<p>Hi, I’m currently at a CC trying to complete my major prep for chemical engineering. Just finished Calc 1 with a B, due to a family emergency. I’ve already completed the gen chem series and will start my Ochem next spring. As far as physics is concerned, I’m currently enrolled in engineering physics. </p>
<p>I find math to be the hardest subject when compared to chem and phy. I was wondering as I take Calc 2, 3 and 4 how much of it do I need to retain when I finally transfer out. I feel like I will forget it as I still have a good 2 years before I transfer out.
Atm I have a 3.9 gpa transferable. </p>
<p>Any tips/ideas are greatly appreciated.</p>
<p>Additionally, I am kind of worried of how things will play out when I transfer out because, well lets just say that engineering is a tough major and you can’t do it talk is kind of hit me.</p>
<p>But I still want to give it a try, I will not turn back without trying.</p>
<p>You will use calc1 in calc2, then in calc3 you will still use calc 1&2… and so on. I don’t remember everything from all of those classes but its really not that hard to just re-learn (or refresh) it when you need it because you are already familiar with it.</p>
<p>I used quite a bit from Calc 1 & 2, linear algebra, and Diffeq in other engineering classes (e.g. controls, structures, fluids, high speed aero, thermo, and electrical engineering…). </p>
<p>The good news is that most of the problems in these engineering classes are rather straightforward compared to the ones taught in the original math classes. Also good news is that if you’re unsure of any problem requiring math, you will be able to quickly go back and review the material since you would have already seen it before and know where to look.</p>
<p>I was amazed at how easy engineering was once I went to classes, did all my homework, and read ahead in my courses so that I understood the lectures. Some people burn out because they pick a school too hard for them; the velocity of the information (drinking from a firehose) can be daunting. All of your core courses will use math. I still use calc and linear algebra routinely in my job.</p>
<p>Kids who are used to reading the book the night before a test will complain that engineering is too difficult. It takes commitment.</p>
<p>^Absolutely. Time management, maturity, and some general mathematical ability (AKA you can’t be horrible at math) will make things very doable. Don’t stress, just put the work in.</p>
<p>Yeah. STEM majors in general and esp. the more theoretical ones like math and physics are such that they really require active pursuit to keep up with. It’s not a spectator sport, not at all. But once you actively pursue to learn and get to the pace as well as logic of things, it’s actually fairly straightforward. Just definitions, conclusions and more definitions and homework and tests that just test that you’ve understood what was said. It’s the good thing about studying exact sciences and existing knowledge that all information is already there, you just need to pursue understanding what it means and use that understanding as well as see how it relates to more and more stuff.</p>
<p>The exact and focused thinking that’s used in uni-level classes is just very different from the more procedural means of learning that’s done prior to uni. That takes some time to settle on to.</p>
<p>Focus on learning what your major entails you to study, the program designer ought to know what’s important and that’s why all the courses are there.</p>
<p>Specifically in engineering, all the theoretical math and physics that you need to study first will reveal themselves during your sophomore to senior years in topics that build on those theoretical foundations.</p>
<p>I’m a Chemical Engineer at a 4 year research university and I can reiterate whats already been said. You’ll use it again, but its not as abstract as your math courses. Calculus 2 and Differential Equations will be the most relevant courses for you. You’re only really going to need calculus and differential equations for deriving things, which not all professors will expect on exams. In my courses I used some fairly basic calculus for thermodynamics and my fluid flow/heat transfer course. In the first part of my mass transfer/separations sequence we had to learn to do Partial Differential Equations to work with Fick’s law, but this was a self-contained part of the class where we had to learn the theory behind diffusion and mass transfer. The rest of the course was on separations and was all algebra and graphical methods, I expect the second class in the sequence to be the same. </p>
<p>I did poorly in my math courses but I have a high GPA in my major since ChemE allows you to take more science courses and the math heavy ChemE course we have may be more difficult at times but they’re much fewer in number. The best thing you can do is be very good at algebra. That may sound elementary, but I can’t stress enough that 99% of your mistakes will be algebraic. You should be able to read algebraic expressions like you’re reading a book, and comprehend it like a story, because that’s honestly what reading an engineering textbook is is like. But I wouldn’t stress, because that comes with practice.</p>
<p>When it comes to Math, going to the Math library (if your school has such a library) to look at other texts and/or looking online at how other profs/instructors solve similar problems will also help. Unless your Math prof gives exam points on doing a problem his/her way specifically, it doesn’t matter how you execute your steps to solve a Math problem.</p>
<p>I know back in my undergrad years, I would buy a Schaum’s outline and sometimes did a Calculus, Linear Algebra or Diff Eq problem in the steps that Schaum had outlined. Usually, the prof didn’t care.</p>
<p>I’m an engineering physics major with a CS concentration and I use everything. Calc, diffy qs, vectors, approximations and series methods, matrices, sums, permutations and combination, sequences, etc. I also transferred from a CC.</p>
<p>Keep every math book you get for future reference.</p>
<p>1) I’m an EE and I use serious math all the time
2) It’s counterintuitive but if you learn how to * derive * everything, there is a lot less that you have to remember.
3) When you actually have to use the math in a follow-on course extensively, the math becomes operational and easy to internalize.</p>
<p>Thanks for the great feed back guys! I’ve been feeling burned out lately with work and studies and just way too much going on. Almost wanted to change my major to something easier, but I don’t see myself doing anything but chem engineering so I ll stick it out.</p>
<p>Don’t mean to hijack this thread, but I’m a freshman in CS and enjoying my math classes thus far. How often will I use this (discrete) math in my job? Also, an upperclassman told me that linear algebra in an extremely important course for CS to take, as it will be used a lot. Is that true?</p>
<p>We’ve been having a little discussion about that in the last few weeks. In 30 years I’ve never used discrete math for work, although I did use some in graduate school.</p>
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<p>Most programmers don’t actually do that much math at work, but for those that do, I think linear algebra the most important math class you can take.</p>
<p>To be quite frank, I don’t enjoy math as much as I enjoy my chem and phys classes.
I was fine with math before, but I think my calc 1 teacher kind of ruined it for me, but then I really didn’t put a lot of effort into it. I just went to class kind of slept and studied a night before exams. ( had family issues as well)</p>
<p>Now that I will be taking calc 2, I kind of realized that I don’t really remember a lot from calc 1.</p>
<p>“Don’t mean to hijack this thread, but I’m a freshman in CS and enjoying my math classes thus far. How often will I use this (discrete) math in my job? Also, an upperclassman told me that linear algebra in an extremely important course for CS to take, as it will be used a lot. Is that true?”</p>
<p>If you understand what discrete mathematics is about, then you ought to figure out what it’s useful for. Discrete mathematics is the basis of theoretical computer science. It’s also useful in modelling some computational real-world problems (a classical example being the traveling salesman problem). If you don’t do TCS or mathematical modelling, then maybe you won’t see many applications.</p>
<p>Linear algebra is useful, because it maps so well to computer programs and can be used to represent and manipulate many types of numerical (or other types in programming languages) data. And it’s everywhere in computer graphics.</p>