<p>Incoming freshman here and I was just curious as to what topics Math 20B would cover, as I am currently signed up for it. </p>
<p>I'm concerned because I took Calc AB junior year of high school, got a 4 on the AP, but to be honest I didn't really understand anything and by now I must have forgotten most of it. I never took Calc BC.</p>
<p>Thanks in advance</p>
<p>20B. Calculus for Science and Engineering (4)
Integral calculus of one variable and its applications, with exponential, logarithmic, hyperbolic, and trigonometric functions. Methods of integration. Infinite series. Polar coordinates in the plane and complex exponentials. (Two units of credits given if taken after Math 1B/10B or Math 1C/10C.) Prerequisites: AP Calculus AB score of 4 or 5, or AP Calculus BC score of 3, or Math 20A with a grade of C or better, or Math 10B with a grade of C or better, or Math 10C with a grade of C or better. </p>
<p>Here’s the textbook link, it’ll go up until chapter 8 or so:
[WHF</a> Catalog: Calculus: Early Transcendentals Second Edition by Jon Rogawski](<a href=“http://www.whfreeman.com/Catalog/product/calculusearlytranscendentals-secondedition-rogawski/tableofcontents]WHF”>http://www.whfreeman.com/Catalog/product/calculusearlytranscendentals-secondedition-rogawski/tableofcontents)</p>
<p>Thanks for the link! I think I’m just going to play it safe and go for 20A instead.</p>
<p>Nope, stick with 20B.</p>
<p>“Calculus AB: Score of 3, exempt Mathematics 10A. Score of 4 or 5, exempt Mathematics 10A or 20A”</p>
<p>For more information, look at any of the AP credit transfer pages.</p>
<p>Do you remember derivatives? Taking derivatives and limits is basically what 20A covers. I think if you were able to get a 4 you should be OK in 20B, just brush up on derivation and limits.</p>
<p>I dont even think you’re allowed to take 20a. Trust me, just take 20B. I was in the exact same situation as you and it was fine.</p>
<p>Astrina,
I see you are well versed at UCSD…my son is freaking out because he is struggling as a freshman and wants to drop out of UCSD due to his depression of not doing well. Is this normal for incoming freshmen? He feels overwhelmed. He took a BioPsychology class as a GE and that’s the hardest with a D on his first test and now 20 B he is struggling and Engineering is his major. Any advice?</p>
<p>@honorigo
being a freshman is definitely harder than it seems. There are all these forces that are clashing at the same time that is really different from HS.</p>
<p>The good about college is that usually most classes are curved immensely (not all though). So while this D may be pretty painful to look at, the best thing to do is look past it and prepare even more strongly for the next exam. I am a sophomore and i get my fair share of lower than expected results, but each time I look past it and work even harder to prepare for the next exam. It’s not an easy thing to do though, since we are in college our mind gets much more easily distracted than say in HS, but that’s the test. </p>
<p>What I suggest for your son is to look at where things are going wrong: ie. does he understand the material but the exams are harder, does he prepare well for it by studying, reviewing the material, doing the practice exams.
I honestly think that beyond all this is a nice friendly chat between your son and the TA or Professor (TAs are much easier to talk to, because they can be more closely related to, but definitely have a chat with the professor too) and let them know that you are struggling and want to know what to work on,etc. </p>
<p>It’ll take a few months of consistent practice, so just tell your son to put in the extra effort, look over notes before going to sleep. Analyze the problem and attack it!</p>
<p>@spatel23
Thank you for the advice. My son claims to have good study habits but I think he has never been challenged like this before. He is accustomed to being above average with little or no real effort and UCSD is full of very smart students so he is now average or below and that has been a real wake up call. I hope he doesn’t give up. I will share your experience with him.</p>
<p>@honorigo: Your son will be fine. He just needs to adjust to college rigor. It’s something many students go through.</p>
<p>@OP: You can take Math 20A without credit. That means it will not count for any units and whatever grade you get will not factor into your GPA.</p>
<p>Keep in mind you still need 12 units to stay full time, so if you are taking this class, you’ll need another class to help you stay over 12, since Math 20A will be 0 units for you.</p>
<p>Actually, Math 20A would still count towards your 12 units to be considered full-time, but you wouldn’t receive any units for taking the class. I have credit for Math 20A as well but I did the same thing you’re asking about and even though I’m not getting units for 20A, it still counts towards my full-time status.</p>
<p>@crazy8tiger: I don’t think it does. The counselors at Academic Advising says that repeated classes don’t count towards your 12 unit total.</p>
<p>My friend passed out of Math 20A but took the class anyways without credit. He needed to enroll in a 5th class to stay full time. The counselor warned him that his housing contract was at risk if he didn’t.</p>
<p>You probably had enough units to stay full time, regardless of Math 20A not counting. If you didn’t, then you were probably part time that quarter.</p>
<p>If you didn’t AND you were full time, I guess the counselors were wrong. But I’m skeptical of the latter.</p>