Quick Question on Math Courses

Colleges and Universities A-Z Boston University
1

<p>Well I’m going to be a Future student at BU this upcoming fall Semester for Biomedical Engineering. I have a quick question regarding the math classes. This year in high school I took a College Calculus I and Calculus II course in place of AP Calc BC <em>couldn’t fit into my schedule</em>. In order for me to receive a college transcript for this class, I would have had to enroll at the college that the school worked with the create the program and pay for it. Unfortunately, due to my foolishness I didn’t pay for the class as I didn’t think most schools would accept it for credit. Now to my question haha xD, I was wondering, since the school won’t place me into Multivariate Calculus, should I take the Calc I + II one semester review course, then start Multivariate Calculus my 2nd semester… OR should I take Full year of Calc I and Calc II and not worry about Multivariate Calculus till my Sophomore year or at least the Summer?</p>

<p>If you need information of how I did in my class I can provide that =P.
First Quarter: Calc I = 92
2nd Quarter: Calc I = 95<br>
Midterm Grade: 91
3rd Quarter: Calc II = 97
4th Quarter: Calc II = 96
Final Exam Grade: = 99</p>

<p>Final Grade Overall = 95</p>

<p>In our class we ended up covering more than what Calc BC and AB did, however the only topic we did not cover in our class was Slope Fields.</p>

2

<p>if u feel confident going into multivariate with your background in this course, than go for it sooner. it looks like you did well in calc I & II and if you understood the material then just do the review course. also look at what your schedule will be in 2nd semester vs. 3rd and 4th to see when u think it would be most convenient for u (depending on your other courses) to take multivariate. i took calc I & II (but for the social sciences, so 121 & 122 as opposed to 123&124) and thought it was a piece of cake; however this is because i am very math-oriented so level I calc seemed easy for me and other students who didn’t have a mind for math really struggled. slope fields are pretty easy to learn if u just want to look at some online material for a background, and im sure they’ll go over them in all the courses. think about what would work best for u, and if you’re not sure then take a breather your 1st semester and talk to other students in each class and get their input.</p>

3

<p>If you’ve taken college calculus 1 & 2, I wouldn’t waste my time taking them again unless you really want to use them as grade boosters. The calc review class will probably be beneficial and a lot of BMEs take multivariate their 2nd semester anyways. </p>

<p>I’m an upcoming senior BME who was (maybe still is?) pre-med. I came into BU with Calc 1 credit so I took multivariate 2nd semester. I’m not sure if you plan on being pre-med and taking organic chem, but if you are, you usually have to postpone your 2nd writing class (WR150) because it won’t fit in first semester sophomore year if you have to take multivariate and organic chem 1. And I recommend getting your writing classes out of the way as soon as possible (the last thing you want to be worrying about is a 10-page paper when you’ve got a 50 hr. Engineering Physiology lab report to worry about) By taking multi second semester freshman year, you don’t run into that problem.</p>

<p>Feel free to ask any other questions you may have about being a BME. I have 3 years behind me and I’m also a college of engineering Dean’s Host, so I have all kinds of answers haha</p>

4

<p>Wewt thanks for the replies guys, and yeah Heather I’m Pre-Med as well.</p>

<p>I have a quick question though, considering the writing: say I get a 5 on the AP Literature and Composition exam, do I skip the writing course or no?</p>

<p>Now for the math, they told me I cannot take Multivariate Calculus due to the fact I don’t have the AP Credit to jump into it and I can’t get the transcript for my Calc class from the college <em>this is due to the fact i was stupid and didn’t pay for it =P</em>. So I should just take the Review course. However another question in this matter, I’ve been emailing the adviser about this and they haven’t mentioned anything about me being able to do the Review course but just take Calc I and II all over again. Do you think if I bring my syllabus to orientation and show them, will they let me take the Review course and jump into Multivariate 2nd Semester?</p>

<p>Now on for other questions, this concerns the BME workload xD! Is it ridiculous or average, well the main question how hard is it for someone to maintain a 3.8+ GPA while doing BME. And also is it possible to get into some research opportunities during my Freshman year.</p>

<p>Next question! I know ENG doesn’t accept Physics B credits as the Physics B requirement BUT… say I get a 5 on Physics B <em>I’m guaranteed about this</em> do they give me Elective credit at least or was it a complete waste to even take the class xD?</p>

