calc 1 vs calc 2 vs calc 3 - Page 2

pnazari · #11 08-13-2007, 10:04 PM

Calc II required a little more effort (fu taylor series) than calc I but still pretty easy. Calc I was probably the easiest course ive taken so far in college, maybe that will change after this anthrop course im set to take 1st semester.

Also thinking about taking calc III as an elective next year but its been 2 years since calc I and i cant remember anything except the derivative of x^2=2x...maybe ill pass on the calc III.

CheckRaise · #12 08-13-2007, 11:31 PM

Calc II was the hardest for me but unlike you guys I found series and sequences to be the easiest part of the class. I had trouble with some of the integral stuff.

Edit:
This is off track but I need to take one more elective after the upcoming semester to complete my math minor and I was wondering what classes use the series stuff. I thought the Calc II stuff was kind of interesting but I don't know if there are any classes that specialize in that kind of stuff.

Maybe Real Analysis?

Unoriginalname · #13 08-13-2007, 11:35 PM

I found them progressively harder, which seems to put me in the minority. Calc I was cake. I took it in high school, slept through most of the classes and got a 5 on the AP test. Calc II was a little harder, but still not too bad. I second the guy who said "[censored] the Taylor series" though.

I hated Calc III. But it might be because of my professor. I had the worst. professor. EVER. Here was his teaching style: He'd give you a homework assignment for something he didn't teach you yet. He would collect it the following class. [censored] grade it. And then in that class teach you how to do it. This is not an exaggeration. I mean this completely literally. He honestly taught us how to do stuff after a graded homework assignment. My grades were mediocre at best, but I got an A anyways. Never underestimate the power of the curve.

jamzfive · #14 08-14-2007, 12:29 AM

I was a double math and compsci major in college. I took calc I in HS, and it was a breeze. Got a 5 on the AP exam. Semi-brag, but I mention it mostly to point out that I didn't suck at math.

I found Calc II interminably boring. Not as much real calculus as series, etc. I called it "approximations of calculus". Lots of summing rectangles and triangles.

Calc III was hell. Once I got out of 2 dimensions, I lost all ability to "see" what I was doing. It was around this time I decided to focus more on the compsci, and less on the math. Spatial visualization is a good skill to have for calc III.

Don't get me started on complex analysis. 4 dimensions?? I wanted to die. As Unoriginalname pointed out, never underestimate the power of the curve.

jb

tshort · #15 08-14-2007, 12:58 AM

[ QUOTE ]
Calc II was the hardest for me but unlike you guys I found series and sequences to be the easiest part of the class. I had trouble with some of the integral stuff.

Edit:
This is off track but I need to take one more elective after the upcoming semester to complete my math minor and I was wondering what classes use the series stuff. I thought the Calc II stuff was kind of interesting but I don't know if there are any classes that specialize in that kind of stuff.

Maybe Real Analysis?

[/ QUOTE ]

Yes. A course in real analysis will spend a great deal of time covering sequences / series. Typically real analysis is one of the tougher undergraduate math courses.

What's your major?

jupiterpig · #16 08-14-2007, 10:18 AM

calc 1 = durrrrr
calc 2 = hard as [censored]
calc 3 = easy b/c i had a funny asian man who did not really grade with a purpose...just gave B's or higher...so no help on this one
Diff EQ = hard as calc 2, but made more sense

Josh11 · #17 08-14-2007, 12:19 PM

[ QUOTE ]
Calc II was the hardest for me but unlike you guys I found series and sequences to be the easiest part of the class. I had trouble with some of the integral stuff.

[/ QUOTE ]

And for Calc III I took a Mathematica based course. I did not learn a thing and made an easy A, so I cannot give a real opinion on that one.

CheckRaise · #18 08-14-2007, 05:25 PM

[ QUOTE ]
[ QUOTE ]
Calc II was the hardest for me but unlike you guys I found series and sequences to be the easiest part of the class. I had trouble with some of the integral stuff.

Edit:
This is off track but I need to take one more elective after the upcoming semester to complete my math minor and I was wondering what classes use the series stuff. I thought the Calc II stuff was kind of interesting but I don't know if there are any classes that specialize in that kind of stuff.

Maybe Real Analysis?

[/ QUOTE ]

Yes. A course in real analysis will spend a great deal of time covering sequences / series. Typically real analysis is one of the tougher undergraduate math courses.

What's your major?

[/ QUOTE ]
I'm a chem major. If Real Analysis is a really difficult class I'm staying away from it because I've already got enough [censored] on the chem side to worry about. I just figured that since I breezed through the sequence/series stuff in Calc II that a class focusing on them wouldn't be too difficult.

jd2b2006 · #19 08-14-2007, 06:38 PM

In terms of difficulty:

Calc 2 >>>> Calc 3 >> Calc 1

thedustbustr · #20 08-23-2007, 06:30 PM

calc 2 is mostly memorization.

calc 1 is derivative concepts and applications, very easy, plus it is taught at retard level to keep the gpas high

calc 3 is taught at a higher level but it is all concepts and no memorization.

if you are a typical smart lazy kid, calc 2 sucks ass, the rest are easy peazy.

if you had to work your ass off to get an a in calc 1, you will probably do very well with less work in calc 2, and you will be horrible at calc 3 (but you probably wont have to take it).