To take calc, or not?

[emgirl]

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Does anyone regret not taking a quarter/year of calc to be eligible to apply to more schools? I hate to narrow the possibilities of where I can apply to but I just don't have room in my post-bac schedule to take calc (I've got one quarter of stats done from undergrad). I know that not too many schools require calc but I'm just not sure if I'd be making a big mistake by not taking calc. Anyone that didn't take calc- do you wish you had? Thanks!

 

[Shredder]

calcs awesome, very useful subject. not that hard either, take it and do hw and get the A. IMHO.

 

[crazy_cavalier]

def take calc. math rocks. once you hit diff eq and partial diffs, you start to have the tools necessary to understand some pretty intense scientific concepts.

also take statistics at some point. epidemiology is very important in medicine.

 

[Shredder]

stat is a great subject. its vital to understand how conclusions are drawn in research. diff eq is ok but its quite a bit more difficult than calc, and not as widely pertinent. its still very useful but not as applicable to everyday life.

 

[Zuras]

Umm, I was under the impression that you don't need to take calculus before you apply, regardless of whether or not they require it. If you get accepted into a school that requires it, make sure you get it done your senior year-- even if that means the summer before you start med school.

 

[gujuDoc]

Are you talking about Calc 2 or Calc 1???

If talking about Calc 1, you should take it before taking any sort of physics, because it will make physics easier to comprehend.

 

[JayQuah]

Umm, I was under the impression that you don't need to take calculus before you apply, regardless of whether or not they require it. If you get accepted into a school that requires it, make sure you get it done your senior year-- even if that means the summer before you start med school.

umm, i think the original question was under the impression that you're applying after you've graduated.

 

[Retinaldehyde]

Emgirl, are there any med schools that you want to apply to that require Calculus?

 

[TehFrr]

This is good advice. I am thankful for my strong math background, I see calculus in everyday life all the time. Its really not *that* bad either until infinite series and diffeq IMO.

def take calc. math rocks. once you hit diff eq and partial diffs, you start to have the tools necessary to understand some pretty intense scientific concepts.

also take statistics at some point. epidemiology is very important in medicine.

 

[anystream]

This is good advice. I am thankful for my strong math background, I see calculus in everyday life all the time. Its really not *that* bad either until infinite series and diffeq IMO.

Calc 1 was great, Calc 2 was brutal, and I wish I hadn't taken it. It had nothing to do with my major, and so far, none of my schools require it. Math is not my strong suit, and I wish I had taken a class I had loved instead of struggling through for no reason

 

[MoosePilot]

Are you talking about Calc 2 or Calc 1???

If talking about Calc 1, you should take it before taking any sort of physics, because it will make physics easier to comprehend.

I took non calc-based physics and had no trouble understanding it without remembering any calculus (I took it as a freshman, got a C, and moved on).

 

[PineappleGirl]

Personally, I would not recommend taking calc if you are not good at math. I took it freshman year because it seemed to be the math req that everyone else was taking and got a D. It has been killing my BCPM every since. If you are strong in math, like Shredder and those who posted at the beginning of the thread I don't think you will have a problem, but if like me you struggle with math, calc is probably not worth taking since it's not required at most schools.

 

[gujuDoc]

I took non calc-based physics and had no trouble understanding it without remembering any calculus (I took it as a freshman, got a C, and moved on).

Not saying that it isn't doable without calculus, just that it makes a lot of concepts easier to understand. It makes understanding where the original formulas come from and how they bring about other equations and other concepts link together on a mathematical level. Personally, if I had to do it over again, I'd take the calc based physics rather then the algebra based version. It just seems to make soooooo much more sense since I took calculus.

 

[pamd]

This is just a suggestion, but if math is not your strong suite, and you do decide to take calc I, take it during the spring semester (not the fall). Most math/engineering majors come in as freshman taking the calc sequence. You really don’t want to take calc with these students because most of them are extremely good at math, and the professor will probably keep up with the speed of their learning (and leave you behind).

However, if you take calc I in the spring, there will probably be a more diverse group of student (nursing, psychology, etc.) and hardly any engineering/math majors. This could be to your advantage because the professor may realize this and make the class easier by not going too in depth on many topics. 😉

 

[crazy_cavalier]

Calc 1 was great, Calc 2 was brutal, and I wish I hadn't taken it. It had nothing to do with my major, and so far, none of my schools require it. Math is not my strong suit, and I wish I had taken a class I had loved instead of struggling through for no reason

I always get confused because I'm not sure what "calc 2" is. at my school, we have three levels of calc - the intro calc 1 (very easy, just learn about integration/riemann sums, differentiation...), there's the more advanced single variable calc (I guess "calc 2" - where you learn integration techniques such as trig substitution, integration by parts, etc., and have more intense applications of calc) and then there is the "calc 3" - multivariable calculus.

multivariate calc is not so bad until you step outside euclidean geometry. once you hit spherical coordinate systems, it's a pain to translate and set up the triple integral from x,y,z to, well, those greek letters (um, one is phi, one is uhh theta, the other i think is row, don't remember). ya multivariate calc kinda sucked and i did most poorly in that one, so I would recommend you avoid it if you can.