<p>hi, I didn't know where else to post questions regarding math classes so I decided that an engineering forum would be the best place to do so. I'm a prospective math major/minor and will be starting college soon. I was wondering how the difficulty of Calc III compares with linear algebra. Is it advisable to take both these classes in the same semester for a college freshman? Are the concepts taught in linear algebra really abstract and hard to visualize? what about the ones in calc III? engineers plz help me out</p>
<p>I did not find linear alg. very hard because I am a comp sci major I guess but calc III was harder than calc II and I. Lin alg is a lot of proofs</p>
<p>how do the curves tend to be in linear algebra classes? I've done AP Calc BC and i think i can handle calc III cuz i have a general idea of what it involves, but linear algebra is completely foreign to me. how do you think you would have done if you took linear alg and calc III together?</p>
<p>For my major I had to take a 2-credit linear algebra class and it was much easier for me than multivariate. I had a hard time visualizing things in the beginning of multivariate. I took the linear algebra class a semester later and I think it may have been easier since I already had multi behind me. I also had the same professor for both classes and he taught linear algebra as if you had already taken multi (though not everyone had)</p>
<p>I think a lot of these are very school, and professor, dependent. You should be able to do both of these classes, as I don't think either were really that super time-intensive, but the difficulty of a Linear Algebra class can change a lot depending on who's teaching it. If you're just learning how to use Linear Algebra as a tool, then it won't be a very difficult class and should be easier than Calc 3. If it's taught as a proof-based class, then I'd expect it to be quite a bit harder, and Calc 3 might be easier in that case.</p>
<p>If your course is anything like mine then linear algebra is basically matrices, revisited. It was almost a ridiculously easy class (coming from a math major that is) that really only involved running calculations and doing no upper level thinking. If the class is a more theoretical and proofs-based one then you can expect it to be considerably more difficult, especially if you haven't taken any proofs-based classes yet. Look into NYU's course descriptions and if you still aren't confident about it separate the two and take a required course in another subject alongside Cal. Cal III is pretty much what you see is what you get, and you pretty much already know what to expect I see.</p>
<p>Remember that your first semester is going to be more strenuous than the others since you have to adjust to college life still, so no need to put more stress on yourself than is necessary. When in doubt, space it out.</p>
<p>Systems of linear equations, Gaussian elimination, matrices, determinants, Cramer’s rule. Vectors, vector spaces, basis and dimension, linear transformations. Eigenvalues, eigenvectors, and quadratic forms.</p>
<p>Thats from NYU's website. That's what the class is going to be about and i heard that it is "very theoretical", and yea i heard its proof based. do u need a lotta practice or can u get by if u have decent analytical skills?</p>
<p>you can get by linear quite easily. I don't know if you have taken a discrete math course but they are similar except linear is a little more difficult</p>
<p>As the other posters have said, the difficulty really depends on the professor and scope of the course. Though it sounds like you are taking the class at NYU which is known to be a top notch program in Mathematics.</p>
<p>The more pertinent question is how well did you perform in AP Calc? If you found AP Cal easy then chances are Cal 3 won't be too hard either. Also, how well are you with theories and more abstract math? If you haven't taken any discrete or elementary math classes, Lin Al might be hard due to the conceptual focus.</p>
<p>Anyway, I say that you should contact the professors and maybe peruse the textbooks at a library. That should give you a good idea of what you are getting into.</p>
<p>i actually got a 5 on AP Calc BC in junior year through self study, without taking the class. like i just read the concept from the book and i understand it and can apply it. i really don't know what abstract math entails, and as for theories, i think i can probably understand them if i read em off a book. i've been looking up the linear algebra professors on ratemyprofessors.com, and apparently they have lenient grading. That's what some NYU kids have told me too, that curves in math classes are slightly mild. i want alteast an A- or B+</p>
<p>Linear algebra is fun. Its incredibly useful.</p>
<p>Linear algebra, to me, was so much easier than multivariable calculus. If you are a very visual thinker, and can easily picture things in 3-D, you should do well in multivariable calculus. If you are good at abstract thinking, you should do well in linear algebra. Personally, I had a difficult time picturing things so I found linear algebra to be easier. It's analogous to the difference between geometry and algebra. If you did well in geometry, you are likely to do well in calc III; whereas if you did well in algebra, you are likely to do well in linear algebra</p>
<p>I agree with Brown man's analogy about geometry/algebra. I found geometry to be more confusing than algebra and all calc classes I took were much harder for me than any discrete math.</p>
<p>As a CS major Linear Algebra was extremely easy for me, Calc3 was "harder", or at least much more work. For LI I didn't have to study much at all, only memorizing the definitions, reading through the difficult proofs and doing some homework/practice before the exam. However, I know people who did all of the homework, spend days in the library trying to study for a test and then still ended up with something lower than a B, just because they didn't have the "right thinking" or understanding for doing the proofs. These people were not stupid, I bet some of them got A's in Calc3.</p>
<p>So I guess it really depends on what kind of person you are. If you are a very good with logic and abstraction, Linear Algebra will be a breeze. If not, then LI may be much harder for you than Calc3.</p>
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That's what the class is going to be about and i heard that it is "very theoretical",
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Same as what brown man said. There isn't as much "theoretical" concepts in your first linear algebra course, according to the course objective that you listed. If you take an advanced linear algebra course, then there will be. The proofs will be straight forward at this stage, probably in 2-D (I don't know how your book is).</p>
<p>What you will see is a lot more computation with some 3-D visualization to see what's going on in the problem (at least with the transformations, Gram Schmidt, vector space, basis, dimensions, etc.).</p>
<p>The eigenvectors, eigenvalues, Gaussian Elimination, Determinants are usually systematic. The eigen-______ materials will be useful in engineering. When you see them pop up in upper division courses, you'll see the beauty and why you learned it in preparation for the advanced courses.</p>
<p>When I took the first half of linear algebra with a proof-oriented professor, I had a hard time understanding the material because I've never had taken a proof-oriented math class before. The stuff can get really abstract once you get to learn about vector space (where you get to talk about things that are in >3 dimensions, which you can't really visualize). Fortunately, my professor graded the class on curve, so I still ended up with an A.</p>
<p>In the second half of Lin Alg, my professor was much more examples and applications oriented, and I felt it was a lot easier. And all the materials dealt with eigen-_______ and discrete dynamical systems sounded very interesting, and I bet they can be very useful in engineering.</p>
<p>Multivariable calculus is not that difficult if you did well in AP calc. But I didn't really like this class at the beginning because I didn't like visualizing things in 3-D, and I felt many computations were tedious and boring. I started liking it once we started talking about vector field, but you have to go through some (what I consider) boring stuff before you get there.</p>
<p>So that's my overview of those classes. They are somewhat different, so it's hard to compare which is harder. But I guess multivariable calc is easier because it doesn't involve much proofs. Now that I've taken "introduction to proof" type of course, I look back at my notes from that linear algebra class, and those proofs don't look that bad.</p>