Taking AP calc? (question for the Calc vets)

lobgent
Tue, 15 May 2007 17:44:14 +0000

Agree with the post above me. The math geeks will eviscerate the class, integral by integral, but the more humanities minded people will likely struggle, no matter how many times they sit down for a cozy session with their textbook. Left brain vs. right brain sort of stuff, right? I firmly believe, however, than anyone can get a 5 on any AP test, whether they’re more inclined towards the sciences, math, or the humanities, if they’re 1) intelligent (as in they do well in school…aghh, still kinda vague), 2) work and study hard throughout the WHOLE year, and 3) know HOW to study, as memorizing equations, Taylor series stuff, and definite integral tests is only effective to a point; you have to understand the underlying concepts behind those things (as with all things: ie. no Tennis Court Oath without the struggle of the Third Estate before the French Revolution – that “stuff,” the broad, general principles) to succeed. My advice? Take the class. Even if you don’t do as well as you did in other, lesser (insert haughty look here) math classes, you will have had at the end of the class a wonderful opportunity to open your mind to new concepts, new problem solving techniques, and hopefully a very humorous mathematics teacher, as the ones who teach such courses tend to be that way :)