Hi!
Basically, I am a Junior and by next week I need to figure out what Math classes I am going to be taking next year.
My Freshman year I took CMIC 1/2,
Sophomore year: CMIC 3, and this year I am in Discrete Mathematics…I seriously struggle with math… I just am not a math person.
I usually have a 4.0 gpa but it’s very tough for me and currently I have a C in Discrete math.
My question is… should I take a class like Trig/precal next year or AP Stats… or should I just end with Discrete and not take math at all in my Senior year of high school?
My fear is that I will BOMB and fail if I take AP Stats or Trig…so… is it better to take and fail those classes or better to not take them at all?
I plan to go to a Four year college to major in Philosophy.
Thank you!!
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Discrete Mathematics is technically the highest college-level math course a high school student could feasibly take. Most places go AP Calc AB -> AP Calc BC -> Linear Algebra -> Multivariable Calculus -> Differential Equations -> Linear Algebra II or Real Analysis or Discrete Mathematical analysis.
Is it possible that you’re in a class that’s known by another name? I have no clue what CMIC 1/2 is, nor do I know CMIC 3, so I doubt we are talking about the same math classes.
So, in that regard, what is discrete math? I don’t think I’ve heard anyone use such a term before…
@Apollo11 Not necessarily, some schools have a lower level discrete math course. My high school covered discrete topics in geometry (and so did my middle school). So, at its basic, it can be taught to those who only have algebra. Discrete math just means dealing with finite or noncontinuous data, it has nothing to do with analysis. This includes basic logic, some number theory, and can include set theory (which is really just an alternate representation of logic).
Also, you don’t need linear algebra and multivar for discrete either, depending on the course. I’m current taking discrete structures (math for cs majors) and foundations of abstract math (discrete math for math majors) in college. The CS course has no mathematical prereq, while the math class has linear as a prereq (obviously we cover some slightly different topics and go more in depth). But you don’t need calculus or linear for logic and basic set theory (we haven’t covered number theory yet so I can’t tell you that one).
@Apollo11 Not really. Usually an introductory discrete math course won’t have many pre-requisites (other than pre-calculus or maybe calculus). Once you start talking about different fields of math, you can’t really classify one “higher” than another. Additionally, many high school math competitions (such as the AMC10/12) include a lot of topics that are considered “discrete.”
Discrete math covers discrete structures (“discrete” in a formal sense refers to a set consisting of isolated points). Topics usually include, as guineagirl said, logic, number theory, as well as other topics such as combinatorics, graph theory, and perhaps their applications in CS (there are, surprisingly, a lot).
@guineagirl96 a lot of topics in introductory number theory don’t require calculus or more advanced topics to understand. But then again, any field of math can get extremely advanced…
@guineagirl96
@MITer94
Thanks for the clarification! I was just going off my local CCs’ math sequences. So basically, OP is in some sort of elementary number theory or geometry class?
I found precalculus pretty difficult at times and I’m usually decent in math subjects. Ap stats wasnt very hard and if you’re not great at computation, it’s a good option. As long as you understand basic concepts, which are just logical in nature, and can work a calculator, you’ll do fine in it
I highly adviSe you to take some sort of math class your senior year. Going an entire year without it is not wise any way you look at it
It is really up to the person. I honestly love trig and precalc (the first half of my precalc class was all about trig and i really enjoyed it) and think trig is much easier than ap stats. BUT more people on CC think ap stats is easier than precalc. ap stats math isnt all too difficult since you just need to know how to use the calculator and stuff, but it is very conceptual.
as a suggestion, look through, skim, and read a few chapters of an ap stats textbook and a precalc/ trig textbook. see which one seems to be better for you