<p>Has anybody else on here skipped pre-calc and gone straight to calc. I took pre-calc in high school like 7 years ago, so i'm a little rusty. If anybody has, could you give me a few recommandations of things I should brush up on. That way I can spend my only two weeks off between semesters studying. YAY MY LIFE!!</p>
<p>Thank you</p>
<p>lol i dont think pre calc helped me at all in calculus 1… 
if that makes u feel better but just be good with algebra rules</p>
<p>My friend who skipped pre-cal did fine in calculus. In fact when I did pre-cal last semester my teacher kept mentioning how a lot of the stuff isn’t really relevant to calculus (except maybe some of the trig skills you learn). If you can get away with skipping it I would, I wanted to but my JC is waaaaay uptight on pre-reqs.</p>
<p>Mine is also. I had to go out of district and take a placement test at another college. Thankfully I placed into easily. I took trig this semester. Is trig more important for Calculus, or is Pre-Calc?</p>
<p>I’m not sure I’m scheduled for calculus 1 in the fall, but my pre-cal teacher repeatedly stressed that having a solid knowledge of trig would be useful for future math classes.</p>
<p>I am a math major… and I have found that if you don’t use it you lose it. </p>
<p>Meaning that before jumping into calculus I would recommend taking something like pre-cal, just as a refresher of algebra and trig and stuff.</p>
<p>I’m about to finish calc 1 at UCSD and I didnt take pre calc. I found that as long as your algebra skills are strong you will be just fine. Now calc II might be another story, I will find out soon enough.</p>
<p>calc 2 is all integration, so know your derivatives left and right.</p>
<p>I plan on skipping pre cal to…only because if I don’t I won’t finish all my pre reqs of math at a cc…im taking calc in the spring so I guesss im spending my winter break studying/reviewing pre cal stuff</p>
<p>What major are you?</p>
<p>i actually think pre calc is harder than calc 1</p>
<p>I’m not a genius, but the last class I took before calculus was high school geometry, and that was around 3-4 years before I started community college. In my junior year in high school, I was home schooled, which let me “pass” the rest of the classes up to cal 1, though I wouldn’t call copying out of the back of the book passing. I got a C in geometry, and an A in cal 1. I think the main reasons were:</p>
<ol>
<li>My level of interest increased substantially</li>
<li>Relating to number 1, I study to understand the concepts. Memorization is a last resort!
-> 3. I studied a bunch of online math books (Trig for dummies, mathtv, thinkwell calculus)</li>
<li>Did all of the practice problems that were optionally assigned in calculus 1.</li>
</ol>
<p>I went into diff. calculus with a strong understanding of the trig functions and how to convert them, the basic Pythagoras stuff (And how to extrapolate more), a strong foundation of algebraic basics from highschool and mathtv, and about a month head start on everyone else (Thinkwell).</p>
<p>As long as you put in the time, have an interest in the material, have a solid foundation in the basics, have a good head start, and a teacher who doesn’t torpedo her student’s grades, you’ll get an A.</p>
<p>Here’s a tip: Study groups work best once you’ve already learned as much as you can on your own. Study like mad at home, then come to the study group/office hours with specific questions.</p>
<p>P.S.</p>
<p>I learned one, and only one thing from my first english class: Use ratemyprofessor! I’ve been stuggeling to stay above 3.7 ever since she murdered my grade. Don’t make the same mistake; especially not with math.</p>
<p>Thank you Nuke. Sounds like some great advice.</p>
<p>I wouldn’t recommend skipping pre-cal unless you absolutely need to (like in a situation where you need to fit in Cal I and II to transfer on time). You don’t need to be an expert in trig, but you’ll need a good understanding of it.</p>
<p>Honestly, Calc I isn’t hard. Calc II is a different story, though…</p>
<p>I just passed trig with an A this semester.</p>
<p>My major is biological science and I have to skip pre cal cuz if I don’t…my 2nd spring semester im left with 2 science classes and the second part of calc and that’s too hard in one semester</p>
<p>I think as long as you have a really good math teacher you will do fine</p>
<p>Try
[url=<a href=“http://www.ratemyprofessor.com%5DRateMyProfessor.com%5B/url”>http://www.ratemyprofessor.com]RateMyProfessor.com[/url</a>] and see what teachers are good</p>
<p>One can do well in Calc 1 and Calc 2 without taking Pre-Calc. However, you’re going to need some trig knowledge for Calc 2. Knowing your trig identities comes in handy for trig substitution.</p>
<p>How did you guys go straight to Calc? They said I scored the highest possible on the math placement test and yet I still had to go through stupid crap like college algebra, trig, pre-calc.</p>
<p>You will need to understand parametric equations and how to tranform into polar/cylindrical/spherical coordinates to be successful in multivariable calc.</p>
<p>Matrices will not be missed until linear algebra (besides doing the jacobian), but that stuff is pretty easy to pick up.</p>
<p>And as others have said, trig identities are one of the major curve balls of integration. IBP, generic substition and stuff like that are pretty easy, but you’ll often need to use identites to make them substitutable.</p>