Why bother taking Calc 2??

Started by Agent47
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Agent47

Agent47

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I have seen many people talking Calc 2 just so it looks good in transcript. Do we really have to bother taking Calc 2 if you're shooting for some kind of Bio major? I seriously dont get why people are killing themselves over on stupid calc 2. I only took Calc one and got an A...DONE
 
At least at UC Davis, you have to take both Calc 1 & 2 in order to get any sort of science degree.
 
emttim said:
At least at UC Davis, you have to take both Calc 1 & 2 in order to get any sort of science degree.
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so Do i have to take Calc 2😱? ..cuz i'm going for Bio major!! And I really dont want to take Calc 2 :scared:
 
take Calc 1 and STATS. stats is hard, but not as hard as calc 2, but it is very useful.

calc 2 is required for chem majors. (pchem needs it)
 
Just an estimated guess...What is the % of people take Calc 2? like 30% of premed take calc 2 or something????????????😕
 
I'm a neuroscience major and had to take calc 2. Good thing that I enjoy Calculus. Calc 2, from what I've heard about upper level calc classes, is the hardest of the four basic calc classes. And yes, it is tough, though hey, I was able to pull a B+, taking it my senior year of high school. But then again, I (kind of) enjoyed it.
 
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I'm a biophysics major and I had to take Calc I-III and Differential Equations. Obviously more than your typical bio major, but I would agree with folks that Calc I and Calc II are pretty standard courses for the sciences.
 
As a Math major, my opinion is probably not unbiased, but I have a very hard time respecting someone who hasn't taken at least a year of Calculus.
 
1) Some schools require it (e.g. Duke)
2) Some schools only offer calc-based physics, and the second half of the year-long course requires Calc II.
 
It is considered the hardest of the four calc's because it is mainly integration where as the rest are more differential calculus. I think a year of math is fairly standard and you might be limiting your options in terms of med schools you can apply to if you don't take it. Researching schools is a good idea.

As mentioned before, some schools require it. Also, Harvard's HST program requires Calc 4 or linear algebra.
 
I took Calc II because it is an easy A. I got around a 98% (A+) and i blew off going to a concert and a party the night before. Slept 4 hours, got up, tried to remember the important equations and got a 90% on the final. In the class 20/32 kids got an A or higher. 😱

Its all about class selection. WOuld i have taken Calc II if i got a hard teacher, hecks no. But there are really good and easy calc teachers at all campus' and if you can get them, why not?
 
stat3113 said:
As a Math major, my opinion is probably not unbiased, but I have a very hard time respecting someone who hasn't taken at least a year of Calculus.
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Be sure to mention this in your interview!!
 
Agent47 said:
so Do i have to take Calc 2😱? ..cuz i'm going for Bio major!! And I really dont want to take Calc 2 :scared:
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I agree with the others, best to look up your school requirements to see, but if you're majoring in bio then I would imagine calc 1 & 2 are required. If you're going to a UC, I can guarantee you they are. 😛
 
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I hated Calc II. I really should have had a C in that class but I talked long with the professor and on multiple occasions...mysteriously I ended up with a B. The HUGE mistake I made was taking Calc I during the summer with an 'easy prof'. Calc II was during the regular session and lets just say I started it pretty much with not knowing Calc I...


Ugh.. bad memories.
 
vincikai said:
because it is useful for life? 😴
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i hate calculus as much as the rest of you, but it is useful. not directly useful, as in you'll be using calculus for the rest of your life, but it is useful. it teaches you to think much better and in new ways. you can think i'm crazy, but it is true. it will help you down the road even if you don't realize it. but trust me, i hate calculus.😡
 
Should I worry about a W in Calculus II if I'm applying to California schools?

I took Calculus I and Statistics and got A's in both
 
bwonger06 said:
I took Calc II because it is an easy A. I got around a 98% (A+) and i blew off going to a concert and a party the night before. Slept 4 hours, got up, tried to remember the important equations and got a 90% on the final. In the class 20/32 kids got an A or higher. 😱

Its all about class selection. WOuld i have taken Calc II if i got a hard teacher, hecks no. But there are really good and easy calc teachers at all campus' and if you can get them, why not?
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Not at every campus.

emttim said:
I agree with the others, best to look up your school requirements to see, but if you're majoring in bio then I would imagine calc 1 & 2 are required. If you're going to a UC, I can guarantee you they are. 😛
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It definitely varies from school to school, at mine for a BS in biology, you only need pre calc, calc 1, and statistics of course but statistics is super easy.

foreverLaur said:
i hate calculus as much as the rest of you, but it is useful. not directly useful, as in you'll be using calculus for the rest of your life, but it is useful. it teaches you to think much better and in new ways. you can think i'm crazy, but it is true. it will help you down the road even if you don't realize it. but trust me, i hate calculus.😡
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True!
 
I had to take Cal I & II so that I could take cal-based physics. Fun times.
 
Man, what's with all the calculus hating? If you don't like math don't take it unless you have to. Sheesh!

I was an engineering major and personally I liked Calc 2 (and ODEs), but if you want to complain about a hard math class take partial differential equations. Deriving and solving the equations for freaking quantum mechanics; that's a class to complain about.
 
chinny5187 said:
It is considered the hardest of the four calc's because it is mainly integration where as the rest are more differential calculus. I think a year of math is fairly standard and you might be limiting your options in terms of med schools you can apply to if you don't take it. Researching schools is a good idea.

