<p>Math isn't my strong subject. But I like learning something new in my math class now (geometry) Math always interested me but, I was never good at it. I looked up some stuff, and received results saying how hard Calculus is. I consider taking Calculus my Junior year. I'm really scared too. I read and hear people saying that Pre-Calculus was hard :O
So for people who actually took Calculus, did you find it hard and how to prepare? Thank you.</p>
<p>What math are you taking now?</p>
<p>It depends. My teacher was a freaking psychotic b____ and she didn’t know how to teach Calculus. She only knew how to flip through power points.</p>
<p>For me, it wasn’t that hard. You just need to practice doing the problems a lot. Math never was a trouble subject because I simply did enough problems and examples to understand all the concepts and not make mistakes.</p>
<p>I don’t think anyone here can give an accurate view of how difficult it is for you. I don’t know your academic background and past performance in math classes. In fact, I don’t think even you can predict how it will be for you - since you’re in geometry, you probably haven’t learned important topics such as trigonometry yet, which may be a deal breaker depending on how much you like it.
For some people, it’s the easiest class they have. For others, it’s the hardest.
High school calculus usually involves lots of algebraic manipulation. Are you good at that?</p>
<p>OK, I read your other thread about teh maths. Judging from that, be prepared to work REALLY HARD.</p>
<p>@FantasyVesperia I personally think Calculus always comes back to the concept of derivatives and integrals, so if you’re good at mastering simple concepts for a variety of complex problems, calculus might be your subject. It would be better to predict your performance though by asking your teachers and others who know about your math skills. It isn’t the same for everyone and Calculus could be potentially really challenging if you don’t master the basics.</p>
<p>I’m taking Math 150/160 (A tiny bit higher than AP Calculus).</p>
<p>It is definitely the hardest class I have ever taken, but it is really worth it. Most interesting and fun class I have ever taken, and I have learned so much in it.</p>
<p>So to your question: Yes, it is really hard to grasp the new concepts, but once you do, it is extremely fun.</p>
<p>From my personal experience I’d say that pre-Cal is harder than AP Calculus AB, but that’s mostly because I wasn’t that interested in pre-Cal. All you have to do is understand some basic concepts and apply them to some problems and you’re done. Pretty easy (I learned some calculus over some of the summer from khanacademy and was therefore ahead of my class by like 6 weeks).</p>
<p>Sent from my Desire HD using CC App</p>
<p>@katamariforever That’s why I’m so frightened lol. Calculus looks interesting, so I’ll try.</p>
<p>@thecollege1 Oh~~ okay. I asked my brother and he said he dropped it for Statistics because he said it was so hard lol. I’ll try to ask my Geo teacher. She’s very supportive, so she’ll probably help. Thank you.</p>
<p>I’m taking AP Calculus AB, which is the first level of Calculus and I find it simple, but I owe it a lot to my teacher. I’m supposed to take Calculus II and III next year, and the upperclassmen at my school said it was horrible. I’m a math oriented though, so I suppose it’ll be okay. I think it depends on your calculus teacher.</p>
<p>@WHATDAMCFUDGE I tried to look at some of the Pre-calculus material on Khan Academy I so was confused :S lol</p>
<p>anmsestudent, AP Calculus =/= Calculus I</p>
<p>@test101 Really In my school that Calculus order goes like this: AP Calculus AB----> AP Calculus BC-----> Calculus III. Mmmm That’s interesting. If there’s is a difference then maybe I should reconsider taking Calculus. I too always though AP Calculus AB was Calculus I lol.</p>
<p>I never did an official precalc class, but my algebra 2/trig class had many precalc topics added in there. I’d say calc requires a different, slightly more creative type of thinking than algebra - whether it was because of the teachers, but I despised algebra 2 and geo.
If you have a good math teacher, it definitely helps. For me, I learn it from the teacher, do numerous practice problems till I <em>get</em> it and them I’m usually fine.</p>
<p>You should go for it, as long as you are prepared to work hard and have solid background. Good luck!</p>
<p>@ecouter11 Yeah, my brother said that Algebra II did go over some pre-calculus topics. I’m taking Algebra II next semester, so I guess I’ll wait and see. Thanks.</p>
<p>AP Calc AB consists of Calc 1 mostly, and maybe a little of Calc 2? I know that BC is only 1 and 2 though, no 3.</p>
<p>“Calculus was not made to be easy. It already is.”
-Jaime Escalante in _Stand _and _Deliver</p>
<p>I took calculus last year and it was easy rather easy. The only difficult thing was not initially understanding concepts and having to figure things out; it requires more thinking than HS algebra in that sense. For AB, BC, or non-AP calculus the only stuff you need to know is algebra 2. Trig is useful to know beforehand, but not completely necessary. Calculus BC is not a course to follow AB calculus, it merely includes more topics and goes at a faster pace.</p>
<p>@michael2 Stand and Deliver is one of my favorite movies. Anyways, thanks.</p>
<p>Absolutely everything in Post #9.</p>