Hello, I’m totally new here and I need some help.
Is it bad to take your math courses for engineering at a community college? Would I be missing out on a lot?
I’ve only heard bad things about the math at the university I’m going to go to. It’s one of the best nursing schools in the nation and because nurses have to take calculus 1, I’ve heard they make it incredibly difficult (something like a third of the class drops out after the first exam) and same with the lower math classes. I’ve heard Calculus 3 and differential equations are supposed to be easier because they are weed out courses like the lower ones.
But that’s just part of my concern. Community college here is well almost a tenth of the price per class.
If I took my main math courses (mainly the three calculuses) at a community college would I be missing out on a lot?
I have a Bachelors in CS and Masters in Industrial Engineering, so I had to take lots of math. The best math class I ever took was Applied Calculus at a community college in California. That class was taught by someone who only had a Masters in math. but she knew how to teach.
You won’t be at a disadvantage by taking Calculus at a community college. That said, how well you do is more a matter of how much you study rather than where you take the math class.
Math is math no matter where it is taught. The thing you should look into, and maybe talk to the CC about, is content. Does the CC classes cover the same material that you need for your nursing school. Also talk to your nursing school and make sure that they will accept the classes from the CC.
I don’t see any issue unless the later course at the University has some continuity from the previous course. My D actually got Calc 1 and 2 credits from her AP in high school and start Calc 3 as freshmen. Also, I don’t think Calc 1 and 2 are weed out courses.
@simba9 Thank you for your help and encouraging words! Do you have any advice on how to study for math? @HPuck35 Thanks for the help! Oops, I should have been more clear. I’m hoping to major in mechanical engineering. I was just using the nurses taking calculus 1 as an example to why everyone says it’s harder and why it’s a weed out course. @billcsho Thanks for the input. They may not be a weed out course for engineering, but they’re weed out courses in general at the university. Or at least they are from what everyone’s told me.
I think you have to be careful with what students call “weed out” courses. A lot of students call introductory courses “weed out” courses (like chemistry or calculus) but it’s rarely that the professors are trying to make the course harder than it should be and curving against the students so that you have to get a 95+ or something ridiculous to get an A-. It’s much more often the case that these introductory courses are just challenging because they are college courses, and many students might be inadequately prepared for them or not used to the rigor and testing style of colleges or having trouble adjusting to college and then do poorly in those courses. The students switching out of nursing likely aren’t doing so because the professors are trying to force students out, but they may be doing so because they just aren’t good at calculus or did poorly for whatever reason and are finding that it’s not for them. People say the same thing about pre-med classes all the time when really it may not be the class but the students. It may just be harder or more challenging than many students expect.
That being said, if you aren’t planning on graduate or professional school and the course transfers to your university, then it shouldn’t be a problem.
I think that it depends more on the quality of the class rather than where you take it. At my university, some teachers are absolutely terrible. You will learn nothing and will fail. Others are amazing. You will learn a lot, even if they are hard (although many times with a good teacher they aren’t). I’d say that if the class is better at the community college, take it there. Otherwise, stick with the university.
I don’t believe in weed out courses. I’ve gone through several ones that were supposed “weed out” courses and thought they were a joke. I’ve had classes, however, that I’ve received less-than-stellar grades in because of a poor professor and poor organization. That’s not “weeding out”, that’s just mediocrity.