<p>I will be transferring to a CS BS program this upcoming fall semester. Now I'm a bit worried due to my overall exposure to "college level" mathematics. I'm a untraditional student (early 30s) which doesn't remember much from high school. In CC I've taken Tech Math 1 (mostly trigonometry) and will be taking Precalculus this upcoming spring semester prior to my transfer. I plan on self-learning Calc 1 and Calc 2 through a couple of math video series I have while speaking to my current professor on those same additional subjects.</p>
<p>My concern comes with discrete mathematics. I've started the Discrete Mathematics Video series from Arthur Benjamin recently. I have so far understood the first 5 chapters with a bit of work I'm worried that it'll be incredibly intense for me. Granted I'm only 5/24 chapters in I'm just wondering what I'm getting myself into. Reason is I'm currently a IT:Programmer (I suppose its a focused area of IT for CC) with a 3.9 GPA. I'm pretty sure that my GPA most likely will drop when I enter a 4 year institution (I don't consider CC challenging at all. The lower grades I got from being overly bored and not studying at all(2 B+'s and 1 A-)). </p>
<p>Now what suggestions might you all have regarding the course of study and approach I should take? The college I am transferring to does not require Calc 1 and 2 at all. And it actually breaks down Discrete Mathematics into 2 courses (Regular and Advanced). Should I just go ahead and learn Calc 1 and 2 solo? Should I try to convince my incoming professor to allow me to sit in Discrete Structures class without any credit just to attempt to learn the material?</p>
<p>My biggest fear is failing and doing the wrong thing by transferring to a 4 year institution. It's been a dream for myself and my recently deceased father (Which is a specific reason why I'm pushing myself harder now then when I finished high school) for me to get my BS and eventually my MS. I am all for learning as much as I can outside of the class room in order to better prepare myself in the class room and outside of it.</p>
<p>Thank you ahead of time for any input that can be given.</p>
<p>Calculus I and II are not difficult subjects. High school students learn Calculus.</p>
<p>I went through Calculus I and II bored out of my mind while I was at community college. I’m a senior right now (math major) and I think you could teach yourself both, but it’d be a lot of work without the structure of a class in my opinion. Calculus I was extremely simple. You could definitely teach yourself that. Just get yourself a good book (I recommend Bruce Edwards/Ron Larson + solutions manual). Calculus II there were so many things thrown at you. I took it during an 8 week summer course. </p>
<p>You get what you put in. </p>
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What the heck does this mean? You’re supposed to transfer to a four year. If you put in the work, you won’t fail. There is an initial intellectual jump, but you will get over it. if you don’t need Calculus I and II, don’t take it then…</p>
<p>If you want to audit a Discrete Structures class, audit it. You can’t really study for entire classes before you take them once you get to university level, though. There’s just not enough time if you want to graduate in a reasonable amount of time. You need to develop skills as you go. You won’t be thrown into a situation where you’re going to have to have a month to study for something before you work on a project/problem. </p>
<p>You just need good algebra skills to do well in Calculus.</p>
<p>@CalDud Initially I was only after an AS. Your words literally slapped me in the face and knocked me back into reality. It certainly is true that it is what I’m suppose to do ( transfer to a university ). There has been some pressures pushing me into stopping after my AS but I realized a they are not significant enough to justify it. I will go ahead and self teach myself Calcus to the best of my ability along with auditing a discrete structures class in the very least to at least see the subjects prior.</p>
<p>@CT1417 I did glance at Khan academy video series and it is something I most likely will use in acquiring that knowledge. I wasn’t aware of the art of problem solving books although it does seem like a good additional resource. Which it definitely doesn’t hurt to have. </p>
<p>I tend to over analyze things a bit and perhaps this is the case as well. Thank you both for your comments.</p>
<p>AoPS is an excellent resource for discrete math topics (I used it in MS and HS while preparing for contest math). Contains a lot of challenging problems.</p>