<p>Hi,
I'm sure others have asked this same question, but how hard is Math 226? I got a 5 on the Calculus BC test Junior year, and now I'm scheduled to take 226 this year as a Freshman. I have one year without calculus, but I was looking at the course catalogue for 125 and 126 and I remember learning everything it mentioned. Does anyone have any recommendations for this?</p>
<p>Also, I wanted to sort of prepare for this year, so I bought "Essential Calculus" by James Stewart or something from the USC bookstore. How far does that book cover in the Calculus range, because the little tags there implied it covered 125, 126, and 226. Does anyone know?
Thanks!</p>
<p>I took the AP Calc BC exam in May 2004, got a 5, jumped into MATH 226 without 125/126 in Spring 06 (so a bit more than 1.5 year gap) and it was fine - though I am pretty good at math in general :) And I had taken linear algebra before MATH 226, also.</p>
<p>You kind of have to get re-used to all the integral tricks, but they're not going to grill you on all those wonderful integral trig identities or other things like that. I will say you should be pretty comfortable with polar coordinates and such, because well over half of 226 is in some other coordinate system other than cartesian (i.e., spherical or cylindrical coordinates)</p>
<p>The book I used for 226 was "Calculus" by Stewart, 5th ed. and 226 covered chapters 13-17 in full. I don't know what's in "essential calculus" but I'd imagine it'll cover most of the base material you need if you want to prepare ahead.</p>
<p>Oh cool, I think that's the same book I got. It's a really simple looking maroon cover with gold letters on the front it that helps. I also heard that I could drop down to 126 if it proved too difficult, but I've always had a knack for math, so I think it'll probably be fine.
Is linear algebra neccessary/helpful for calc 226?</p>
<p>I don't know anything about the "drop down one level" part. You can always add/drop classes within the first 3 weeks with no penalty, however, unless you are following along with both classes for the first 3 weeks, you'd be behind 3 weeks (plus late homework) in the class you register for late. Best to ask your advisor about this one if you plan on using it as a backup.</p>
<p>I'd say linear algebra is "helpful" but by no means "necessary" or even "recommended". Most of your classmates in 226 will not have had linear algebra. I would say the bare minimum should be you have some idea of what a vector or a matrix is, how to multiply matrices, etc. Beyond that, most of what you need you can pick up on the way.</p>
<p>Extra gravy if you already understand the concept of matrices representing linear transformations between vector spaces. :)</p>
<p>Oh that's a different one. But I read the description at the beginning of the book and he said that "it's about 2/3 shorter, but covers almost all the same topics" as the one you had. This looks to be just about brand new (2006), so USC is probably using it to replace the one you used.
For your book, do you know if it was used for 125 and 126 as well? because that's the impression I got from reading the tag in the USC bookstore.</p>