took it over the summer and not only did it go by fast but the prof was a lot easier on us because she knew it would be too hard to grasp all the material in such a short amount of time. i had to retake calc twice til i got an A the last time. i hate calc too! so if i can do it you can too!

 

[whitedc5]

Just lay off the bacardi before exams and you'll do fine.