Just had a question about remedial work. Was wondering if it’s worth it to go to a California state school for engineering if I will be needing remedial work in both chemistry and pre calculus? I was thinking community college then transfer, but me being first time freshmen delayed to graduate in 4 years from a csu just doesn’t make sense.
Took chemistry sophomore year in high school and the highest level maths I took were AP statistics & Calculus AB
Why would you need remedial work in chemistry and math? Did you fail those courses (and AP test) in high school? Or did you take placement tests that showed that your knowledge of chemistry and math is poor?
If you actually do need remedial work in math, it will be very difficult to graduate on time as an engineering major. Extra semesters or quarters at a four year school can be more expensive than at a community college, but you need to check at http://www.assist.org to ensure that your local community colleges fully cover the frosh-soph courses for your major at your target four year school (otherwise, the need for “catch up” courses after transfer could also result in extra semesters or quarters at the four year school).
Here are some math placement tests that you can try to see if you are ready for calculus:
http://math.tntech.edu/e-math/placement/index.html
https://math.berkeley.edu/courses/choosing/placement-exam
At SDSU there’s this chemistry placement test and I’m not even going to attempt that since I have no recent working with chemistry. With the math I just think I should go back to pre cal. Mainly because I was the weakest link in my AP calculus class this school year. Ended up with a C in that class.
Try those math placement tests linked from reply #2 to see where you stand on math.
Take those placement tests and return here with the results.
I don’t see any conclusive evidence that proves you need to be in remedial classes. Have more confidence in yourself, self-study a little beforehand, and take the placement tests.
I missed nine questions out of 24 on the Berkeley test generator
I scored a level 3 on the TTU mathematics test generator
It means you don’t need precalculus, you simply need to take the Calculus 1 class.
How do you know that @MYOS1634? I don’t even feel ready, got a C in both AP calculus and AP physics (this one was online) this year.
And don’t even remind me of the AP tests
That means you took calculus and don’t master it, which means you need to start at Calc 1.
On the Berkeley one, which concepts did it tell you that you need to review? If the questions that you missed are on concepts that you have learned before, try self-reviewing them and retrying the placement tests.
On the Tennesee Tech one, http://math.tntech.edu/e-math/placement/page7.html indicates that 1730 (precalculus) or 1830 (calculus for business majors) are the highest math courses you should take (descriptions at https://www.tntech.edu/cas/math/course-descriptions ). As an intended engineering major, you need to take a more rigorous calculus for engineering majors (1910 or 1911 if you were a Tennessee Tech student), so you need to self-review the precalculus concepts that you had difficulty with on the placement test.
If the concepts that you missed on the placement tests are too difficult to self-review, then you may need to take a precalculus course before taking calculus. You may want to check to see if a precalculus course is available at a local community college for the summer session if you choose to do that.
Here is Tennessee Tech’s math department web site on precalculus review:
http://math.tntech.edu/e-math/calc1/precalc/
So I was pretty much correct from the start just to take pre cal again. I’ll try the Berkeley one again
Why don’t you study precalculus over the summer with books and watch some Khan Academy videos? Then once you enroll in college, you can save yourself time and money by just taking Calculus.
How did you do in precalculus? How did you do in chemistry? What remedial work would you do in chemistry? Is the type of engineering you want to do dependent on chemistry? If it’s not and is only a required course but not often used, you might be able to get by by just getting through chemistry even if you don’t have a really solid understanding of it. Depending on your major, math and physics may be much more important.
Getting a C in AP calculus suggests to me that you should retake calculus (ie begin with Calc 1), rather than drop down a level. It will be easier the second time since you have already seen the material. Did you also really struggle in precalculus?
Why aren’t you also talking about taking remedial courses in physics, if you think you need to take remedial courses in chemistry?
Even if you do take remedial courses, your graduation would only be delayed by a semester. That’s not unreasonable. You may be able to take courses over the summer to get back on track, if you have the time and money to do so.
See if you can self study the few problematic areas of precalc over the summer. You certainly can’t take calc 2 but dropping down to precalc sounds a bit extreme to me. You can’t have done that badly in precalc if you were recommended for ap calc.
Ive been accepted to San Diego for aerospace engineering. I’m thinking about attending (already paid fees and crap) then either staying or dropping out if classes don’t go my way. But as of right now I need remedial work in pre calculus and chemistry regardless. I’m estimating my time being there about 5 to 6 years (that’s including my time for possibly retaking a failed class).
I’m afraid I’m part of the population that either switches majors or will drop out after the 1st semester.
I guess this is what I deserve for screwing around as an under classmen in high school. Also worth mentioning I didn’t really start realizing how important college was until 11th grade.
Instead of wasting time and money in college with pre-calculus, take it at your local community college this summer, or just get your hands on a couple textbooks and work your way through the problems. That you got a C in calculus in high school tells me that you probably aren’t missing any basic concepts. You just need more practice. Yes, you can teach pre-calc to yourself if you put your mind to it. The only real secret is to Do Every Single Problem In The Book. And when you’ve got to the end of the book, Go Back And Do Every Single Problem Again.
It is the beginning of June. You have time to get through pre-calc this summer, so you will be ready for calculus once you get to college in the fall.