<p>I have a question about what math class to take next fall/spring (my freshman year at Duke). I took AP calc BC and got a 5 my junior year. This year, I took multivariable calc and did very well, but I'd still like to take multivarable at duke. Would you recommend I take the honors version or should I stick with regular 103? For that matter, do they even allow freshman into honors 103? Also, I put Duke as the school AP scores should be sent to when I took my AP tests this year, but will those scores reach Duke soon enough to let me register for math 103? It has an "enforced prereq" and all that, so I'm a little worried. Also, if I do end up taking honors 103 (which I have no idea if I will or not at the moment), how do I get the permission number? Thank you so much! :)</p>
<p>1). Take the honors version if you want the more abstract stuff regarding multi. If you just want a refresher, or the college version of the stuff, then the regular is fine. </p>
<p>2). Freshmen are allowed into 103x, I know a few who took it. </p>
<p>3). You'll definitely be able to register for 103. Your AP scores will get to Duke on time since I'm pretty sure they are sent electronically at the middle-to-end of June. (the wonders of technology)</p>
<p>4). You get the permission number from the professor teaching the course. His contact info should be on ACES or you can search duke's website if it's not. Get the permission number early, or there might not be spots later.</p>
<p>How hard is Math 103 anyways? I'm going to assume for now that I did well on my AP Calculus BC and I may or may not go onto 103 depending on how difficult it is (Note: I HATE math with a passion...just want to get some T-Reqs out of the way). </p>
<p>Sorry if I'm hijacking the topic.</p>
<p>erm...the regular math 103 is not too hard. If you enjoyed doing stuff in AP calc like finding the surface area of a revolution or finding volumes of solids, then think of math 103 as a whole course dedicated to exactly that (with some flux and other stuff added in). Of course that's a simplistic way of looking at it but I find it to be very effective.</p>
<p>I didn't particularly ENJOY that stuff, but I guess it was better than the rest of calculus...as long as theirs no series, parametric, or polar stuff I guess it doesn't sound that bad.</p>
<p>first of all, thanks for the reply, SBR!</p>
<p>to Enteril: we did a decent amount with polar, but it mostly had to do with converting stuff into polar/cylindrical coordinates (or spherical. grr, i hate spherical). we also did a decent amount of parametric, but that wasn't called "parametric" - it was called vector-valued functions, but was the same thing. basically, most of calc 3 is just finding the volume of stuff and then it gets more physics-y when you get to stokes theorem, green's theorem, and divergence theorem and stuff...compared to my experience with bc calc, calc 3 was much, much, MUCH easier. i never actually understood the taylor series and stuff but calc 3 was much easier to grasp.</p>
<p>Senator Noodles: you're very welcome</p>
<p>Multivariable is much more "graphically oriented" than calc BC, which tends to be loaded with lots of dry stuff.</p>
<p>Alright, thanks both of you. Maybe I'll take this one last semester of actual math then and then try to fill my second QS credit with something easy. Hopefully 103 won't tank my GPA.</p>
<p>To SBR : What do you mean by more "graphically oriented"?</p>
<p>Does that mean, we actually need to graph a lot or that
we need some intuition for visualizing things in 3D graphs?</p>
<p>And when you guys say honors math is much more abstract,
do you mean like linear algebra abstract? Like more with theories
than tangible functions and equations encountered in single variable
calculus? And would math 103 fill up really quickly?</p>
<p>Thank you</p>
<p>a pirate, you'd better be able to picture 3-D graphs to do multiple integrals! but once you get the hang of it, it isn't that hard.</p>
<p>Is math 103 a year long course?</p>
<p>no...it's just a semester - it's not that much more material extra compared to calc 2, but you combine it in a different way.</p>
<p>What I meant by "graphically oriented" is that the course is much easier for those who are able to visualize the things that are taught. Although it's not terribly difficult for those who can't do that either. My teacher usually draws pictures and stuff when he taught and he made understanding the concepts very simple in that we can see exactly what he meant instead of just staring at a bunch of equations and variables.</p>
<p>So if you take your BC Calc credit and go into 103 first semester, what do you take second semester?</p>
<p>math 104, pratt kids take 107</p>
<p>which professor should i select? lucas, santoro, hain, xin, mckinley???</p>
<p>Don't take Xin Zhou, I hear he has a heavy accent and tend to make test questions that cover concepts that he hasn't taught yet. </p>
<p>I don't know about Santoro or Hain, but I heard McKinley is a pretty good teacher and Lucas, while pretty new, is at least understandable. They both taught math 107 last semester so I don't know how good they are at math 103, but it shouldn't be too much of a difference.</p>
<p>ratemyprofessors, ftw</p>