<p>So i'm torn next year about calculus... i already got my AP Calc BC credit that exempts me from taking math 32 (got a 5) ... but i'm not overly sure that i fully understood the Calc II material. is it a bad idea to retake Math 32 (i'v only heard horror stories about that class...heard its the most failed class at duke with a ridiculous final exam procedure that screws u over...). Or is it better to retake math 32 cuz math 102 might be even harder?
thoughts on the two classes?
Thanks.</p>
<p>
If I’m not wrong, it’s mainly because there are many students like you who take Calc II (like a lot of students) but with curves, there has to be a certain percent of students who can get an A and then a certain percent who get a B and same goes for C, D, F. </p>
<p>If you don’t feel comfortable with Calc II at all, like if you think you don’t understand much of it, you should take math 32. It’s better to get a bad grade (like a B) and understand the fundamentals in Calc II than to get a bad grade on the higher level classes (Calc III and so on) because you didn’t understand the fundamentals correctly. But if you think that you can review a lot of the information by your self, I suggest you go into Math 102. You should look back and review a couple of things, then think it over.</p>
<p>Take 102. Not even a debate in my mind. If you got a 5, you must know something about calculus, so you should be okay for 102. Math 32 is much much harder than AP Calc BC. I know people who got 5s who ended up with a B or C in the class. I mean even if the questions were equivalent to the AP test, a 5 is >70%, while a 70% could be a C- at Duke. Avoid it.</p>
<p>BTW what is your intended major?
But anyways I recommend you go into Math 102, you don’t want to kill yourself with Math 32’s grading. </p>
<p>also read this thread, it’s the same questions: <a href=“http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/duke-university/521894-math-question.html?[/url]”>http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/duke-university/521894-math-question.html?</a></p>
<p>Please take Math 102/103 over Math 32. Math 32 is not worth taking.</p>
<p>cdz - i’m thinking of majoring in public policy and econ, so i’m thinkin math 102 would make sense with the econ part.</p>
<p>thanks a ton for the replies and advice guys.</p>
<p>
Ahh…the naivete…One thing you guys will quickly learn is <em>everyone</em> who goes to Duke did extremely well in hs and for nearly everyone, a B was terrible. Now, suddenly, half of those people are going to be getting less than a B- in classes…and that could be you. What I’m trying to say is - in math, and especially in Math 32, a B is often a great grade and one to be happy about. Math 32 is the most failed class at Duke. Not "most-Cs-are-gotten. Failed. As in D/F. Plus, you barely use any Math 32 concepts in Math 102/103. Escape 32 if possible - all my friends who retook 32 regretted it big time. I didn’t retake and never used any of the AP concepts in 103.</p>
<p>Yes, I don’t know anyone who (re)took Math 32 (with passing AP grades) that enjoyed that class.</p>
<p>I think the worst part about the class is that my instructor had no say in making the test. There like 3/4 TA sections, and one Clark Bray section. Clark Bray makes the test; everyone takes the test (his students or not).</p>
<p>Duke math grading is wack also. Lets say you have a class of 20. Before finals, there are 6 A (-, =, and +). A class takes the final made by Clark Bray. Only two students makes A by Clark Bray’s curve/standards, thus only two students in this class can get A’s. The students who get A’s are not necessarily the ones who got the A’s on the final [this means that the class did poorly comapred to the other sections since 3.2 students or 1 std dev should have made A’s], but rather the two students with the highest final grades with the final included.</p>
<p>For Math 103 (I assume true for 102), the same grading system is applied, but the multiple professors (the instructors of the other sections) comes together to write a test.</p>
<p>I’ve always wondered why math 32 is the most failed class Duke. I mean there are tons of pre med classes that have harsh B- curves, but why does math 32 trump them all in terms of failing people?</p>
<p>you dont need much BC to do well in 102, you’ll relearn
Taking 32 was the biggest mistake of my life.
I got a B in 32 and a B- in 102 (pledging kinda killed me, its really not hard at all compared to 32/103). Just take the highest level you can and get out as fast as you can.</p>
<p>Really take math 102, you don’t want to kill your GPA and reget it.
The textbook for 102 is Mathematics for Economists so being an econ major, it will help more than math 32</p>