<p>which professor would you reccomend?</p>
<p>Don't take it with Jorgensen if he's on the list. Some of my friends in the engineering school (very apt mathematicians) inexplicably pulled non-A's in his class. Joel Bellaiche has a really generous grading system (missing 50 points out of 180 curves into a perfect score somehow), but his thick French accent can oftentimes be cumbersome to decipher. A comment about subject matter/ability to teach: Calc 3 is known notoriously as the easiest in the calculus sequence because it tailors to the needs of econ majors (though to the detriment of serious scientists, mathematicians, and engineers). Because of the predominance of people in Calc 3 not being very math-oriented, the material is easier to master, and your grade in the class will be a function of your effort and the professor you have (likewise for most lower-division classes).</p>
<p>Sorry if I'm hijacking the thread, but I need advice:</p>
<p>I got a 5 on Calc BC but to be honest, I don't remember a whole lot of it. I plan to major in physics.
Honors Math III or Calc III? (I looked at Honors Math III and it seemed too advanced cuz I had no idea what the course description even meant. Concepts seem too advanced). Anyone in the same situation or who has advice on this?</p>
<p>Honors Math III is extremely theoretical and geared to theorems and proofs. Many students in that class already have strong familiarity with proofs and multivariable calculus/linear algebra. I entered that course without either one and with no exposure to math since Calc BC in 11th grade; it was fairly difficult for me (but I did skip a lot of lectures and homework assignments...). Though helpful, it's not at all necessary to take the honors sequence for a major in physics.</p>
<p>I got a 5 on the AB but feel as though half of Calc 2 would be repetitive of what I've known for years.</p>
<p>The above posts make it seem as though Calc 3 (non honors) is not very difficult. Would I be able to do well in it without having learned series very well, or is the whole class based on a very good understanding of the Calc 2 topics, specifically series?</p>
<p>Thanks</p>
<p>I think one of the most curious things about Calc 3 is that it doesn't require any previous knowledge attainable through Calc 2, at all. This is one of the ways it's custom made for economics majors -- they only have to take Calc 1 and Calc 3. Depending on what your majors are, you may or may not have to take Calc 2/4. Getting a 5 on AB is more than sufficient preparation for Calc 3. And good lord, if Taylor series were discussed in Calc 3, half the econ majors would die (no offense to anyone who wouldn't).</p>
<p>That's what I thought I read a few months ago. Thanks blah, now my AP credit will be eligible.</p>
<p>i'm an econ major... i am really dreading taking calc 3 next semester.</p>
<p>GT2, from what everyone's said, you don't have that much to worry about.</p>
<p>ok, so i am going to major in econ and i got a 5 in the BC test, should I be taking calc 3 in the fall?</p>
<p>i thought that they didnt look at your AP scores until after freshman year</p>
<p>You're right, but you can still use your scores as guidelines for which math class you should take next semester (it's pretty open; you can register for basically anything you want).</p>
<p>
[quote]
I think one of the most curious things about Calc 3 is that it doesn't require any previous knowledge attainable through Calc 2, at all...Getting a 5 on AB is more than sufficient preparation for Calc 3. And good lord, if Taylor series were discussed in Calc 3, half the econ majors would die (no offense to anyone who wouldn't).
[/quote]
</p>
<p>I think I'm worried that Calc III would be too repetitive but that Honors Math III would be too advanced. </p>
<p>blah -- you said that Honors Math was difficult, but did you ever manage to catch up to the levels of the other more prepared students? were your grades ok?</p>
<p>phantom -- there will be a math department meeting during orientation for precisely these sorts of questions. also, there is a long period at Columbia for dropping classes, and changing levels is not considered dropping, so you can always go to the first week or few weeks of honors math and then switch.</p>
<p>my son took honors math last year. he had already had multivariable at high school and linear algebra at community college, but said there was very little overlap because honors was much more proof-based and abstract than any math he'd had before. it was a lot of work, but he did it because he is considering a math major. there's a different prof teaching it this year, but it will still probably be significantly more work than calc 3. you might look at the culpa descriptions, if you haven't, of the difference in work loads, and decide whether or not you want to spend that much time on abstract math.</p>
<p>you might think about taking accelerated physics, if you have the background. if you do that, you probably will not want to take honors math as well.</p>
<p>I would think twice about taking accelerated physics. I saw it as a bad deal. Instead of taking 3 courses of 3 units each, you take 2 courses of 4.5 units each. In the end, you really don't gain anything (compare this to chemistry, where taking organic saves you two classes). The curve was brutal in all of the years what I was at Columbia, and lots of people who 5'ed both Physics C APs ended up with B-/C+/C type grades.</p>
<p>Accelerated Physics (first semester) was probably one of the most rewarding experiences so far in my novice college career. The only reason I didn't continue into second semester was because I had literally zero background in electricity/magnetism, and I was already in 18+ units. It's a harder class not because it's 4.5 credits (most students would agree that it should be more), but rather because it pushes your intuitive abilities to their limits, making you conjure up creative and eloquent solutions which you probably won't encounter again until you take upper division physics. Physics 1600 and 1400 don't (and can't) even come close to the theoretical abstractions and leaps you have to make in 2800.</p>
<p>I am considering accelerated physics and plan on attending their info session and taking the placement test. However, with a 4 on the Physics B and no background in using calc to solve problems (which the test basically is), I highly doubt I will place in.</p>