<p>I don’t really get why people find math104 really hard
is it because of the curve? or the material they are learning?
how are the tests like?
i mean aren’t they supposed to be basically the same as highschool Calc BC?</p>
<p>Also, if i have only taken IB Math SL, none of the Calc APs,
there is no way to place out of 104?
or does Penn have a seperate placement exam of its own?</p>
<p>you can take the exam i think, or maybe skip to 114 and get credit for 104 like that. Talk to your advisor before you do anything, or better yet go to the math department.</p>
<p>I think it is because a LOT of people, even those not mathematically inclined, have to take 104. When premed students are thrown together with engineering/math majors, I'm sure they will feel the effects of the curve very strongly. College math also tends to move at a quicker pace in general than what most people got in high school</p>
<p>In all honesty, the only challenge to 104 was the time constraint. I found myself needing to move quickly on tests. When you move fast you are more prone to making mistakes. And one mistake in a math setup can throw your entire answer off.</p>
<p>People find it difficult because math is typically taught very poorly at the high school level...so people think they've been taught properly, when really they suck at math.</p>
<p>but if you suck at math its ok, because you are statistically inclined to be more handsome, popular, and straight out cooler than people who are good at math</p>
<p>your critical reading skiil is lacking "because math is typically taught very poorly at the high school level "
qualified reason for poor performance, which apparently excaped you?</p>
<p>uh what? It is.</p>
<p>i think the course itself is kinda deceiving...in addition to above mentioned reasons, it really depends on your prof...i lucked out in having the hardest prof while i took it so we had a ton of high grades in our class on the final and thus a ton of high grades in the class...</p>
<p>but i know ppl who, throughout the year, made "A's" on the tests their profs gave but b/c of how well their class ultimately did, even people who had "made A's" throughout the semester ended up with C's</p>
<p>What does very hard mean? Mean grade of 65%?</p>
<p>You might not get an A. Boo hoo.</p>
<p>A mean of 65% would be a high mean.</p>
<p>When I say that I mean post-curve.</p>
<p>a lot of my math/sciences purportedly had a mean post-curve grade of B-</p>
<p>Yup. You speak the truth.</p>
<p>And I go back to my original post, what is considered a hard class? A post-curve mean of 65%?</p>
<p>What does that mean? You mean that the average final grade given in the class is a D? That would never happen here.</p>
<p>I'd really doubt the class is that "hard" then. :)</p>
<p>The curve brings the average grade up.</p>
<p>I suggest you reserve your judgement until you take it.</p>
<p>Let me give you all some hardcore facts here from my 104 class I took (Dr. Ward's section, which had a total of 4 tests and one final in addition to a cumulative quiz grade). Each test had 10 questions, multiple choice (with the exception of Test 4 and the Final, which had 20 I think).</p>
<p>Test 1: Average: 68.51%
Test 2: Average: 56.29%
Test 3: Average: 59.92%
Test 4: Average: 71.74%
Quizzes: Average: 78.84%
Final: Average: 64.05%</p>
<p>Tests are weighted at 14% each, and the cumulative quizzes are also at 14% in total, and the final is 30%. </p>
<p>The overall grade ranges were the following:</p>
<p>76 - 100 A (36 students)
74 - 75 A- (8 students)
72 - 73 B+ (5 students)
65 - 71 B (30 students)
63 - 64 B- (3 students)
62 C+ (3 students)
47 - 61 C (30 students)
45 - 46 C- (4 students)
40 - 44 D (3 students)
39 - 0 F (2 students)
124 students total</p>
<p>So about 35% of the class gets an A- or better, if that's what you are aiming for. If you were able to score average on every test/quiz/final, you'd get a B, which many get as you can see. The curve definitely helps you in this case. If there were no curve, you'd be looking at a D or low C instead of a B. </p>
<p>It's hard to tell you how difficult the class is because it's just a matter of how you feel about math. SAT scores also won't gauge much for you since the math is harder than that so I'm not going to get into that. I did not attend lecture (too early for me at the time) but I read the math book, and the book does a good job explaining everything if there's something you didn't get from lecture. And there are always office hours and TA's to help you out with homework problems and questions. If you are pretty good at math to begin with, and you put forth an effort to keep up with what's going on, you should do just fine. To get an A (I'm just ballparking this now) you'd have to get roughly a C+/B- or above on every test/quiz and the final.</p>
<p>shtir, i hate you. you psuedo-humble basrtad</p>