I figured this would be the best place to post this, because most of the people in this section will know the answer.
Okay, so this semester I’ll be finishing up my college algebra (with an A) and am starting look at which classes to sign up for the summer. I would like to do Trig and Pre calc during the Summer (which has two 2, six week, semesters summer A + B) and am wondering how big of a deal would it be to take pre calc before trig. The reason for this is because according to ratemyprofessor.com the professor that will be available for pre calc in Summer A is much, much better than the one for Summer B. Also, the Trig teacher for Summer B is much better than the one available for Summer A.
I’ve done some research and everything seems to be pointing to taking trig before pre calc, but I don’t want to miss this opportunity to take the best professors possible. I know that studying trig in depth is a must before the upper level Calculus courses, but is very necessary before pre-calc?
I would say that I’m not a genius in math, but definitely above average.
TL;DR: Skip to after #4.
- Do you want to be an engineer or a physics major? Trigonometry is going to be far more useful.
- Do you want to start the Calculus series? Then neither are honestly helpful. Despite the name, "Pre-Calculus", it really does not prepare much if any for Calculus series.
- You can honestly skip Trigonometry if you know:
SOHCAHTOA (Sin = O/H , Cos = A/H, Tan = O/A)
Rest is just other trivial manipulations like sum-to-product, double angle, law of sines, cofunction, etc. which REALLY does not need proofs. In fact, as long as you know these formulas exist:
http://tutorial.math.lamar.edu/pdf/Trig_Cheat_Sheet.pdf
you are more than set from my experience. Why? Because you never touch these formulas again unless you really like physics proofs (many of them tend to utilize double angle formula a lot in the gen physics).
Heck, Khan Academy should give more than enough for Trigonometry.
That said, I guess it’s not a good idea to simply “skip” a course simply cause it’s not as helpful.
4. Pre-Calculus honestly is more of Pre-Linear Algebra than Pre-Calculus. Sure you learn “limits” but other than that, the later chapters are matrix manipulations.
I don’t know your department but there really should be nothing wrong with taking Pre-Calculus before Trigonometry.
Think of hmm:
Pre-Calculus as more of Algebra 2.
and
Trigonometry as more of Geometry.
You tell me how those two relate. Sure Algebra 2 near the end has conic sections but quite frankly, it really isn’t the contents one learn in “Geometry” anyways (and if you learnt Geometry correctly, it should have been almost all proofs anyway).
Much of math sequence is more to build maturity, not for ‘adding-upon’ the learning as you go more and more up in college level math.
However, when you hit Calculus, you will realize how much of a waste of time it was to learn Pre-Calculus. They really should change that name to Pre-Linear Algebra. And the extent of knowledge needed in Trigonometry is SOCAHTOA and double angle formula memorization for Calculus I and II. That said, it’s still a good idea to take Trigonometry in case the poor background of Trig can screw you in other courses like general physics.
My thoughts: Do whatever you want to take first. Pre-Calculus or Trigonometry. Think of it more as Algebra 2 or Geometry first. You decide.