Taking Trigonometry Fall Quarter as an Aerospace Engineer - Cal Poly Pomona

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1

Hello! I am an incoming freshman at Cal Poly Pomona.

I was a bit bummed after finding out my math placement test (MDPT as California uses it) put me in Trigonometry my first quarter. Even though it counts towards my GEDs, it’s still a bummer because I won’t be able to start my Aero intro lab.

Pros are that I can do some GEDs in the process.
Cons are that I’m held back in taking some of those core classes fall quarter.

Are there any tips out there regarding how an Aerospace Engineer like me can possibly take a math class during next summer so I can catch up and finish on time?

My plan is 5 years as I heard a majority of the students from my school have graduated in this manner.

2

Can’t you take a math class during the summer at a community college? That’s what my son did with physics.

3

You can certainly take Calculus I,II,III at a community college or any other school you want. How many prerequisites do you have before Calc 1? Regardless of the answer, you need to take and do well in Trig and move forward, it is likely poor high school prep to blame. If you really disagree with your placement, I am sure you could retake the exam …

A five-year plan should be doable even if you are a semester or two behind in math. Make sure you take as many hard or time-consuming classes now, Chemistry does not typically have a math requirement, there should be a comp sci that does not have a math requirement, worst case take an extra one to sharpen your skills. You may be able to take multiple math classes too, if they are not sequential.

4

Thanks for the tips! :slight_smile: To be honest, I think it really was a lack of sleep and preparation for sure. But as for now, I will keep on moving forward!! I will try by best haha. I plan to call up my community college and academic advisors at the same time in order to figure out the way the quarter and semester conversion works on units for when I take a summer class.

I’m thinking of doing a two credit filler class, maybe for GED, but I will have to sort that out with the the advisor. I’ve heard that first quarter taking 16 units is a bit difficult, right now I’m at 12. Any tips on that?