I placed out of calc 1 and 2 and at my school it says on the website that calc 3 and/or linear algebra are strongly recommended but not required. I’m good at math but i really don’t want to take another calc class, so would it be ok if I skipped calc 3 and went into p-chem with just my background in calc 1 and 2?
When you take pchem, you will be bombarded with new and interesting concepts at a fast pace. The last thing you want getting in the way of your learning is the math. The math needs to be second nature so that it doesn’t interfere with what you are really learning. I am glad I took honors calc III before pchem and I probably should have taken more math but I was a special case (daughter of two mathematicians) and didn’t think I needed it. ;))
So basically, when you need to compute a Jacobian in pchem, you should be totally focused on the why, not the how.
My son is a chem major so had to take pchem 1 and 2. Like you he placed out of call 1 and 2. He didn’t take any other math except for stats. In the first month of pchem 1 he worked really hard and had to figure out a lot of math on his own. After that he was fine. He ended up with A+ for both pchems. It probably would of been easier if he had calc 3, but he ended up being fine. So I guess it depends on what kind of student you are. If you can cover material on your own you’ll be fine. It also depends how good you are in chemistry.