<p>Another question, is it possible for me to have a job during the year, or is it not worth it my freshman year? This ties in with the question about the BME workload.</p>

<p>Also is it possible for me to take schools from SAR even though I’m not in the school, I kinda wanna take the Gross Anatomy course =P.</p>

<p>I’ll have more questions sometime later xD and once again sorry for the random order, and thanks once again!!</p>

5

<p>i’ll let heather take the rest of them since im not bme, but bring ur syllabus to orientation since it can’t hurt to ask. however, if u didnt get any actual credits then they’ll probably make u take everything.</p>

<p>fyi: as a premed, whether u have to take writing or no you still should take it because most med schools require 1 year of english/writing and want to see the credits come from your actual 4 year-undergrad school. so, at bu you should plan to take the following: 1 yr writing, 1 yr calc, 1 year bio, 1 year gen chem, 1 yr orgo, 1 yr physics.</p>

6

<p>1) Unforunately, getting a 5 on APLit doesn’t test you out of the writing. It does, however, count as 2 English classes. For engineering you need to have either one social science and two humanities electives or two social science and one humanities elective. Whichever one you decide to do 2 of, the 2 have to be in the same department. They call it the “depth” requirement. So if you decide to do a social science depth you’d need to take 2 econ classes or 2 history classes (or 2 something else classes) and then one humanity. If you get a 5 on APLit, that automatically will satisfy an English depth in the humanities, so you’d have that all out of the way.</p>

<p>2) Definitely bring your syllabus with you. I’m not entirely sure how that process is going to work. Online, it says the prereqs for the review class are MA123 (calc 1) or “equivalent.” You might end up having a problem where they’ll let you take the review class because you’re qualified, but you won’t actually get credit for calc 1. Have you brought up the calc review class to the advisor you’ve been emailing? I know it’s not really a class they typically push on people, so you might have to ask about it</p>

<p>3) Freshman year isn’t too bad. It’s definitely possible to keep up your grades, though a 3.8 is REALLY high for engineering. Dean’s list is top 30% each semester and that’s typically around a 3.2, if that gives you kind of an idea about how the grades are. If you’re pre-med, your sophomore year as a BME will be awful. Awful. I’m not sure there’s anything worse than a semester where you have to take Orgo on top of differential equations, electric circuit theory, cell bio, and stats. Junior year, however, seems pretty breezy after that awful sophomore year. My sophomore year I feel like I had no spare time. The indicator: I had to cancel my Netflix haha. Junior year I feel like I had so much extra time, especially compared to other engineering majors. I restarted Netflix. Definitely don’t worry about the “grade deflation” you’ve probably heard about. It for sure does not exist in BME. Everything gets curved up so much. Exam averages are typically really low, but most engineering professors curve the class so that the average is a B-. And especially by you’re junior year, your professors really want to make sure you finish the program. Over 1/3 of the engineers in my class quit between freshman and sophomore year, but if you make it to junior year, you’re pretty much set. As far as research opportunities go, they’re definitely available, but you have to be really proactive about getting them. I haven’t done any research, but from my friends that have, they say to e-mail every professor that has something you’re interested in and don’t worry about sounding stupid. Hopefully, you’ll end up hearing back from at least one of them.</p>

<p>4) It was a waste :frowning: I know how you feel, though. ENG doesn’t accept AP Stats either, even though they make you take a stats class sophomore year. But even though credit-wise, it was a waste, it should at least make BU physics more bearable</p>

<p>5) I know a decent amount of people that had jobs their freshman year, so it’s definitely doable, though you probably don’t want more than maybe 10 hours a week. Sophomore year, I wouldn’t do it. Junior year, is definitely workable, too.</p>

<p>6) I know some SAR classes are SAR-only. I don’t actually know anyone who’s taken the Gross Anatomy class, but it might be possible?</p>

<p>++ Also, just something to keep in mind. Do NOT be afraid to get a tutor. The BU Educational Resource Center has tutors that are available for you for free in just about any CAS class. If you do one-on-one tutoring, it’s only an hour a week per subject or you can do group tutoring with 3 other students and a tutor for two hours a week. Do it for Orgo. Even if you think you’re understanding the material in class, this ensures that it’s something you’re still thinking about at least that one time a week. Orgo’s a class that often falls on the backburner for engineers because it kind of has to be last priority just so you can keep up with all the engineering classes. 1st semester sophomore year I did group tutoring for physics 2 and orgo 1. 2nd semester sophomore year I did group tutoring for orgo. Then this year I became a peer tutor and I tutor differential equations there. How the tables have turned haha</p>

