Math Classes

[bighomage]

I'm starting college next year and I have the option of testing out of Calc I and Calc II. If I tested out of both, I would be taking Linear Algebra. I plan on being an Economics/Math major, so I will have to take higher level courses at some point. I will be pretty busy next yeat, because the workload at my school is heavy, I will have a campus job and I will be pledging a frat (there goes my time for poker and lurking OOT /images/graemlins/frown.gif).
As busy as I'll be, it seems like the easy answer would be to just take Calc again and get the easy A. But I'm left wondering how important it is to get ahead in math. In high school, taking the higher track and taking AP Calculus definitely helped with college applications; will taking Linear Algebra right away help me get summer internships, into better graduate schools, or a better job? Also, do you think taking Linear Algebra would help me get better recommendations from the math department?
So, take the easy way out, or strive for higher?

[asofel]

[ QUOTE ]
I'm starting college next year and I have the option of testing out of Calc I and Calc II. If I tested out of both, I would be taking Linear Algebra. I plan on being an Economics/Math major, so I will have to take higher level courses at some point. I will be pretty busy next yeat, because the workload at my school is heavy, I will have a campus job and I will be pledging a frat (there goes my time for poker and lurking OOT /images/graemlins/frown.gif).
As busy as I'll be, it seems like the easy answer would be to just take Calc again and get the easy A. But I'm left wondering how important it is to get ahead in math. In high school, taking the higher track and taking AP Calculus definitely helped with college applications; will taking Linear Algebra right away help me get summer internships, into better graduate schools, or a better job? Also, do you think taking Linear Algebra would help me get better recommendations from the math department?
So, take the easy way out, or strive for higher?

[/ QUOTE ]

linear algebra is easy. Test out of calc as you'll hate yourself if you have to relearn how to find the derivative of x^2.

[pshreck]

[ QUOTE ]

As busy as I'll be, it seems like the easy answer would be to just take Calc again and get the easy A.

[/ QUOTE ]

Famous last words.

Just test out and move on.

[deacsoft]

You have a great pace going. Don't mess it up now. Get as far ahead as fast as you can. And by the way, any math class should be an easy A if you can read, follow directions, and remember formulas.

[Blackjack]

Why bother getting an "easy A." You've already taken the class. Do you not value your time? Or your tuition money?

Grades don't mean [censored] in college if you arent learning anything.

Blackjack

[asofel]

[ QUOTE ]
And by the way, any math class should be an easy A if you can read, follow directions, and remember formulas.

[/ QUOTE ]

Eh...complex analysis wasn't all THAT easy...

[bighomage]

[ QUOTE ]
Famous last words.

Just test out and move on.

[/ QUOTE ]

Haha. I don't get it. Am I just going to hate myself if I have to take calc again?

[asofel]

[ QUOTE ]
[ QUOTE ]
Famous last words.

Just test out and move on.

[/ QUOTE ]

Haha. I don't get it. Am I just going to hate myself if I have to take calc again?

[/ QUOTE ]

Yes

[bighomage]

[ QUOTE ]
Why bother getting an "easy A." You've already taken the class. Do you not value your time? Or your tuition money?

Grades don't mean [censored] in college if you arent learning anything.

[/ QUOTE ]

I'm on full tuition scholarship and I'm most worried about getting a good job. Aren't my grades going to matter a lot for graduate school and internships? I've also got other challenging courses I'm taking, so I don't think taking one blow off class would be a total waste of my time.

[pshreck]

[ QUOTE ]
[ QUOTE ]
[ QUOTE ]
Famous last words.

Just test out and move on.

[/ QUOTE ]

Haha. I don't get it. Am I just going to hate myself if I have to take calc again?

[/ QUOTE ]

Yes

[/ QUOTE ]

First, you will hate retaking a course.

Second, you have to realize it will be far from a guaranteed A. College is not like highschool. Screw up on 1 exam, and say goodbye to a chance at an A.

[Pat Southern]

If you get the college credits from your AP classes if you pass out of Calc then I say skip it. If you aren't losing any units then I say just take the calc again, you'll never have to go to class, it will be an easy A, and you won't end up taking some BS class like Dinosaurs to fill units. I tested into Spanish Composition at my school, and afterwards I realized I let 15 easy units go by doing well on the test.

[ddollevoet]

I had the same major at the University of Wisconsin. I also had the option of testing out of calc. I took the test and it ultimately allowed me to graduate in 4 years (rather than 4 1/2).

