<p>I got reccomended for Algebra/Trig because of my SAT scores. Should I take Calculus I or Algebra/Trig first semester? Would Calc I be hard for an engineering major if you've never had it in high school?</p>
<p>Look at the list of classes you'll need to take at your school. Will not taking Calc 1 first semester set you back? Most likely it will, but it is an important class to understand. Maybe you can brush up on Algrbra and Trig stuff to prep for Calc 1, and take that. Calc is often a difficult course to weed people out, along with Physics first year, so be prepared.</p>
<p>well if you were reccomended for alg/trig then you're probably not ready to take on calculus in my opinion</p>
<p>But the reason I was not recommended is because of low math SAT scores. How hard is calculus I if you've taken pre-calc in high school?</p>
<p>I'm sorry, I misunderstood you. I thought you meant that you were still in high school and were thinking of taking calculus before any kind of algebra/trig. If you did well in pre-cal and feel that your sat score doesn't represent your math ability, then go ahead and take calculus. Does the school have any kind of placement test for you to take, or do they just go off of SAT scores?</p>
<p>They have a placement test and go off of SAT scores. I was wondering how accurately the SAT math scores determine whether or not your ready to take calculus? I got 550 SAT math section. How is this for engineering major? How much calculus I will you need in engineering?</p>
<p>how hard was pre-cal for you? traditionally, how are your grades in math classes? these are the kinds of things you should use, IMO, to determine what to take.</p>
<p>i'm not going to lie. a 550 on the math section for the SAT for an engineering is not very good. now it depends, do you feel that math is hard for you? did you just mess up on the SAT or something? you will need to take quite a bit of calculus and higher math (3 levels of calc, one linear algebra, diff-eq is gen required).</p>
<p>But SAT I did not have any calculus on it.</p>
<p>The SAT I tests topics that are very important for succeeding in a calculus course, such as algebra and trigonometry. A 550 math score probably indicates that you don't have enough background to take Calculus I at this time. Math and physics are the foundation of all Engineering courses, so you had better ace them if you have any hope of doing well in the major. Most Engineering students will take at least 3 semesters of calculus, differential equations, linear algebra, and statistics, so you can't be bad at math if you want to do Engineering.</p>
<p>But I heard that engineers only learn calculus to remember their algebra. Besides for differential eq. and other advanced math, how important is calc 1 in engineering?</p>
<p>Since the college does have a placement test, why not take it?</p>
<p>engineers do not 'take calculus to remember their algebra'. this is not true at all. calculus is a entirely different branch of mathematics, that mainly is very useful in engineering because it is able to describe variations. (variation of speed, acceleration, work, anything). many things in engineering are modeled by differential equations. you will need a good background in algebra to do well in calculus, because calculus gives you the methods by which to attack a problem inaccessible to algebra, but algebra gives you the tools to actually solve the problem. calc 1 is important for calc II, whose concepts are important for III, etc... calc 1 covers differentiation and basic integration, and if you should be fairly proficient in algebra to start calculus.</p>
<p>"But I heard that engineers only learn calculus to remember their algebra."</p>
<p>Not hardly...</p>
<p>Echoing what tabbyzmom said, why don't you take your school's placement test. You will probably see that you are not ready for calculus.</p>
<p>My best advice to you is to take as many algebra/trig courses you can to sharpen your skills. Calculus I is a difficult course if your algebra isn't on point. Usually algebra/trig is a prerequisite for Calc I. Professors will assume you know how to graph all the different kinds of functions when you study limits and he or she probably won't spend extra class time touching base on something you should already know. Also don't skip a semester without taking some kind of math. You'll easily forget something. Take your school's placement test. If it takes you to a lower level math, who cares...at least it'll refresh your memory :)</p>
<p>But you'll be behind in classes if you take lower level math class. And how much calc 1 do you need for calc 2 and statistics?</p>
<p>It sounds to me that you are trying to skip algebra and trigonometry, even though your math background is poor (as evidenced by your SAT score), and just jump into calculus and hope to scrape by, justifying to yourself that calculus I won't be needed later on. You cannot be more wrong. That's like saying "I don't have time to learn how to add, can i just learn multiplication?" Calculus I, II, III, Differential Equations, and the introductory physics classes that come along with it are the foundations of the rest of Engineering classes. You simply cannot do well without absolutely acing calculus I. It's better to be one semester behind now rather than failing a class later and repeating it.</p>
<p>I thought 500-600 was considered a bit above average? What is considered a good SAT math score for engineering?</p>
<p>If you've truly mastered Algerbra/Trig, you should be scoring in the 700 range. Without good skills in manipulating algebraic/trigonometric equations, I think you'd fail out of Calculus within 2 weeks.</p>
<p>The National average is 500 in verbal and math section. So scoring above 500 is above average. Scoring in the 700 range is impossible/extremely difficult. Only people from MIT, Harvard, etc. score above 700. And isn't calc 1 the math course Most Freshman take first semester?</p>