Would it be bad to take statistics over calculus

[skyeblue0610]

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I have already taken a statistics course my my psychology major a behavioral science statistics and I made an A. But it's not acceptable for med school.

Now I was going to take calc at a CC anyway. But now I really want to statistics because looking at the course description it is the exact same class I took it's just taught by a "math" professor as opposed to a psychology one.

Plus I could just go ahead and take it. For calc, I have to go through trig and precalc first.

It's not about timing just what I would like to do instead. I have heard that statistics is a bit more beneficial in med school so why even take calculus. The schools I'm looking at say take either or. But I don't want it to look bad.

I am really not a math person so I'm iffy on calculus especially if there's not alot in med school

I really liked my statistics class, it was actually a fun class and I usually never like anything that makes me use a calculator

 

[TexPre-Med]

I did and it never hurt me.

0 Calculus here.

 

[al112987]

It might look bad if you took a course then repeated it at CC.

Just suck it up and take calculus. Since when schools even start having a pre-req for that? I thought most students have already taken pre-calc and trig in HS.

 

[skyeblue0610]

Alright them taking your name into account I think I'm in the clear😉 thanks

 

[Jolie South]

Some schools require calculus. I would look into places that you want to apply to and see what their stance is.

EDIT: I think it's weird that you have to go through trig and pre-calc first. My school did a placement test in college and waived all that junk if you passed. The test was hella easy too. I started directly in calc.

 

[skyeblue0610]

In high school I had some trig and I never took precalulus because it wasn't required. Most people didn't take it except for the ones who wanted to do premed which was like 10 of us.

Trig was nearly 5 years ago I definitely don't remember and back then I could have cared less about math so I wasn't really paying attention. So I don't think I owuld make it through the placement test.

 

[Cegar]

Calculus will probably greet you in medical school, science papers, and practice.

It's practically a crime not to take it.

 

[pride4jc727]

Well, I took AP Calculus AB as a high school senior. I had to struggle through it, but I would say it was the most hard-worked A I earned throughout my four years there, even moe so than AP Chemistry and AP Biology. Anyways, I got a 4 on the AP Exam and that got me AP credit in college. This year, as a college senior, I took Statistics for Life Science as part of my psychology major and now I am taking Research Methods in Psychology. Honestly, unless the schools you are applying to require it, then you do not really need to take it. I, however, would recommend it since there may some things that will require some knowledge of a calculus background. In regards to statistics, I think you should do it because it does have research application. You can report results better if you understand the logic of Student's t-tests and various ANOVAs. So the bottomline is that med schools like calculus but statistics has research application.

 

[Mobius1985]

You will not need calculus in medical school. You will need statistics.

 

[bodonid]

You will not need calculus in medical school. You will need statistics.

YESSS! Thank you. My med school tells people that stat is one of the (very few) courses that actually help in med school. The others? You don't want to know. (Immunology, etc.)

Take STAT!!!


But in all seriousness, email somebody at the school you are looking at and ask.

 

[135892]

I would try to take calc

 

[TexPre-Med]

Calculus will probably greet you in medical school, science papers, and practice.

It's practically a crime not to take it.

Are you IN medical school? If so, you obviously have not done any research. Stats IS useful, which is why you take biostats in medical school.

 

[Epibackpacker]

I would recommend taking statistics over calculus. I think a basic grounding in statistics is far more likely to be useful especially for later on when considering the medical literature then calculus. This is not to say calc is not always important, but it can be far more esoteric. Full disclosure, I do epidemiology so I do a lot of stat work.

 

[suwaifo]

This topic has been discussed too many times. It would be wise to take both. Calculus helps you think in a much broader way and does require a bit of will power to do if you are bad at math, but it can be done. Don't try to skip prereqs if you can't handle math, trigonometry will kill you. Stats is useful and probably one of the easiest classes out there. You don't even need to take a course in statistics to know statistics. Take both calculus and statistics if you can.

You might actually enjoy calc too, it may appear to be intimidating, but it is really quite docile.

 

[ghostfoot]

Calculus will probably greet you in medical school, science papers, and practice.

It's practically a crime not to take it.

I agree. Take Calc. You can teach yourself stats in ten to fifteen minutes.

Being fluent in calculus can be very empowering.

 

[Asp]

I agree. Take Calc. You can teach yourself stats in ten to fifteen minutes.

Being fluent in calculus can be very empowering.

Wow, you have no idea what you are talking about. The opposite is the case. You can teach a smart person HS-level calculus in 15 minutes using Mathematica. I mean seriously there is the idea of rate of change, and the idea of area under a curve. And then there is the idea of the relationship between the two in the Fundamental Theorem. That's about it. Stats (but mostly I mean probability theory) is far more difficult and far more useful.

 

[iA-MD2013]

Wow, you have no idea what you are talking about. The opposite is the case. You can teach a smart person HS-level calculus in 15 minutes using Mathematica. I mean seriously there is the idea of rate of change, and the idea of area under a curve. And then there is the idea of the relationship between the two in the Fundamental Theorem. That's about it. Stats (but mostly I mean probability theory) is far more difficult and far more useful.

but you wont get taught probability theory in the intro stats course. the stats they teach in the intro classes really can be taught in 15 mins.

 

[Asp]

but you wont get taught probability theory in the intro stats course. the stats they teach in the intro classes really can be taught in 15 mins.

Well don't take stats for poets then. Take the stats course in your engineering school (I took my stats course from the Management Science & Engineering department). I think probability theory should precede stats.

 

[iA-MD2013]

Well don't take stats for poets then. Take the stats course in your engineering school or from the math dept.

but that course is harder than calc...and the OP is concerned about difficulty. otherwise, yeah youre right. it would be much more beneficial to skip to the good stuff 🙂

 

[rc4ch]

You should def take Calc. I think its a req for most med school. I took Calc 1 and 2 my freshman year. It was really easy. Altho I did take calc in high school, which was a lot harder than the 2 in college.

Now, I am taking Stats as a junior. Its a pretty funny class actually. The professor said if you get at least a 70 on the first test, you can get a A for the class. There are only 2 tests in the entire course and they are in equal weights. I dont understand how that works, but fine with me. I got a 88 on the first test, forgot to square root the SD question, damnit. I barely came to class, I think I went 3 times out of 8 or 9 before the first test, since the class was mostly about the professor's bucket list. He is 70+ and he claims he is very unhealthy. Cool guy overall, but a waste of time. haha

 

[student12x]

Calc is just a bunch of BS calculation of derivatives and integrals. Its very redundant because the aforementioned operations are used in intermediate steps in solving physics problems. Of which premeds have to take. So why take calc? Keep in mind, this is coming from a math major.

 

[DoctorPhud]

Take Calculus. For the love of all that is holy.

Stats is helpful, but not on the reqs list, and you can teach yourself with a cramming book, any time you like.

Calc is on the list for some schools, and if you feel the need to do a course, do Calc and keep your options open.

Trust me... My undergrad was in another country. Trying to get schools to accept higher maths courses as substitutes for a basic Calc course is a real challenge.

Save yourself the hassle.

 

[Drogba]

Take both 🙂