<p>Also, here’s the BME program planning sheet, it may help you out:
<a href=“http://www.bu.edu/eng/records/pps/documents/BME2013.pdf[/url]”>http://www.bu.edu/eng/records/pps/documents/BME2013.pdf&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;

<p>Feel free to ask anymore questions!</p>

7

<p>So ok, this year I also took US Government, and Macroeconomics so basically, if I get 5’s on those I completely wipe out the Hum Requirements or well the History/Social Science requirements for ENG?</p>

<p>Also do you know if the school will let me overload my first Semester and have 20 Credits? Because I’m curious instead of waiting to take Physics I my second Semester, if I could have a Schedule of Calc, Physics, Chem, Writing Seminar, Engineering Comp? Because I know the Physics Course is Calculus based? So since I already have a background in Calculus, it would be good to start it then, cause I assume they start Physics I in the 2nd Semester basing it on the fact that they assume you do not know any Calculus?</p>

<p>Also a question on Bio, I received a 5 on the AP Biology exam, does that let me bypass that basic Microbiology course and allow me to put in another course say Orgo? While having writing basically making my year less hectic. (Once again sorry for the mess of questions and what not)</p>

<p>Another Question xD!!! Should I take summer courses to try and ease up the load during my years, cause I know myself and even though you said Junior year is much easier, I’ll still try to be an over achiever and take more classes xD.</p>

<p>Another Question xD… For math should I review over the summer, or atleast get used to doing math without a calculator? Because my teacher said when she went to school they were not allowed calculators, so I’m wondering should I just grow to be less reliant on the calculator or it isn’t that necessary. (for Example she would let us use our calc’s after we finished our test to check our integrals and what not and area’s from curves and taylor polynomials with nInt and etc.)</p>

<p>And oh noes, if you had to cancel your netflix, I guess i’ll have to cancel mine and hide my xbox for my Sophomore year xDDD.</p>

8

<p>Heres one statistic that my student instructor provided for me at BU. Out of all the freshman only 30% got above a C… The only reason I picked Multivariate Calculus was because I have been reviewing this entire year. I finished the course junior year and this year i have been making sure i understood the concepts. </p>

<p>I am in the same path that you are in and i have signed up for Multivariate. They also told me if it was too hard for me I could just withdraw within the first two weeks without any consequences.</p>

<p>The transfer credits/ AP credits I got was way below my expectations. Out of the 29 credits I got from community college, I got 7 (with a potential 4-8 more from the two writing courses, though they tell me that its hard to get the writing department to sign off on anything). If I get the extra 8 ill will be jumping for joy. For APs, i couldn’t get my stat (which i took a college course in addition) and bio to get signed off.</p>

9

<p>1) Yeah, if you get a 5 on APLit and a 5 on either US Govt or Econ, your humanities and social science electives are all done
2) First semester freshmen are not allowed to overload
3) AP Bio just tests you out of regular Bio 1 and Bio 2, which the engineers don’t take. We skip bio 1 and bio 2 and 2nd semester freshman year you take a Molecular Cell Bio & Biotechnology class. So you can get the bio credit, but the credit won’t fulfill any requirements
4) Summer classes definitely aren’t necessary. Most of the people I knew who took summer classes, took their humanity/social science electives over the summer so they could take one less class during the school year, but you’ll already have those squared away anyways. The other set of people I know who took summer classes took orgo over the summer between freshman and sophomore year. Some took orgo so they just wouldn’t have to worry about taking it with engineering classes. The others took it so that they would be able to study abroad. The only “real” study abroad programs for engineering are offered 2nd semester sophomore year…and you can’t take orgo. There are some other engineering study abroad programs for junior year that they’re trying to work the kinks out of, but it’s nearly impossible to do, especially for biomedical engineering because we take two semesters of Engineering Physiology Lab and most schools don’t have a class that’s similar enough to it.
5) I don’t think I know anyone who reviewed math over the summer. I mean, I guess it wouldn’t hurt, but it’s not something I would worry about.</p>