Calculus II or Calculus III?

The Nazarite

Alright, I'm registering for classes on Tuesday, and I'm not sure whether I should take Calculus II or Calculus III. I'm not sure if it matters, but I'm a civil engineering major at Cal Poly.

In my junior year of high school I took Calc AB and got a 5 on the AP. In my senior year I took BC and also got a 5. It was probably my easiest classes in high school.

However, I didn't take a calculus class my first quarter of college because I had a really good registration spot, so I wanted to get some GE's (that are required by all students and fill up quickly) out of the way. So, basically, I haven't touched an integer or series for about six months.

Should I retake Calc. II to be safe, or should I just move on to Calc. III? What sorts of things should I take into consideration?

Thanks.

Zernhelt

It's always best to review.

Anyway, what does your schedule have you taking next smester? At all the engineering schools I looked at, the schedules are so rigid that they have you taking classes during a specific semester (of course, you don't have to follow this, but most peopel do).

Also, it's been several months since you've taked calculus, it's probably best to review.

AgentBryant

Calc III will have very little to do (most likely not at all) with series, so you're OK on that front. I'm guessing if you took it, you'd have enough time to review the basic integration rules (every class I've taken has taken some time to review). Generally, people don't seem to have problems with taking advancing in calculus after a semester break or so. It's when its been around 2-3 years where you start seeing trouble.

YosemiteSam

Zernhelt wrote:

It's always best to review.

No it's not. Besides, Calc III will have some review. Calc II is BC calculus, pretty much. You should definitely take Calc III.

Al_wat

You could try talking to someone from your school? Maybe the professor of these calc courses or a program advisor?

They could tell you exatly what will be covered in the courses vs. what was covered in the courses you already took.

I mean, I know about calculus and shit but because I've taken totally different curriculums (I'm in Canada) I just don't know what content each course has and therefore can't give specific advice.

The Nazarite

Alright, I'll try and see an advisor tomorrow, but I think I'll be taking Calc. III.

Thanks for all the advice and help.

trixtah

I'm in a similar bind--what's the best way to review? I took Calc A, B, and C in high school and did pretty well. My first semester of college I took calc A. It's been one year since then and I'm taking Calc B during the winter and I don't remember much, if any at all. What's the best thing for me to do right now?

thatnerdyguy

The Nazarite wrote:

Alright, I'll try and see an advisor tomorrow, but I think I'll be taking Calc. III.

Thanks for all the advice and help.

Advisor recommendation seconded. They can usually sling some stuff at you to see where you're really at, possibly even have you take a sample final exam from the class you're considering skipping. My experience has been that many students that took AP calc in high school still have trouble with calc in college. Not all, but many.

And usually first year calc breaks down like so:
Calc I - Differentiation
Calc II - Integration and Applications, Intro. Differential Equations
Calc III - Polar and Parametric Functions, Elementary Linear Algebra, and Infinite Series

Or so I've seen. Just thought I'd add some information to the stack.

Edited to Add:

trixtah wrote:

I'm in a similar bind--what's the best way to review? I took Calc A, B, and C in high school and did pretty well. My first semester of college I took calc A. It's been one year since then and I'm taking Calc B during the winter and I don't remember much, if any at all. What's the best thing for me to do right now?

My advice? Head down to the book store and pick up a Schaum's book on Calculus (not a quick review, one of the big ones). The used book store by my campus has stacks of 'em in all different subjects, usually for about 5-10 bucks. Each section has a short review of the subject, followed by a number of solved problems, then a bunch of extra problems with answers given in the back. Spend a couple weekends working through that and you should be feeling better about moving on to the next class.

Big Dookie

thatnerdyguy wrote:

And usually first year calc breaks down like so:
Calc I - Differentiation
Calc II - Integration and Applications, Intro. Differential Equations
Calc III - Polar and Parametric Functions, Elementary Linear Algebra, and Infinite Series

Or so I've seen. Just thought I'd add some information to the stack.

See, where I go to college it's almost completely different. Here, it is:

Calc I - Limits, Differentiation, and Integration
Calc II - Advanced Integration Techniques, Infinite Series (mostly the latter)
Calc III - Multivariable Calculus, Polar/Parametric Functions, etc.

Linear Algebra is required but is a completely different class, as is Differential Equations.

So yes, it can vary wildly from school to school, so definitely see an advisor about it to see where you need to start out. From what you've said here, it sounds like Calc III might be right for you, but an advisor will be able to help you with much more specific advice.

Marty81

Yeah, my school is totally different too.

Calc 1: Limits, derivatives, integrals, all single-variable
Calc 2: Mutli-variable differentiation theory, Sequences and series, differential equations
Calc 3: Basic linear algebra, Mutli-variable integration theory up through Stokes' theorem in all its forms.

Definitely talk to an advisor. He'll tell you what calc 2 covers, and if you're happy with your grasp of that material, go for calc 3.

Spackle

I felt my Calc III built on Calc 1 with a lot of multi-variable differentiation and integration work where as Calc II seemed to focus in infinite series, trigonemetric work and Limits.

Advisor for sure.

Raziel078

I waited a year and half between Calc 2 and Calc 3. I got a B in both. I mean if you put the work into calc 3 you are fine, but about 90% of the stuff in calc 3 doesn't require you to understand whats happening besides which method to use to solve it. after that its all about remembering the discrete steps to solve the problem followed by some not to complex algebra. so go for 3

panksea06

I dont know about your school but there are rumors at mine (UW) that calc II is harder than Calc II.

I am taking calc II right now and hoping said rumors are true.