Calc II vs Calc III

<p>Hi, I recently found out that I was accepted to UF. I'm thinking of going there, so I have one question. Should I exempt out of Calc II and head straight for Calc III, or should I just stay in Calc II? I took AP Calc AB last year and scored a 5, and I'm hoping to get a 5 on the BC exam.</p>

<p>From what I hear Calc III is easier than Calc II, but only if you get through Calc II. I would not skip. However, I am not actually at UF yet, so I would not know.</p>

<p>What’s your major?</p>

<p>Calc 2 is basically integration by parts, trig substitutions, then a ton of sequences and series stuff. If you get a 5 in BC, I would skip Calc 2.</p>

<p>if you’re comfortable using the different integration methods, skip calc 2. you probably wont use sequences and series again, and those are the only really challenging part of that class. despite what the advisors suggest, its not uncommon for freshmen to skip calc 2</p>

<p>If you can skip it, do so. I know plenty of people that did and have had no problems.</p>

<p>Thanks for the input guys! I’m thinking I’ll major in Computer Science (engineering).</p>

<p>I am only in Calc AB right now. Being able to do Calc III as a freshman seems excellent to me, so I want to find a way to do this. If I were to self study for BC (which is plausible) and get a 5, even if I studied for like a month, would it actually be good enough proof that I could skip Calc II? How do you know?</p>

<p>Skip calc 2, you will never use that stuff again once you get to your engineering core classes. </p>

<p>I personally thought calc 3 was harder than calc 2, because I am not biggest fan of geometry and the 3d stuff.</p>

<p>I agree calc 3 is much harder than calc 2 or at least for me it was. It had alot to do with geometry and thinking in 3d.</p>

<p>Really? From what I hear, Calc II was supposed to be harder than III.</p>

<p>well, calc 3 I think is harder for those of us who are less geometrically inclined (a large focus of the class is on topics like vector spaces). However, the problem-solving itself can be easier, since you do a lot of what you have done throughout calculus (i.e., in calc 3 you take partial derivatives, which is differentiating but with respect to more than one variable. I believe that it is the same as differentiating except the first time around you treat one variable as constant and the second time you differentiate that variable).</p>

<p>So calc 3 may be one of those things where it’s trickier to set-up the problem (to understand the math) but it’s easy to actually solve (this is how I feel about area/volume in Calc BC :P)</p>

<p>BTW, I do plan on getting my 5 in BC Calc (I will be extremely disappointed in myself if this does not happen) and entering calc 3.</p>

<p>Yes your exactly right, the actual calculus part of calc 3 is fairly simple, but it is getting there that is the problem. But getting to the original topic if you feel comfortable with all the intergration techniques then skip calc 2 if you can.</p>

<p>I was in the same position as you: got a 5 on calc BC, going into compsci engineering.
I skipped Calc2 and it was no problem at all.</p>

<p>D got a 5 on Calc BC and always had A’s in the class. She’s ChemE and started w/ Calc 3. She had no trouble at all. Math/physics are her strength.</p>

<p>zebes</p>