<p>I was accepted ED and now I'm sort of freaked out about what my math classes will be like. As a result, I've hired a tutor and am trying to do some self studying for multivariable calculus. Does anybody here on cc know what textbooks Penn uses for this level of calculus? If not does anybody have advice for which books to get?</p>
<p>Woah. You’re already starting multivariable? Will Calc 104 really go that in?</p>
<p>104 is not multivariable. 114 is. The book is Stewart [Amazon.com:</a> Calculus (Stewart’s Calculus Series) (9780495011606): James Stewart: Books](<a href=“http://www.amazon.com/Calculus-Stewarts-James-Stewart/dp/0495011606/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1262181377&sr=8-1]Amazon.com:”>http://www.amazon.com/Calculus-Stewarts-James-Stewart/dp/0495011606/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1262181377&sr=8-1)</p>
<p>@biomajor5 Oooh, sorry I didn’t know. Do many students take 114?</p>
<p>pretty much everyone who gets ap credit for calc bc and needs extra math (engineers, math and science majors, whartonites) takes 114</p>
<p>good to know…thats the same book we use now</p>
<p>Read this book called “Calculus” by Michael Spivak. It’s Calc BC + some stuff, but if you do/understand everything in the book, you will be able to handle higher math at ANY university. </p>
<p>Very, very tough book though.</p>
<p>[Math</a> 114-004 Homework](<a href=“http://www.math.upenn.edu/~tongzhu/math114fall09hw.html]Math”>http://www.math.upenn.edu/~tongzhu/math114fall09hw.html)</p>
<p>Homework assignments for Math 114 from The Stewart calc series.</p>
<p>Does anyone know if there are placement tests available for multivariable? Or perhaps some other way to get out of it if you’ve taken it in high school? I know some people at other schools enroll and only show up for the final, but I don’t know if that’s going to get me by at Penn. Thanks!</p>
<p>Just showing up for exams definitely works for some at Penn. The key is doing the old exams. Class is worthless. Also, the homework is worthless, and not indicative of what will be on the exams. I got a coveted A in math 104 and barely went to class.</p>
<p>Thanks guys. This has all been very helpful. Does anybody have additional advice for anything else I can read/study to help prepare myself for wharton?</p>
<p>Hey Longstreet,</p>
<p>This is going to sound kind of strange - but one of the things I wish I had done before Penn was hone my study skills. I wish I had picked up one of those books that is like “How to Study” or “How to Get Straight As In College” and taken it to heart. I didn’t get around to reading it until my second semester, and I’m not kidding - I went from a 2.9 to a 3.8 in a semester.</p>
<p>Wow. I never put much weight into those books because I figured they would only say stuff like “take good notes” and “be organized”. . .but now I think Ill look into getting one. Thanks for all of your help and advice</p>
<p>If you are interested in studying multivariable calculus, I would recommend the MIT lectures on Open Courseware. Just search youtube for “MIT multivariable”.</p>
<p>Hey eg; thanks for the pointer. I’ve watched a couple of MIT lectures for single variable calc on ItunesU but I didn’t know they released their multivariable lectures too. I’ll definitely look into that</p>
<p>I took multivariable calculus, Calc 3 with Analytic Geometry as its called at my school (I assume its the same) and used these videos. Pretty helpful.</p>
<p>[Brief</a> Description of MA 242 Lectures by LK Norris](<a href=“http://courses.ncsu.edu/ma242/common/media/OutlineOfLectures.html]Brief”>http://courses.ncsu.edu/ma242/common/media/OutlineOfLectures.html)</p>
<p>You’ll need VLC to watch them.</p>
<p>thanks for the advice</p>
<p>wow, I just breezed through the “Practice midterm” posted on the Math 114 site… it’s more or less the same stuff on my tests/quizzes in MVC</p>
<p>^^ warning, at least in my calc class, the practice midterms were insanely easy, especially compared with the midterms and finals. For example, I easily got a 100 on the practice midterm in less than 30 minutes (i am not exaggerating) and then got a not-so-hot score on the real thing, as I sweated through the problems. </p>
<p>that said, to answer your question, you seem to be in good shape. Keep in mind Penn has a ton of resources if you are struggling in math-office hours, math resource centers (in your college house one night a week) , an online message board, etc, etc. If you ever need help, it’s not a huge deal.</p>
<p>^^agreed. That practice exam is not indicative of what the exams are really like. Contact a friend/student at Penn and see if they can access the old exam file. There are TONS of them.</p>