Trig before Calculus?

[CherryB]

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Does anyone know if it's a good idea to take Trig before Calculus? Will it cause problems later on if I don't take it before Calculus?

-Cherry

 

[jpharm445]

You should have had at least some exposure to trigonometry in high school, correct? That should be sufficient for Calc I. Even if you have no experience with trig, you'll probably be able to learn the concepts that are relevant to Calc I as needed. The basic definitions and graphical properties of sin, cos, and tan functions are likely all you will need to understand. I don't recommend wasting a semester taking a class on basic trig.

 

[Twins fan]

I feel that it would be very beneficial to take a class in trig before you take calculus...trig-related applications were brought up quite often in my calculus 1 and 2 classes. Like the previous poster said, if you have a pretty good familiarity with trig from past experience and are comfortable with your ability in trig by all means skip it, but chances are you will have to test out of trig before you can take calc at your college if you haven't taken trig for college credit before. I would definitely recommend taking trig before calculus.

 

[RNtoPharmD]

It's a good idea but it's not a requirement. To save money, you can buy a book and read on this topic. It's not that hard to self-study. It's possible to pass calculus without any knowledge of trig (PRIOR to the class) but I "STRUGGLED" in the class. I did not take any math (including trig ) in high school but I passed Calculus (with B). I got A in Cal II. I would recommend go straight to CAL I and self-study trig before the course

 

[S_R_N83]

As long as you had Trig in Highschool, you should be fine...

 

[twester]

As long as you had Trig in Highschool, you should be fine...

Unless, your trig skills are really rusty...

Your school will probably require you to take an assessment test before they'll let you register for Calc - all the schools in my area do, anyway.

I took both College Algebra (for the second time) and trig before Calc because I had been out of school for a really long time. I found it helpful because it got me kind of primed for the type of problem-solving skills that Calc requires. If you feel your trig identities are solid and you understand the definitions of the functions, then jump right into Calc.

 

[OKgirl]

I had the same question a while back and its a pretty split topic. I think that it would be good to take if you have any doubts about your ability.

Would a college count all pre-reqs if they aren't listed on the required courses (ex. it says to take calc 1, so would they take college algebra and trig into consideration for the GPA?) My science/math is kinda low (3.0) and I think trig could help raise it and expand my knowledge for calc

 

[BacardiGirl]

Would it help to take pre-calc or short calc before regular calc? Instead of trig?

 

[labrat024]

I would say that it would be beneficial to take trig first. It came up quite a bit in calc 1 and 2. Most people were lost when it came to the trig sections. Gotta know trig identities and all the trig functions and manipulations. Pre-calc is not necessary. Most is covered in the first couple of lectures in calc 1. Unless you are rusty in functions and what not, you don't need it. Most people don't have trouble with the actual calculus part of the course, its the trig and algebra that they mess up on.

 

[azPharmD2B]

I struggled in Calc because it had been 4 or 5 years since I had taken Trig, and really didn't remember a lot of my identities or functions very well.

As to brief/pre-calc, you'd have to look to see what all that class covers and if it overlaps math classes you have previously taken. At my school pre-calc consisted of 5 semester credits of algebra and trig combined to prep you for calc. Brief calc (3 sem cred) was just a survey of Calc 1 but with virtually no trig.

 

[ibtech]

The Trig is pre-requisite for pre-caculaus... so it is impossible to take the couse !! unless you score high on math assessment test and the college is willing to wave it for you.

 

[OKgirl]

I know my school offers a college algebra+trig class, so you might see if your school does. I wish I would have found out about it before I started.

What math assesment tests are considered? I know that I don't have to take the pre-reqs for english b/c of my ACT english sections, so would they consider the ACT math for it? I'm tempted to take the trig placement test just to see if I can do good on it. If I can pass it, then I wouldn't need the class since I know it all, right?

 

[omnione]

As a former math major, I would recommend taking trig before calculus given the use of numerous trigonometric functions when learning integration, differentiation, and what not. You need to understand and not just know how these operate.