Sorry for the eyesore title but I truly am afraid. I’ve heard a lot of talk about how hard UMich Calc 1 is but I need it for my major (Ecology & Evolutionary Biology). Mathematics have never been my strong suit (but I’m still good at chemistry & physics). I’m currently in Honors PreCalc and assuming that I can actually place into Calc 1 (I can get A’s in math classes but can’t even pull a 25 on ACT math) I’ll be taking MATH 115 in Fall 2015. (I also need Calc for Physics 1 & 2)
I know most people in MATH 115 have prior calculus experience so I’ll be at a natural disadvantage unless I dip my fingers into the subject earlier.
I’m thinking of doing either of three things this summer to prep
A. Buying Calculus for Dummies and an AP Calculus AB review book (like 5 Steps to A Five or Princeton Review) and self study over the summer.
PROS: Cheap
CONS: My motivation is lacking
B. Taking Calc 1 at local community college then taking it again at UMich
PROS: Deals with the motivation issue
CONS: Expensive
C. Taking Calc 1 at U of M-Dearborn and transfer credit
PROS: No MATH 115 to worry about
CONS: Really expensive
Get the book Calculus Life Saver by Banner. It is very well thought out and the presentation of the material is pretty detailed. I have no financial interest in this text, and did find it useful.
If you’re that worried, take it at a CC and transfer it to UofM cheapest and safest way. Also, grades do not transfer unless you take the course at UofM Dearborn or Flint.
If you put time/effort and hard work into calc 1 there’s prolly no way you’ll get weeded out. The only reason it has a bad reputation is because alot of people who take that class don’t know how exactly to study for math tests, aren’t very good at math (hence math 115), think the amount of effort you put in is the same as hs, etc. Lets just say that most of the kids who are taking calc 1 aren’t gonna be too good at math (even though they already have some calc experience). Otherwise, they most likely wouldn’t be taking calc 1.
Grades do transfer from community colleges. My daughter took it a couple of summers ago at Washtenaw CC and had no problem with it transferring. Make sure and check the UM transfer equivalency course site before taking just to make sure. We even went ahead and had the transfer credit request form approved ahead of time so that it was guaranteed to be accepted. If you’re a current student have your advisor or your department approve it ahead of time (because there are some departments that don’t allow CC transfer credits after you’ve earned a certain amount of credits).
PeterW you’re right - sorry I wasn’t clearer. The credit will transfer but not the grade which was ok because she just needed to complete the requirement for her major. Now that she’s doing grad school applications the A from WCC does show up on that transcript (which who knows what it might have been if she took the class at UM). For her it was easier to just take that one class in the summer at WCC and not worry about taking it with other classes at UM during a normal semester from a workload standpoint. I’ve heard some grad schools aren’t in favor of CC classes but we haven’t found it to be a problem for this one class.
If you’re using it to fulfill a program requirement typically no. However, IF (and make sure about this before you do it!) you were to decide something like “If I pass Calc 1 I want to do this program that requires it, and if I don’t I’ll do some program that doesn’t.” then you could take Calc 1 pass/fail, and if you see a pass then you can petition to have the grade revealed and you can continue with the program, and if you fail then it doesn’t affect your GPA.
Though it’d really be easier to just take it normally, then not fail it. Calc 1 is not the class that’s full of math geniuses, if you try you’re not going to fail.
Alternatively, there are some classes that can replace 115 (like 295) that simply won’t fail anyone from what I’ve heard, but considering you’re not a strong math student that would probably be frustrating for you and you’d be pretty much guaranteed the lowest grade in the class. But that grade will be a B or B- probably.