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Partial DiffEq isn't required by all (I don't think any at my school) curriculums.
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Even for electrical engineering, PDE is not required in any school I ever know.</p>
<p>For Caltech, all engineering majors are required to take complex analysis and PDE's in addition to ODE's, as part of a legendary one year course called ACM 95. This is after taking Calc I, II, III, and LinAlg freshman year, and DiffEQ's as a first term sophomore.</p>
<p>My DiffEQ class (good old Ma 2a) was significantly harder than my Calc III course (Ma 1c), but as with any class, I think it's more due to the prof and how rigorous he wants to make the course rather than one subject being more difficult than another. ACM 95a, the term committed to complex analysis, was the hardest course I've taken at Caltech so far.</p>
<p>I took linalg and DiffEq the semester before I took calc 3.</p>
<p>IMHO, calc 3 was by far one of the easiest math classes that I have ever taken</p>
<p>BUT DiffEq on the other hand the from my experience is a VERY difficult subject. DiffEq in the end had one wicked curve to say the least, But the professor I had was an excellent teacher his areas were numerical optimization and Partial Differential Equations and needless to say his exams were extremely difficult but fair at the same time.</p>
<p>Also knowing some linear algebra can help you in certain aspects of Calc 3.</p>
<p>I thought both classes were equally difficult. I felt that my professors made the exams a lot harder than they could have been. They try to avoid straightforward problems like the ones you do in homework which really sucks. Oh well. I passed both classes.</p>
<p>Wronskian and Laplace v. Jacobian and Taylor remainder. Probably for most people Calculus 3 is probably easier. Better still, find out about the profs and if they give easy tests. That is usually the determining factor.</p>
<p>LOL guys, if you found linear algebra easier than Calc III, there's a good chance you didn't take a <em>real</em> linear algebra class. In response to:</p>
<p>"Linear algebra is easy. It is hard to understand why Calc III is considered a lower division class and linear algebra is considered an upper division class. I know everyone's brain is wired differently but it is hard to imagine someone who got through his pre-calc classes fine and got through the calc sequence fine would have any trouble with linear algebra."</p>
<p>Linear algebra can be taught at many levels. I mean, it's not the hardest thing in the world, but it's closer to actual abstract math, which is definitely tons harder than Calc III.</p>
<p>I dunno, I think it depends on the person. One of my buddies back at CMU was a CS/math double major said he found linear algebra to be more intuitive and easy to understand than Calc 3D. That said, neither class broke his 4.0.</p>
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ACM 95a, the term committed to complex analysis, was the hardest course I've taken at Caltech so far.
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<p>I'll second this, especially as a grad student that hadn't taken a math class in four years. (I have to say that even though I found the material in 95a considerably tougher than 95b or c I definitely learned a lot more than the later quarters. I think b and c actually made me forget stuff I had already understood about ODEs and PDEs from undergrad.)</p>
<p>I thought that multi-variable calc (not everyone uses the strange calc numbering system that devotes two classes to single-variable and one to multi-variable) was easier than diffeq. I also thought it was easier than single-variable calc.</p>
<p>Some people I know felt that it was the other way around. It always depends on the person (and the prof, and the school).</p>
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LOL guys, if you found linear algebra easier than Calc III, there's a good chance you didn't take a <em>real</em> linear algebra class. In response to:</p>
<p>"Linear algebra is easy. It is hard to understand why Calc III is considered a lower division class and linear algebra is considered an upper division class. I know everyone's brain is wired differently but it is hard to imagine someone who got through his pre-calc classes fine and got through the calc sequence fine would have any trouble with linear algebra."</p>
<p>Linear algebra can be taught at many levels. I mean, it's not the hardest thing in the world, but it's closer to actual abstract math, which is definitely tons harder than Calc III.
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Even the most abstract variants of linear algebra is still linear algebra, it is not that hard since unlike real algebra it always got that anchor in reality. And you can't really compare the more abstract linear algebra variants with basic multi variable calculus. I mean, at least I see vector calculus as multivariable calculus and then you got most of the things from linalg but with differentiation baked into it, in the same way tensor calculus is also a multivariable course since it is just vector calculus with different notations and a but more rigour.</p>
<p>I agree. A good (thus, more challenging) Linear Algebra course is more theoretical, as opposed to simply an application course. My professor always stressed to us the applications will be in the physics/engineering courses. My course wasn't necessarily proof-based on the exams - though we had a few fundamental proof questions - but it was theoretically/conceptually based. She always stressed the theory, too. I'm glad I had a course like that for Linear Algebra. I'm a physics major, so I still have to take Diff. Eq., Intro. to PDE, and Vector Analysis.</p>
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I took linalg and DiffEq the semester before I took calc 3.
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</p>
<p>And how'd you take DiffEQ before cal 3?</p>
<p>While my school doesnt allow that, I know that some do. I think they teach the order of their material differently.</p>
<p>is calc III the same as multivariable calculus?</p>
<p>At most regular universities that use the semester system. Vector / multivariable calculus I guess. At MIT the 2nd (freshmen) calc course is multivariable calulus. Some universities split it into calc 3 and 4.</p>
<p>I found my Linear Algebra class to be pretty easy and found Calc 3 considerably easier than Differential Equations. My hardest math class was by far Complex Analysis.</p>
<p>Both are difficult.
For me, Diff Eq was easiER</p>
<p>A bit off topic, but did anyone find calc 2 really hard (BC equivalent, but much harder at my college than AP Calc BC)? By calc 2 I mean the part where you learn about integration by parts, trig substitution, etc. I am finding it much harder than calc 1 (AB equivalent, but also much harder at my college than AP Calc AB). How does Calc 2 compare to Calc 3?</p>
<p>Calc 3 is basically calc 1 and 2 over again with more than one variable.</p>
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A bit off topic, but did anyone find calc 2 really hard (BC equivalent, but much harder at my college than AP Calc BC)? By calc 2 I mean the part where you learn about integration by parts, trig substitution, etc. I am finding it much harder than calc 1 (AB equivalent, but also much harder at my college than AP Calc AB). How does Calc 2 compare to Calc 3?
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</p>
<p>Integration by parts is mostly plug and chug. Trig substitution can be tricky though. I understand where your coming from. Some say calculus 2 is harder than three. I really hope it is because I too am having some difficulties in calc 2.</p>
<p>Depends on your prof , my calc 3 prof was much harsher than my calc 2 prof so I had a much harder time in calc 3</p>