As mentioned before, some schools require it. Also, Harvard's HST program requires Calc 4 or linear algebra.
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What does calc 4 generally cover? Is it just multivariable calc?
 
most of us are required to take calculus - i doubt anyone would take it if not required to, although i'd bet it would still look good when applying.

and man, we have to take Calc 1-4 + Diff Q to take calc-based physics. which is why i am not taking it...
 
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are you joking... cal2's essence of life. of course, im taking cal2-is pope catholic?

nah, jokes aside, i went to a tech school. cal1,2,3+diff Eq+Stats are the min requirement to graduate for pretty all the worthwhile majors. not much of a choice, eh?!
 
soonereng said:
It was at my school. Been about 9 years but I think we did surface line integration, something about a green theorem, etc...as you can see, it really changed my life and I use it a lot. 🙄
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Only 3 schools in the US needs calc 2. Harvard, Washington University in St. Louis, and another one i dont remember the name. But alot of schools require 1 calc and 1 other college math like stat.... So if u r not going to apply to those 3 schools, no point of taking calc.
 
After starting my third year of med school, I can easily say that, having NEVER taken ANY calculus (in high school or college or ever), I am every day faced with difficulties managing patients due to this extreme deficit in my education. But now it's too late and I'll probably never be the doctor I could have been, because I honestly have no clue what a derivative is.

It's sad, really. Such valuable life-skills I blatantly ignored and now I'm paying the price.
 
Calc 4 has been about 10 years ago for me as but the one thing I remember is lots of Green's theorem as well. There was also lots of flux and flow and other mathematical principles covered in calc-based Physics II.
 
I didn't take any math in college. I took the AP Calc BC test and only studied for the AB part. Fortunately, I got a good enough score to cover my math requirements. Now I'm good enough to use a calculator.

I dislike all things math though. Especially Epidemiology that one has to take in med school.
 
I am horrid at math... and I found out that I could take a stats for research class instead... it was pretty easy it was like mean, median, mode... and like standard deviation... I was happy to take that instead of calc 2.... bc at my university its the hardest calc to take...
 
it depends on your school and your degree

for me at my school I am getting a BA in biology/psych
therefore I need a stats class college algebra and finite math
or pre calc one and two
or calc one and two

so since i hate math i checked every possible school i could want to attend and the ones i want only require a year of math at college algebra and above so thats what i did.

oh and about physics since i got placed from the sat for pre calculus i was able to take college physics (not university) without any problem.

so i hope that little anecdote helps and you go check your major manual.

if you really dont need the calc for the schools you are applying to then you can always change your degree from a BS to a BA in most schools the difference is the math and humanities credits... check it out... it has made my undergrad experience much easier and enjoyable =)
 
In my opinion, calc II was easier than calc I, so since you already made an A in calc I, it probably wouldn't be too bad. I actually made a B in calc I followed by an A in calc II (my school required calc II at least). Too bad calc II is less credits than calc I! (3 as opposed to 4)
 
Agent Splat said:
After starting my third year of med school, I can easily say that, having NEVER taken ANY calculus (in high school or college or ever), I am every day faced with difficulties managing patients due to this extreme deficit in my education. But now it's too late and I'll probably never be the doctor I could have been, because I honestly have no clue what a derivative is.

It's sad, really. Such valuable life-skills I blatantly ignored and now I'm paying the price.
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Exactly. It's remarkable how many humans can function without these classes. :laugh:

I actually took the full year of calculus and can assure everyone that it is not something particularly useful for most of law, medicine or other professional fields. Unless you plan to be an engineer or mathematician the only reason you really would need to take such a course is if you were applying to one of the med schools that for some reason requires it. There are far more useful math courses you could take -- eg you might actually use stats in medicine. Just my opinion.
 
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I think Duke requires a yr. of calculus. I enjoyed figuring out integrals and such, it was a little, enjoyable game.
 
at my university....all chem or biochem or anything related to those 2 fields are required to take calc 2 as a pre req for 300/400 level classes junior and senior year. it sucks cause my app is very good, but my math stands out cause i suck at it...the only thing that brought down my bcpm gpa. but you gotta do whatcha gotta do.



hey just put it this way, if you dont have to take it....dont take it
 
Don't complain.

I took: Calc I, II, III, DiffEq, statistics, discrete math 😀

I think Calc II is a very useful math, but I can see it not being necesary at all for a bio/MD person. Adcoms will want to see some difficulty in your schedule, so it's a good one to take.
 
My school doesn't require calc for my major (biology with concentration in pre-health professional prep) but I'm going to take calc 1 and 2 anyhow because I know a lot of med schools require it. Fortunately, I have a friend who's extremely good at calc and he's willing to help me if I need help.
 
Law2Doc said:
Exactly. It's remarkable how many humans can function without these classes. :laugh:

I actually took the full year of calculus and can assure everyone that it is not something particularly useful for most of law, medicine or other professional fields. Unless you plan to be an engineer...
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I've worked as an engineer for over 6 yrs and can remember few times that I absolutely needed to use Calc from first principles. Typically you have some formula that was derived this way but who cares once you have the formula really.

The only times that I used advanced calc was when doing design optimization or transient heat transfer calculations. Let me put that in a medical situation: If by being a poor doctor I don't save X patient and they die, how long will it take for their body's temperature to equilibrate with the surrounding atmosphere?

See doctors can use it too... :meanie:
 
Chill Pill said:
Should I worry about a W in Calculus II if I'm applying to California schools?

I took Calculus I and Statistics and got A's in both
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When schools say they want a year of math to include introductory calculus and statistics, do they just want one semester of calculus, or should I retake the calculus II that I dropped?
 
I have looked in the msar and many schools dont even require calc I, and if my major doesnt require it as well, no need to take it correct ?
 
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