My advice = take the test, avoid the pledge.

[Paluka]

Pledging a fraternity: the fast track to grad school!

[obsidian]

I managed to get a 5 on my AP Calc test and tested out of Calc I and II. Never once did I regret this. Easy decision.

[ilovemyZ]

I'm gonna play devil's advocate here. If this is your first year in school and you're gonna have a heavy load, you might want to take Calc II and "ease" your way into college. Most people feel overwhelmed by college and their new lives. Especially if your scholarship depends on your grades, some "insurance" is good until you get used to the college workload.

Just my $.02

[RacersEdge]

Not a bad idea to maybe take Calc II again. There will be a lot of stuff going on your first semester.

I would ask someone at wherever you go for interns and ask them whether having LA or a high GPA would get you the better internships.

[edtost]

if you really feel like taking calc again, take a real analysis course and at least learn something; smarter minds than you or i have programmed this wonderful thing called mathematica to do all the boring calc 1/2 stuff for you.

i would suggest skipping to linear algebra.

[Blackjack]

[ QUOTE ]
I'm gonna play devil's advocate here. If this is your first year in school and you're gonna have a heavy load, you might want to take Calc II and "ease" your way into college. Most people feel overwhelmed by college and their new lives. Especially if your scholarship depends on your grades, some "insurance" is good until you get used to the college workload.

Just my $.02

[/ QUOTE ]

Don't be a wuss.. Just take it on and deal with it. Life's not supposed to be easy. You gotta work hard at some things ya know?

Blackjack

[Jazza]

just to present a counterpoint, i was one of those who took the easy A, and i now have a very solid understanding of calculus

[edtost]

[ QUOTE ]
will taking Linear Algebra right away help me get summer internships, into better graduate schools, or a better job? Also, do you think taking Linear Algebra would help me get better recommendations from the math department?

[/ QUOTE ]

it will make as close to zero difference as possible, though being a semester ahead may make it easier for you to take the hard classes later on that WILL help...

[CrashPat]

I retook Calc 1 my freshman year, and I'm glad I did. I still managed to screw up Calc 2 the first time I took it, mostly because I showed up drunk to class a lot.

I'm having some troubles understanding why Linear Algebra would be the next course.. I think I took Calc 1, 2, 3, Diff Eq, and then Linear Algebra. If I was in your shoes and I had a really solid understanding of both the calc classes I would test out of Calc 1 and take Calc 2 anyway. It is really the only calculus that I use in senior level courses anyway.

Oh, and what you do your freshman year has very little to do with what will happen in grad school. If you have any fun at all that year and do not be a stick in the mud you will not have the perfect 4.0 that you managed to get in HS anyway. If you do then you are either too smart or not having any fun.

"There is a time and a place for everything, and it's called college."

[Homer]

[ QUOTE ]
I managed to get a 5 on my AP Calc test and tested out of Calc I and II. Never once did I regret this. Easy decision.

[/ QUOTE ]

What he said.

[captZEEbo1]

Retaking a class for no reason will be boring and tedious. You might end up doing poorly on it, because you won't study for a test assuming you already know it, then BAM you don't remember it all. That might not be an issue, but if you finish classes earlier, you can graduate earlier, or save yourself if you somehow fail a class (and have to retake it). So it could be used as a lifeline in case you fail a class, you won't have to stay an extra semester.

[Blarg]

[ QUOTE ]
[ QUOTE ]
Why bother getting an "easy A." You've already taken the class. Do you not value your time? Or your tuition money?

Grades don't mean [censored] in college if you arent learning anything.

[/ QUOTE ]

I'm on full tuition scholarship and I'm most worried about getting a good job. Aren't my grades going to matter a lot for graduate school and internships? I've also got other challenging courses I'm taking, so I don't think taking one blow off class would be a total waste of my time.

[/ QUOTE ]

Don't listen to many of the posters in OOT -- grades can mean a hell of a lot, practically everything, in getting you into good grad schools or jobs. By the way, barfing a few nights a week with your frat buddy goons can destroy that, but then again connections can help replace competency easily.

The real questions are, do you think you can profit more by learning something new, and do you think you're going to have problems getting A's if you don't take the easy ones?

If you're there to learn, you could be rewarded with lower grades, which could definitely count in your future prospects. Then again, if you've got it in you, so could your graduating with higher level classes.

