<p>I took Honors Calculus as a senior in high school and got an A-. I will be an engineering major in September and not sure what to expect out of calculus in college so I would like to prep if possible. I was thinking of getting the AP boook that a student would use if he were studying for the AP exams. Would these be good books to use or are there other suggestions, authors that would work as well. Is Calculus the same across colleges: Calc 1, 2, 3 for engineers. Also, would AB calc be equivalent to Calculus 1 and BC equivalent to Calculus 2?</p>
<p>Calculus, whether taken at MIT or community college, is the same. Of course, the exams are more difficult at competitive colleges, but the materials are the same. I always prepared for my exams by watching MIT OpenCourseWare, and I do not attend MIT.</p>
<p>Why do you need to prepare? I took algebra 2 during my junior year in high school and no math during my senior year. I took calc 1 and 2 during fall and spring of freshman year and got two A’s. I also got many A’s in my lower/upper division ME courses. If you need the calculus for engineering, which you will, then they will teach you. That’s what you’re paying them for right?</p>
<p>Why do you need to prepare? I took algebra 2 during my junior year in high school and no math during my senior year. I took calc 1 and 2 during fall and spring of freshman year and got two A’s. I also got many A’s in my lower/upper division ME courses. If you need the calculus for engineering, which you will, then they will teach you. That’s what you’re paying them for right?</p>
<p>I’m entering as a freshmen for electrical engineering in the fall of 2010 at a top 20 eng. school. I took AP calc AB a year ago as a junior in HS and got a 5. Do you guys think I should skip calc 1? I still remember most of the material. Thanks.</p>
<p>not at all. That whole AP crap is so overrated in my opinion and stupid. You pretty much force yourself to start your first year of college off with really hard courses and have a higher chance of falling behind. Just take calc 1 as a refresher or if you feel you absolutely have to skip something, only skip calc 1 and start at calc 2. but dont start at calc 3 tho. besides, you can always just send the scores and not use them unless you want to.</p>
<p>That is a highly personal question. The AP curriculum may be standardized, but the quality of teaching is not. Many people in your situation can skip and be just fine. Many cannot. Do you feel you could get a 5 again without effort? If not, you may consider just retaking it.</p>
<p>Is this Calc 1, 1+2, 1+2+3? In some schools, Honors Calc is theory-based and it might not be the best preparation for an applications-based course which is far more common in engineering programs.</p>
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<p>MIT has a good calculus book online that you just download and use.</p>
<p>Thanks BCEagle - to answer your question the calc I took covered differential and integral calculus, elementary functions, limits, and continuity. Also, our program of studies says that the majority of the topics found in Advanced Placement Calculus were covered in Honors Calc. I bought the AP book and my guess is that a lot of it will be familiar to me. I do know one kid who said that found calc (at least 1) very easy because of the AP class that he took - he went to the same high school I did - a very rigorous one with a good reputation.</p>
<p>I see nothing wrong with doing a little prep over the summer, just don’t obsess over it. I’ll second the recommendation above, the Dover Math books are really informative. An AP book should work fine as well, as those are standardized. And generally, calculus courses do line up across the board, with calc 1 equivalent to what you’d learn in AB (derivatives and some integration), calc 2 covering the extra bits you learn in BC (more integration and series), and calc 3 being multivariable (partial differentiation, multiple integration, Green’s theorem, Stoke’s theorem), but specific calculus-for-engineers courses will vary from college to college.</p>
<p>it honestly depends on what kind of school you go to.</p>
<p>i go to a top engineering school, and calculus 1 and 2 are considered weed out courses. the exams are EXTREMELY challenging, with the goal for the average to be under a 70. they curve the average to a b-.</p>
<p>i did well in calculus ab in high school but got a 3 on the test, and i had to start out in calc 1. i ended up with a b. it was probably the most frustrating class i’ve taken so far because it was stuff i had learned before but harder than it should’ve been. i really wish i could’ve placed into calc 2, so at least when i struggled it would’ve been new material.</p>