Current Events > Have you ever taken Calculus?

(+) Yeah! (+)

did you ever take that math course? Iirc in that big calculus book they make you buy is calc 1 2 and 3.

yes I took cal 1-3

Never buy books in college unless you have too for a homework code.

you can find a pdf online for 99% of books

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Wagger_25 posted...

yes I took cal 1-3

Never buy books in college unless you have too for a homework code.

you can find a pdf online for 99% of books

yeah but i went to college back in the late 90s , yeah i'm old. and they didn't have it on pdf online back then. How did you do in calc 1-3? what do you think of calculus?

Yes, Calculus 1-3 plus some higher level math and statistics courses after.
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I took 1-3 back when I had the idea in my head that I wanted to be a physicist.

Taking cal 2 in a half semester course was one of the worst decisions I ever made academically

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Solid Snake07 posted...

I took 1-3 back when I had the idea in my head that I wanted to be a physicist.

Taking cal 2 in a half semester course was one of the worst decisions I ever made academically

why was it one of your worst decisions?

Yeah I did calc 1-3, I was bad at it and barely remember it

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Nope, thankfully my job doesn't require advanced math because I don't like doing and I am not very good at it.

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I took Calc 1 and 2. Hardest math classes I ever took. I just did not understand it.

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Wagger_25 posted...

yes I took cal 1-3

Never buy books in college unless you have too for a homework code.

you can find a pdf online for 99% of books

I remember when I was in school textbook companies would release a new textbook edition every other year with the exact same information and just change the homework at the end of the chapter. They often wouldn't even come up with new problems, they'd just shuffle around the problems that were already there.

That level of blatant finacial leeching in higher education is infuriating

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KazGT6 posted...

why was it one of your worst decisions?

Not him, but I can vouch for that because I did the same thing. Accelerated course in a half semester.

Literally the most work I ever had to do in college. Calc 2 is hard, so combining that with the inherent difficulty in accelerated classes (same material in half the time) it's brutal.

KazGT6 posted...

why was it one of your worst decisions?

That's a lot of pretty difficult material to go through in only 8 weeks.

I think I made a B, but it was pretty brutal couple of months

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I did in high school.

Forgot almost all of it by now, of course.

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Aeriis posted...

I took Calculus I twice and I still don't know wtf it's about

I hate math

I took calculus 1 twice in summer sessions and calculus 2 twice in fall and spring semester

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Yeah I took a bunch of calculus classes but I'm not sure how they map to the US syllabus.

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no but i kind of wish i did
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I forget if what I took in HS got up to Calc. I think so.

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Cal 1-3
Derivatives
Integrals
I think vectors? (this was a bit redundant to a physics class I had around the same time)

This really is basic stuff, essentially implementing and extracting rates. I also had to take differentials. That was a different story. I wouldn't say hard, but no way could that content be taught in a single semester like my school set up. My teacher did what he could to make the tests go by like a worksheet because a lot of that didn't come with enough time to work with.

I regret not taking quantum physics as an elective. In hindsight, I also should have invested more into coding classes but I was in ME, not Software, and this is like right before it became the trendy thing to do.

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I took calculus 1 and 2.

Calc 2 was definitely one of the hardest classes for my degree (biochemistry). I withdrew the first time and retook it and only passed with a C the second time around.

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3>1>>>>>2

3 is the easiest because you've seen pretty much everything already. 1 is just algebra on steroids. 2 introduces everything about calculus in one full load and you have to try to understand very abstract ideas really fast.

Edit- though, I failed Calc 1 once and passed Calc 2,3 on my first time. I honestly don't know how I passed Calc 2 tbh.

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Solid Snake07 posted...

I remember when I was in school textbook companies would release a new textbook edition every other year with the exact same information and just change the homework at the end of the chapter. They often wouldn't even come up with new problems, they'd just shuffle around the problems that were already there.

That level of blatant finacial leeching in higher education is infuriating

yeah i totally agree

One and two were required in college

1 was with a teacher who spoke in broken English so actually trying to learn it on top of that was extremely tough

2 was an absolute nightmare. For some reason I decided to take a year off of calc and then take it in the summer.....with the same teacher. So not only was the information from 1 a year old, but now we were cramming a whole semester into a few weeks. Im not exaggerating when I say I was studying around 7 hours a day and I still barely managed to pass the course. Maybe by just a few points

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Nope, we had AP Calc in high school but I struggled with the math class right below it, so I didn't bother taking Calc as I knew it would make senior year hell.

Didn't take it in college either because my major didn't require it.

Took Calc 5 in college. I honestly don't remember any of it since I havent used it since lol

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i've never "taken calculus" but i've had math classes and lectures that involved calculus.

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Took all 3. 1 blew my mind in the sense that it was the first time math truly "made sense" to me. Then 2 comes along and introduces all this abstract bullshit that doesn't matter. Then 3 is just 1 part 2 and is easy.

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NightMarishPie posted...

Took all 3. 1 blew my mind in the sense that it was the first time math truly "made sense" to me. Then 2 comes along and introduces all this abstract bullshit that doesn't matter. Then 3 is just 1 part 2 and is easy.

but do you dudes think you have to be really smart to do well in calc 1 2 and 3? i've heard people say this before

Yeah. I had a great hs calculus teacher so I was on autopilot for 1 and 2 in college. 3 though... my hubris. Still got an A but that required a LOT of unexpected cramming.