As to the other question, if you feel you are going to, say, stink at English and history but excel at math and sciences, the time you free up from math classes by doing stuff you already know could be used to raise your English or whatever scores. Time is finite, and there are usually choices in college where you have to spend it. Sometimes it's better spent on stuff you're not as good at, instead of stuff you're fine at, leaving you with a higher level of (recorded) accomplishment.

That's not as easy a thing to work out as one would hope, and you'll probably get a great deal of bad advice about it here on OOT.

Personally, I'm an old-style throwback who thinks college is really for learning and experiencing, and you should challenge the hell out of yourself and see if you can be right on the edge of your capabilities, so you learn and experience the most. Now, I mean academically, but that's just me. There's also the social aspect, and frat boys might want to extend themselves to see how many times a week they can throw up, pass out, and piss off their balconies. Either way, there's a lot to be said -- I guess -- for pushing things to the limit in college. It's not like you can go re-live it if you go through it making it as dull and safe as possible.

There's always that conflict between extending yourself and inviting what looks to outsiders like lesser accomplishment as a possible outcome for doing so, and playing it safe and looking outstanding doing it. Pretty personal decision there how you're going to play it. I think we in OOT can give a lot of bad advice about it, but not that much good advice, and ultimately it's a very personal decision that we don't know enough about you, your goals, and what you feel about yourself to say much about that's worthwhile.

[Mano]

If you're bright enough to test out of Calc I and Calc II undergrad Linear Algebra should be no sweat. Getting required classes out of the way quickly leaves you with more options later when you are an upperclassman and have a better idea of what you want to do.

[CallMeIshmael]

[ QUOTE ]
any math class should be an easy A if you can read, follow directions, and remember formulas.

[/ QUOTE ]

Dont forget that some of us wanted to graduate from schools that dont suck.

[jason_t]

[ QUOTE ]
[ QUOTE ]
And by the way, any math class should be an easy A if you can read, follow directions, and remember formulas.

[/ QUOTE ]

Eh...complex analysis wasn't all THAT easy...

[/ QUOTE ]

It's just Cauchy's integral formula. That's the key to the subject.

[deacsoft]

[ QUOTE ]
[ QUOTE ]
any math class should be an easy A if you can read, follow directions, and remember formulas.

[/ QUOTE ]

Dont forget that some of us wanted to graduate from schools that dont suck.

[/ QUOTE ]

I have no idea what you're talking about. /images/graemlins/confused.gif

[jason_t]

[ QUOTE ]
[ QUOTE ]
[ QUOTE ]
any math class should be an easy A if you can read, follow directions, and remember formulas.

[/ QUOTE ]

Dont forget that some of us wanted to graduate from schools that dont suck.

[/ QUOTE ]

I have no idea what you're talking about. /images/graemlins/confused.gif

[/ QUOTE ]

If that is your idea of math, the schools you have been to suck.

[tbach24]

[ QUOTE ]
[ QUOTE ]
[ QUOTE ]
[ QUOTE ]
any math class should be an easy A if you can read, follow directions, and remember formulas.

[/ QUOTE ]

Dont forget that some of us wanted to graduate from schools that dont suck.

[/ QUOTE ]

I have no idea what you're talking about. /images/graemlins/confused.gif

[/ QUOTE ]

If that is your idea of math, the schools you have been to suck.

[/ QUOTE ]

Screw you and your edit.

[jason_t]

[ QUOTE ]
just to present a counterpoint, i was one of those who took the easy A, and i now have a very solid understanding of calculus

[/ QUOTE ]

1. Prove that exists a number s such that s^2 = 2.
2. Let s_1 = sqrt(2) and s_n = sqrt(2 + sqrt(s_(n-1))). Prove that s_n converges and find its limit.
3. Let E be a dense subset of the real line and f a uniformly continuous real-valued function on E. Show that f has a continuous extension to the real line.
4. Suppose f is real-valued on the real line and |f(x) - f(y)| <= (x-y)^2 for all x,y. Show that f is constant.
5. If f,g are Riemann integrable and p, q > 1, 1/p + 1/q = 1 show that (integral |f|^p)^(1/p) * (integral |g|^q)^(1/q) >= integral |fg|.

Good luck.

[tbach24]

NERD ALERT!!! NERD ALERT!!!

[AEKDBet]

Depends on the school. Most of the time test out.

[mmbt0ne]

Unless you have some sort of grade-based scholarship to keep get out of it. Also, this assumes that you're not going to a big math school. Testing out of calc I and II at GT for instance, and going into calc III would be pretty [censored] stupid.