rps1073

So I took Calculus I thinking that I was going to be a Computer Science major. Didn't do great, but not too bad. I got a B-. I tried Calc II, but did miserably on the first exam and dropped the class. I'll thoroughly admit to not really trying hard enough to understand the concepts, as homework was all handwritten/hand corrected and I would get pretty much no feedback on whether I did my homework correctly (as opposed to online homework in Calc I, where I knew what I did wrong and therefore could fix it).

I recently changed majors and am now majoring in Business. My college will let me take Business Calc II instead of normal Calc II. How different is Business Calc (especially BCII) from normal Calc? I'm also trying to take Business Calc II over the summer as an online course so I'm a little unsure about whether I will be ready for it.

Any thoughts/advice on the difference between subjects?

YoungVeggies

I think the hardest part in Calc II is Series, and some tough Integration techniques. I have taken both Calc II and Bus Calc II. You don't cover series in bus calc, and there are no genuinely tough integration techniques you will use in bus calc. In bus calc II you will also do some Calc III which the normal Calc II does not cover, but it will not be really hard, it is just double or triple integration, overall you should have no problem with bus Calc II.

rps1073

Okay thanks, that's good to hear. I've heard that the math in Business Calc is presented in a different way from normal Calc. I've heard it's presented through case studies and word problems or something like that instead of just straight up math problems? Is that tricky at all to figure out, or are the problems in general easy to convert to general math?

discoinferno

My business calculus was rolled into one large class that some schools within the same system consider equivalent to calc I and calc II.

This always struck me as odd because I found it easier than calc I alone, much less calc II. Maybe it's because it's more applied. There are definitely more word problems and actual business applications. As soon as you understand the real-world application, the theory of the equation kind of teaches itself.

My brief experience with the conventional Calc 1-III was all numbers and the occasional "math term" you forget 2 seconds after defining. I'm decent at math, but I just couldn't get interested, and when you stop being interested, you miss things at lectures and your grades drop.

That's why CIS degrees are cooler than CS degrees. You get to take applied business calculus and accounting instead of 3 theoretical calculus courses, but still get to take OO programming.