<p>Hi all,</p>
<p>I've been out of school for about a year and a half now saving up money, and will finally be able to return to school this fall! I am preeeeeeeeety sure (not 100% but close) that I want to pursue a ChemE degree. Although I was a very strong math and science student in highschool, I am worried about diving into such an intense program after not having studied for so long. I figure I should brush up on some things this summer, and was wondering if any current engineering majors could give me some tips on what specifically I might want to cover before classes this fall. Obviously I'll be reviewing basic chemistry and orgo, what kind of maths would it be more important for me to review? Trig/Calc/Stats?
I am just not sure how much knowledge will be assumed or how much I have forgotten.</p>
<p>Thanks for your help!</p>
<p>You won’t have to know anything too serious going in. Make sure your algebra is strong and trig, maybe do some calc 1. I assume you’re entering your first year, so you’re not going to have to know any organic chem at all. If I were you I’d just watch a pile of Khan Academy videos. Since you’ve been to school before you should kind of know the ropes (maybe got a bit of the partying out of your system) so make sure you destroy all the freshmen on the curve. They won’t be ready like you.</p>
<p>i would say review maybe calc if you’re planning on physics first year, but don’t worry too much about it. the biggest thing is keep up with the classes when you get in!! i have friends in both algebra based and calculus based physics classes, and they said the tests and material is virtually identical, so you should be fine :)</p>
<p>If you have to take the entirety of the calculus series (Calc I - Diff. Eq.), then just brush up on your algebra skills (very important for calc and ChemE overall) and lightly trig. I feel that math teachers tend to reintroduce trig/geo concepts that are useful in Calc so I wouldn’t stress having every formula committed to memory. If you are coming back and starting somewhere in the middle of the calc series, I would take some time to review concepts from previous calculus courses as professors will expect you to know them off the top of your head. </p>
<p>I came back to school recently and had to retake Calc III and Diff Eq. It definitely helped that I relearned basic derivatives, integrals, some trig identities, and stuff like integration by parts and u-substitution. As far as the sciences go, all the physics I’ve needed has been quickly reintroduced, the same with any chemistry.</p>