To skip Calc II or not - Page 2

tshort · #11 07-12-2007, 10:02 PM

I would find out who is teaching your Calc III course and send them an e-mail.

Calc 2 and Calc 3 were both really easy A's for me. I took the AB test my Jr year of high school. So long as you know all of your differentiation and integration rules, you should be fine in Calc 3.

In your position, I would probably take Calc 2 as you will be doing multiple intergrals, various applications of integration, intro to vector calculus, intro to differential equations (which if you are ME you'll have to take a diff. equations course), sequences and series. These are things you haven't worked on and the only part that might be challenging is sequences/series. It can't hurt to have a very good understanding of all of this for future physics / ME courses and other math courses.

Although, having another 5 credit hours out of the way allows you to take less hours in certain semesters where you're taking harder ME courses.

tshort · #12 07-12-2007, 10:10 PM

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What sort of upper-level math courses will require knowledge of series and sequences? I passed out of Calc 2 too (luckboxed a 5 on the BC), but I'm trying to go for a Math minor. I have to take: (407) Probability Theory, (408) Mathematical Statistics, (458) Numerical Methods, and (466) Dynamic Modeling. Does it sound like I am screwed for any of these classes if I don't re-learn sequences and series (we breezed through it in two weeks in high school, and I don't remember a single thing)?

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You should be fine in those courses.

djk123 · #13 07-12-2007, 10:53 PM

Okay.. It seems like the consensus is to place out of 2. That's what I was leaning towards too, so I think that's what I'm gonna do. Thanks for the feedback.

StatsProf857 · #14 07-13-2007, 02:27 PM

FWIW, when students talk about how far they got through a book, they should mention which book (author, title, ISBN, whatever) so that those of us who care can look up a table of contents or something. "Getting to Chapter 6" doesn't tell us much, especially since some books explain different topics better or worse than others.

Even if you skip Calculus II, you should still monitor the class so that you learn any new material you didn't see in high school. This could be something as simple as hanging out with your friends while they do Calc II problem sets. The great thing about peer-tutoring is that it combines learning and social time. Also, at some places tutoring makes a great part-time job.

StatsProf857

SBR · #15 07-14-2007, 01:55 PM

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Even if you skip Calculus II, you should still monitor the class so that you learn any new material you didn't see in high school. This could be something as simple as hanging out with your friends while they do Calc II problem sets. The great thing about peer-tutoring is that it combines learning and social time.

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I pray to god you are joking.

OP, none of the stuff you are missing is hard, if it comes up in a later class you can spend an extra 5 hours and learn it. I'm a big fan of taking as few calculus classes as possible. Just be aware you are probably skipping a free A.

slystyle012 · #16 07-14-2007, 04:11 PM

Calc III is supposedly a lot easier Calc II FWIW.

jupiterpig · #17 07-14-2007, 11:26 PM

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Calc III is supposedly a lot easier Calc II FWIW.

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Agreed...got a A- in Calc 1...C+ in Calc 2...B+ in Calc 3

Skip Calc 2, although it was easy until the last sections the only real stuff I have used is Taylorseries stuff but i am in meteorology so I may not be any help

ghostface · #18 07-14-2007, 11:35 PM

taylor series and infinite series are only used in math. my first three years in engineering never needed an of that [censored].

Wyman · #19 07-15-2007, 11:28 AM

If your calc 3 and differential equations classes are any good, you will need to know series. That said, you can *probably* get by without them. They'll come up in calc 3 when you are computing tangent surfaces/Taylor approximations to multivariate functions, and they are used in ODEs when you solve by using the *series* method.

What I think you're missing here is the applications of integration. I'm not sure that we computed volumes or did all the physics problems in my calc AB class (in fact, the physics problems were removed from the AP curriculum when I took the exam ~6/7 years ago). For an engineer, it's important to know how to use integrals to compute work and volume.

My opinion is that you should take calc 2. I agree you should try to push yourself, but I think you've probably had about 1/2-2/3 of the calc 2 stuff. And the stuff you're missing is, IMO, the important part of calc 2. I think it will be better to learn it right and get a review than to get yourself into a situation where you have to scramble to learn things youve missed and only get a half-baked understanding.

Feel free to PM if you want to talk about more specifics.

AceLuby · #20 07-16-2007, 01:56 PM

[ QUOTE ]
If your calc 3 and differential equations classes are any good, you will need to know series. That said, you can *probably* get by without them. They'll come up in calc 3 when you are computing tangent surfaces/Taylor approximations to multivariate functions, and they are used in ODEs when you solve by using the *series* method.

What I think you're missing here is the applications of integration. I'm not sure that we computed volumes or did all the physics problems in my calc AB class (in fact, the physics problems were removed from the AP curriculum when I took the exam ~6/7 years ago). For an engineer, it's important to know how to use integrals to compute work and volume.

My opinion is that you should take calc 2. I agree you should try to push yourself, but I think you've probably had about 1/2-2/3 of the calc 2 stuff. And the stuff you're missing is, IMO, the important part of calc 2. I think it will be better to learn it right and get a review than to get yourself into a situation where you have to scramble to learn things youve missed and only get a half-baked understanding.

Feel free to PM if you want to talk about more specifics.

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If you pass out of calc 2 and see something in calc 3 that you don't recognize it is a perfect time to get some 1 on 1 w/ the prof. Taking calc 2 was a waste for me because you use it for all of a dozen problems for every other calc class you take if you're a math major.