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I took Pre-calc in a lecture center and it was comical to me how it was a class where no one truly understood it, the teacher didnt really teach you anything, and your test scores relied on how well you prepared a cheat sheet

Of course many people fully get it but it felt like all the business majors were just trying survive

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Eked through Calc 1 with the only C final grade I've ever gotten in a class. Calc 2 was the point that I decided I didn't want to be a physics major anymore. I dropped that shit like three weeks into the semester and never looked back.

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KazGT6 posted...

but do you dudes think you have to be really smart to do well in calc 1 2 and 3? i've heard people say this before

Nah I don't think so. Calc 1 is based entirely off of core principles of deriving and integration so if you can get the basics down, everything else just stems off it. IMO, anyone who has made it that far in math can pass it just fine.

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Slaya4 posted...

Edit- though, I failed Calc 1 once

This happened to me and almost everyone in my class. That teacher was insane bullshit.

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No, and I never wanted to.

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I've taken at least a dozen calculus based courses. I have experienced a decent amount of the spectrum of the dunning-kruger effect. Thought I was the smartest bastard on the planet when I got an A in calc 2,3 and I thought I was ready to solve all the mysteries of physics. Real Analysis and Measure Theory put me in my place real quick and now I feel like I know absolutely nothing.

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Shadow Don posted...

I've taken at least a dozen calculus based courses. I have experienced a decent amount of the spectrum of the dunning-kruger effect. Thought I was the smartest bastard on the planet when I got an A in calc 2,3 and I thought I was ready to solve all the mysteries of physics. Real Analysis and Measure Theory put me in my place real quick and now I feel like I know absolutely nothing.

So you do think you have to be really smart to do well in upper level math? the other poster said he didn't think so

KazGT6 posted...

So you do think you have to be really smart to do well in upper level math? the other poster said he didn't think so

No. I'm a dumb fuck and I have a graduate degree in math lol.

This is going to be the same generic advice you've probably heard over and over again but really the secret to success at something is to love doing that thing. The reason I succeeded at math is because I just really like doing math. It's not that I'm particularly good at it or that I'm smart. It's that I have worked on math problems or I have read math books like every single day for 6+ years now.

So yea upper level math is crazy hard but it is totally achievable if you put in the hours.

edit: BTW the difficulty is all relative. Calc 2 is truly one of the most difficult courses in university because what you are expected to learn relative to what you already know at that point is ridiculous. Even taking graduate level courses I would still rank Calc 2 as one of the hardest classes I have ever taken. So props to everyone who stuck it out.

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No, never made it past remedial courses.

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Calc 3 is easier than Calc 2 imo >_>

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ImAMarvel posted...

I'm taking Calc 1 now and it's really really easy. >_>

I have almost a 100% A in the class and only one test left.

Taking Calc 2 and Physics 1 with Calc next semester. Can't wait for that tbh. I love math way more than I expected to.

Taylor and MacLaurin series are either gonna be really nice or really brutal to you in Calc 2.

I had an extremely hard time with stuff like trig sub integration and integration by parts, but Taylor series saved my ass with a good test grade.

To answer the topic question, yes. Calc 1-3, then ordinary differential equations and linear algebra. Taking partial Diff Eq next semester

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Yes
It's why I know that U+Me=Us

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Jiek_Fafn posted...

Yes
It's why I know that U+Me=Us

No

U + me, it doesn't = us
You took the car
Now I gotta take the bus
I thought I had a girl
That I could trust
Guess I never really knew
My calculus

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ImAMarvel posted...

I'm taking Calc 1 now and it's really really easy. >_>

I have almost a 100% A in the class and only one test left.

Taking Calc 2 and Physics 1 with Calc next semester. Can't wait for that tbh. I love math way more than I expected to.

Calc 2 can sometimes be intense so be prepared for that. I particularly hate the standard method for teaching integration by parts. The way it's taught is stupid. Also, trig substitution is insanely hard and you might also learn some things about the hyperbolic functions. I would suggest getting a head start on integration by parts, trig substitutions and Taylor Series. Look up youtube videos and do lots of practice.

Gwynevere posted...

To answer the topic question, yes. Calc 1-3, then ordinary differential equations and linear algebra. Taking partial Diff Eq next semester

This is some serious shit you are about to take btw. Way different level than calc 1-3, ODE and LA. I had to go to office hours at every opportunity. My professor was awesome but if you don't get an amazing professor this class can potentially be your worst nightmare. I would seriously suggest you study way ahead of time. There are some cheap ass dover books on the subject that are excellent. PDE's by Stanley J. Farlow is an excellent example. Get that book and read it.

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Ive only taken Calc 1 since I was required to do so. Thought it was easy. I was interested in taking Calc 2 and 3 honestly but its not a requirement so Im not going to waste any money or time taking it in college. Maybe Ill try visiting the concepts later in life, though. I find math to be fun most of the time.

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Scarecrow17 posted...

Ive only taken Calc 1 since I was required to do so. Thought it was easy. I was interested in taking Calc 2 and 3 honestly but its not a requirement so Im not going to waste any money or time taking it in college. Maybe Ill try visiting the concepts later in life, though. I find math to be fun most of the time.

if you're good at it , who says you can't just do it without an instructor or professor? I mean you still have that huge calculus book?

Yeah, had to take all three, haven't done it in years but I could refresh in a day
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KazGT6 posted...

if you're good at it , who says you can't just do it without an instructor or professor? I mean you still have that huge calculus book?

Yeah, thats what Im saying essentially. Ill study and learn it in a year or two after I finish college. Right now would be a bad time since I need to focus more on my current courses.

I still have all the necessary material I need to study and learn it. I just have to prioritize for now.

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Nope.

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