<p>I got a 95 in calc my senior year and a 3.7 gpa. 650 math on sats so I'm not stupid, I just can't remember a lot of trig stuff and I know its important. Pretty sure I bombed it on my placement test. I'm nervous about it and idk what to do.</p>
<p>I do not have a hard time believing that you struggled with trig. I think this highlights the failures of this school system. This system focus too much on the rote memorizations. I’m pretty sure you had trouble memorizing the trig identities. I got a B in trig because I failed to memorize the identities. Now, teachers fail to show the correlations those identities have with each other and other parts of math. Just like physics, the teacher pushed so hard for the rote memorization of equations and just plugging in the numbers. Now, I am not the type of person with a great memory. Now that school is over and I review physics without the pressure of tests and memorization, I am blown away by the world. I say do not worry. Engineering is more than just memorizing equations and plugging in numbers. It is a process. You learn from the data gathered in previous experiments and reiterate.</p>
<p>I got a 92 when I took the class, which is a B in my school. And it wasn’t actually trig it was “Pre-Calc”. I got AP credits for Calc but I plan to retake it anyway.</p>
<p>No big deal man. I got like a 4 on AP Cal back in highschool. When you start engineering in college, you use trig so much that eventually you will be very familiar with it.</p>
<p>So we’ll review it enough to where I’ll get comfortable with it?</p>
<p>It’s more like muscle memory when you walk; it becomes a second nature. At first, a baby struggles, but it literally becomes second nature for a human being. You really do not focus on learning trig; it is more like you use it so much that it becomes second nature. You get my analogy?</p>
<p>Yeah I think I get it. Like we’ll continuously use it so much that it’ll become easy as algebra?</p>
<p>Why don’t you get a cheap trig textbook and go through it for the next 2 months before fall classes start?</p>
<p>I picked up a used copy of Trigonometry 6th edition by Larson and Hostetler last summer and went through it in 6-8 weeks. It was time well spent.</p>
<p>How much you think that textbook would cost?</p>
<p>Go to the library. I got 2 college level physics textbooks, 1 calculus textbook and thers.</p>
<p>I jumped into the calc and physics series with close to zero knowledge of Trig. It’s been an uphill battle but I’ve made it through. I will say, it would have been nice to have a solid trig foundation.</p>
<p>Trig helps tremendously with Physics and Calc II.</p>
<p>That being said, any trig you learned in a full trigonometry class is probably more than you need to know to get through in college. You need to know the fundamentals, at a bare minimum. The better you are at trig, the easier everything is. </p>
<p>4 tools to be great at to get through any quantitative degree: Algebra, Trig, Calculus and Proofing techniques.</p>
<p>It depends on what part of trig you struggled with. If you struggled with abnormal triangles or vectors or bearings, or doing sine/cosine/tangent in your head of easy angles, you’re in trouble. </p>
<p>If you have problems with identities or graphing without a calculator, you shouldn’t worry.</p>
<p>I’m gonna try to get a pre calc textbook.</p>
<p>My experience was similar. I got a B in Trig, due to a subpar teacher and lack of focus, but then got a 4 in AP Calc and an average grade in Calc 2. I took the UMich placement test last week and bombed it, since it is all pre-calc stuff. I got placed somewhere between trig/calc1, and my engineering advisor suggested I could take trig and calc 1 this year, and then calc 2 over the summer. I think your solution will work just as well, since trig credit doesn’t count towards an engineering degree, at least at my school.</p>
<p>i don’t think you should be worried much. you barely use the trig that you learn. you only need to know the basics like sin cos cot csc tan and the easy identities like sin^2 + cos^2 = 1 for calc 2. it’s not intense trig, just trig that you should know. </p>
<p>also, learning the 30,60,90 triangles will HELP A LOT. know your radians and degrees and how to convert one to another would be helpful too. it should be doable, you don’t need to memorize much unless your professor is a dick. there aren’t much formulas to remember in calc so you shouldn’t be worried!</p>
<p>Go to [Khan</a> Academy](<a href=“http://www.khanacademy.com%5DKhan”>http://www.khanacademy.com) and watch his trigonometry series. It will help you establish a good base or help you refresh your memory.</p>
<p>soh-cah-toa</p>
<p>I’m bumping this thread I have another question. If I can’t take calc my first semester because I bombed my placement tests and I take it the second semester, does it kill my chances to transfer to a better school like say USC?</p>
<p>No it doesn’t kill your chances at all.</p>