<p>i would say so. More so if precalculus was covered in detail, alot of student would be better off in later math classes.</p>
<p>@mistax i would say the opposite, if you had a hard time at algebra and precalculus but u did well, obviously calc would be ez. if u dont learn algebra and precalc well, calc is like helllllll</p>
<p>If someone doesn’t understand algebra or pre-calculus they won’t understand calculus at anything more than a qualitative or conceptual level; they will get lost in the details and won’t understand why the math that is being done does what it is claimed to do.</p>
<p>what do you guys think—i took pre calc algebra and aced it, felt like i understood everything, and it was really easy. but i have just enrolled in calc 1 for the summer without having taken trig. do you think i’ll be able to get a good grade with only a really basic understanding of trig?</p>
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<p>yeah you should be able to get a good grade but you might have trouble understanding some of the geometrical type problems that involve trigonometry or at least be slower at solving them since you are not as familiar with it. Also, some related rates and optimization type problems require trig. It will also be good to be comfortable with trig identities and the unit circle especially once you get to integration and trig substitution.</p>
<p>iunno, i felt that calculus series was easy, but when i took discrete math it reviewed everything from precalculus indepth. My teacher says calculus is a joke and student should start off with taking a real math like geometry/trig. He feels like alot of students who enter in to calculus even if they are getting A’s don’t understand the concepts.</p>
<p>Calculus is way easier than pre calculus. It’s just more tedious.</p>
<p>I completely agree. I did quite poorly in Algebra in HS…in college, Calculus was easy for me but all the mistakes I made were algebra mistakes…</p>
<p>I’ve seen a lot of posts saying most precal materials are not relevant to calc, is it true?</p>
<p>Pre calc stuff help of course but calculus is pretty much more conceptual and grinding out algebra.</p>
<p>There are some pre-calc concepts that do come back to bit you in the butt in Calc. Isabella- Out of curiosity, how are they even letting you enroll in a calc class without a college-level pre-calc course? Did you place into it?</p>
<p>Anyways, as somebody already noted above, there are essential elements behind algebra that you need to know in order to do well in calc. If roots/complex fractional division scare you, you better get over it real quickly…haha. Or at least, all of those have come back in my calc courses.</p>
<p>Whomever says pre-calc is easier, your calculus teacher must only be giving you baby problems. Calculus can be made very difficult when presented with problems that require great insight into the methods of integration and optimization.
-a math major who’s done all the lower division mathematics</p>
<p>Algebra is cake, its basically just plug in chug with a little memorization. Trig is just as easy minus the proofs which can be hard. learning derivatives and integrals is not the hardest thing ever, but when your tested for problem solving it can become very difficult, unlike algebra you can do every homework problem and still face trouble on tests, its not so much plug and chug and more problem solving.</p>
<p>Kind of like how Intermediate Algebra is easier than Elementary Algebra… hahaha</p>
<p>I have to agree with TRANSFERBK2012, that algebra is a lot more memorization whereas Calculus is much more heavily dependent on your critical thinking abilities. Solving calculus problems, at least if you have a decent professor isn’t so much about memorizing a strategy, but evaluating a problem and creating that strategy yourself. </p>
<p>And did anyone stop to consider that when you’re first introduced to Algebra form elementary math, that their so conceptually different that it just seems harder relatively because the concepts are so dissimilar. Calculus is far more conceptually challenging than Algebra, but still requires the use of Algebra to solve the problems so there’s a sense of familiarity there. Instead of going “oh crap, there are letters in MATH?!?!” your brain is already trained comfortable with “some” of the concepts so it may come to you quicker than when you were a middle school/high school student encountering Algebra for the first time. </p>
<p>Also for anyone that thinks Calculus is “easier” than Alegbra you’re probably still taking it and haven’t gotten to the chapters about Series Expansion, Convergent/Divergent series, Taylor and Maclaurin series, etc. I had an A in Calc 2 the whole semester until I got to the chapter. Lol</p>
<p>i think for most students the hardest part of calculus is not calculus @ all, it their weak foundation of algebra + trig/geometry stuff. We had people in calc2 who couldn’t do square root problems, or knew what another identity for tan was. give or take i think a majority of students forgot geometry/trig by the time they got to calculus. Chapter 7-8 was calc 2 first test and abit over 60% failed and my teacher was astonished and how many people did not know trig/geometry rules.</p>
<p>kingdomsroa: i said i look pre calculus algebra already at my college :] i got an A+ in that class actually. algebra doesn’t scare me in the least. the first time i enrolled in CC, i took a placement test and placed into calculus. but i was worried because i hadn’t taken math in a few years, so i went backwards and took pre calc algebra. now i need to finish calc and don’t have time to take trig, so i convinced a counselor to let me register…lols.</p>
<p>Done with Calc/Differential, and the most difficult math class I had was Pre Calc. </p>
<p>The Calc series/Linear Algebra/Differential goes a lot slower through topics, while Pre Calc just rushes through a ton of Algebra. But my pre calc teacher was considered the most difficult teacher at my school though.</p>
<p>PreCalc was difficult for me because I had to rapidly relearn a bunch of algebra and trig. Calc was easy up until Calc 3. I lack an intuitive understanding of geometry and had trouble visualizing functions. The funny thing is that I can visualize 3D graphs, but I get tripped up with 2D functions.</p>