<p>So I went to a family friend so that she could proofread my college essay, and once I was done I struck a conversation with her dad. One of the things we talked about was what I wanted to major in and I told him that one of the things I want to major in is mechanical engineering. He did say that I was going to struggle without taking AP Calculus BC and multivariable calculus in high school.</p>
<p>Now I'm not gonna ask if I'll ultimately fail in mechanical engineering because I didn't take Calculus BC and Multivariable calculus, because it's ultimately going to be up to me whether I fail or not, but I'm just wondering, how many of you mechanical engineering majors out there have taken AP Calculus BC and Multivariable calculus in high school?</p>
<p>well i am not in college yet but i am planning to major in chemical engineering and i already finished BC calculus and now doing multivariable calculus.</p>
<p>That’s completely ridiculous. Either he knows nothing about engineering majors, or he was just trying to mess with you. You’ll likely start at calculus I your freshman year anyways, so you won’t even see multivariable until you’re a sophomore. You may have to study more, but who doesn’t?</p>
<p>I’d go a step further and say that taking calc through multivariable before you start utilizing the math a year or two later in your engineering courses could cause problems if you start forgetting material.</p>
<p>There are people who don’t even take trig in high school who later decide to major in engineering and do well. They have to do some catching up of course…</p>
<p>Do most high schools even offer multivariable calc classes? Mine didn’t.</p>
<p>This was good for a laugh. As an anecdote, I know more people who struggled in ME that took BC and multi-variable in high school than people who struggled who only took AB. Most high schools do a terrible job teaching calculus so you are no less likely to struggle for having seen it wrong and relearning it than you are for not having ever learned it yet.</p>
<p>I was asking a college prof that I know his opinion about taking all these AP calc classes in high school. He claimed that the high schools don’t do such a good job teaching the subject. Some students “get” the material no matter how badly it is taught, but not all. My daughter’s college made her take a math placement test to determine which math class to start in. She was about in the middle range of her college classmates. However, some of her college friends were directed to start at the beginning. It doesn’t slow your college progress down much at all.</p>
<p>Engineering depends so much on a true understanding of the math that anything short of that true understanding and you’ll find yourself in real trouble (read business administration, here I come). Don’t worry about not having these classes in high school, worry about those that think they know math but really don’t.</p>
<p>Most high schools do not even offer multivariable calculus, and very few colleges structure their engineering major course plans with the assumption that the students have had calculus in high school.</p>
<p>Yes, taking the most rigorous available math courses in high school will help (and AP credit with score of 5 is often useful for starting in a more advanced math course to relieve schedule pressure, assuming you review the college’s math final exams and are confident that you know the material well before skipping), but calculus in high school is not mandatory at most colleges.</p>
<p>Not taking those courses won’t mean you will struggle.</p>
<p>Taking them obviously helps (you won’t forget things and be so far behind you’ll do poorly, that’s stupid) and it allows you to get ahead in you course work.</p>
<p>Not having taken them doesn’t put you behind though. Its puts you on a normal 4 year track. </p>
<p>Don’t listen to him. Just make sure you do well in math in college and you’ll be fine.</p>
<p>I spoke to a professor of Electrical Engineering about the type of courses son should be taking to get ready for engineering college. This prof. was of the opinion that AP courses can actually get kids into trouble in college, especially if the courses were taken in sophomore and junior year. He thought that high school kids tend to forget some of the information and at times do not understand the concept in the context of engineering. He was of the opinion that math courses in college are often synchronized with stuff they are learning in other engineering subjects. This helps foster a better understanding of the material.</p>
<p>I didn’t even take trig in HS. lol. If I had, my school only offered up to precalc with trig, so I wouldn’t have been able to go beyond that. Typically, students from my HS went from algebra 1 to geometry to algebra 2 and then to trig. You had to plan ahead of time if you wanted to take precalc as well.</p>