<p>I am facing a tough decision. I'm in Alg II right now and I'm taking precalc online over the summer in order to prep for the Math II test. I can either report the precalc class to my school and switch into AP Calc AB, or not report it and stay on track to pre-calc.</p>
<p>Is it very important to have calc in high school when applying to CMU? Will I be behind if I don't have this behind my belt?</p>
<p>I consider myself decently smart, I have a 760 Math I SAT and similar scores, but a very very shaky math background. I didn't learn much frommy alg II course other than self-studying and review because of a horrible teacher, will only be getting a summer's worth of rushed precalc, and have never been on the honors math track. I will be at the bottom of the class if I switch into AP Calc. I am willing to put in the time and effort, but I'm not sure how far this will get me.</p>
<p>Plenty of people take calculus in college anyway. You wouldn’t be so far behind. It also depends on your major.</p>
<p>If you think you can do it – by all means, take the course. If you don’t think you learned the material well enough, taking it again in college will help you, because you’ll have an easy course your first semester and you’ll understand it really well at the end of the course.</p>
<p>Calc AB is only one semester of credit anyway.</p>
<p>I’m going into engineering, which is why I may be concerned. But aside from performing at CMU itself (important, but secondary atm :p), how about getting in in the first place? Is no calc in high school = automatic app in the trash? (for engineering applicants)</p>
<p>I imagine it’ll put you at a disadvantage for applications and a moderate disadvantage once you start. I think around 50% of my friends skipped the first year of calc due to AB/BC credit, and the other half were distributed somewhere in the other calc classes. I don’t know if the ones that started in calc 1 had any calculus in high school or not, but I know from Day 1 in a lot of your classes you’ll be using calculus concepts.</p>
<p>But keep in mind that even if colleges would like to see that you’re in calc if you’re going into engineering, you might be shooting yourself in the foot if taking calc your senior year means you won’t really have a strong foundation in pre-calc. That could mean a lot of trouble later, and might end up being worse than just waiting on calc until college…</p>
<p>One option I have is to take precalc over the summer to get into calc, then take both calc and precalc in my senior year (wont be getting credit for the retaking but will help me learn).</p>
<p>However, is a strong foundation of precalc necessary for calc? I am scared I might get screwed senior year.</p>
<p>Yes, you really can’t do much of calc without a good foundation. Math builds on itself. Lots of stuff in calc doesn’t make much sense with a good sense of precalc (although asymptotes make <em>more</em> sense after taking calc).</p>
<p>My advice is to not rush your math classes. You’re going to have… a lot of trouble at CMU if you haven’t mastered algebra and pre-calc. Nothing wrong with taking calc at CMU. That said, yeah, you’re at a huge disadvantage by not taking calc in HS. You’re really in a bad spot. Basically, if you get in to CMU with a shaky math background, you’re finished (in engineering, that is). But hey, shoot for the stars.</p>
<p>If you have a good summer course in Precalc you might feel pretty bored while taking it again during the school year. It’s really one of those classes that feels like a bit of a waste while you’re taking it, but only once you’ve taken more calc do you realize the importance of laying the solid foundations that precalc offers.</p>
<p>After reviewing our hs’s precalc textbook, it seems that many topics are rather repetitive of previously learned topics. Can somebody please explain to me what new topics are included in “precalc” that are important? Although my D will only be a hs junior, she has a dilemma similar to skatj: precalc or calc next year? Thanks!</p>
<p>I think precalc gave a solid background on concepts such as limits, asymptotes, types of curves, and lots of trig identities that I still use in almost every class. My precalc and calc classes were completely calculator free, and I feel I learned the material a heck of a lot better for it.</p>