/sci/ - Science & Math

>college algebra
It'll be 4 years until you even reach the level needed for all the engineering courses.
>biological engineering
never mind; go for it. Very little else at college requires less brain function.

When you get in to Linear Algebra it gets a bit blech and you will get bogged down with the Calculus.

It's not overwhelming but you've got to be able to put up with A LOT of it.

>>2322541

Fuck off with Mechanical Engineering being shit tier and being coupled with Civil.

0/10

>>2322541
Well that's a troll image if I've ever seen one...

>>2322541
>rocket science
>Low tier

Wat?

>>2322548
Enjoy fixing cars

>B in college algebra
You best give up right now

Btw for everyone who doesn't know what college algebra is.

It's the shit that retards take before taking calc 1 in college/uni.

That was like high school shit, and if you only got a B in that. You best give up right now.

>>2322541
The list of math classes I would have to take for the degree isn't as bad as you may think.

Pre-Cal
Cal 1
Cal 2
Cal 3
Diff Eq
Cal 4

That's it. If I go for a few summer semesters, no big deal.

>>2322553

I did my undergrad in Mechanical and doing post-grad in Aerospace and Mechanical covers a much broader set of subjects and is more intensive than Aerospace is.

I don't care if I'm called a rocket scientist for doing aerospace - mechanical was harder.

>>2322556
Like I said, I didn't try very hard.

>>2322557
>Cal 3
>Diff Eq
>Cal 4

wtf is cal 4 if it's not diff eq?

doesn't sound promising, but at least you don't have your sights set on something like EE. I'd say you'd have a very high chance of offing yourself by the time you get to Calculus 4. But if you're enjoying everything else and breezing through it because you love what yur doing you'll have time to pull yur hair out over calc.

>>2322560
Doesn't matter, it's game over for you

I'm trying to save you time right now.

>>2322564

triple integrals, volumes etc. there's a little overlap.

Eh, I'll just take the basic engineering course and see how I like it. If I can't hack it, no much lost.

>>2322571
wut
That's like a cal 2 here and I live in fucking brazil, you must be mistaken.

>>2322593
geezus fuck man :P, last 5 chapter or so of stewart, same way every where in NA. multiple integrals (+ polar, spherical and cylindrical co-or), applications, line integrals, curls, divergence, surface intergrals, i think some series shit like taylor and mac, arc lengths.

you might do it in calc 2 in brazil, I don't know. I know the Germans are ahead of us in maths. But what do you do in fourth year? Special functions in complex variables using base 7 ;D

>>2322533
if you got a B in college algebra
the engineering curriculum will rip you three or four new buttholes after a half semester

If you got a B only giving it 70% of your effort, that means that with 100% effort you would get a 104%

you're golden, bro.

>>2322533
It depends on the major.

Compsci, electrical, Compeng == Math Major
Civil, Systems, Material eng == Very little calculus compared to other majors
Chem, Biochem == Verly little calculus, lots of statistics and a shitload of memorization.
Meche, Aero == Lots of calculus, but you repeat the same formulas a lot so you can get used to it.

>>2322571
i think it's what people on the quarter system take... vector calculus. most colleges on trimesters combine it with multivariable calculus.

also the only reason biological engineering is shit tier is because it's one of those majors that the professors created to troll students. employers will look at a biological engineer title and go 'WTF' because they've never worked with them before, and will rather hire mechanical engineers (biomechanics) or electrical engineers (biomems) or mathematicians/software engineers (systems biology). Keep in mind this is only for lowly undergrad jobs where the employer is a dipshit. Graduate level jobs will gladly hire biological engineers.

Also, biological engineers are the fastest growing engineering profession now, so in 10 years or so this (probably) won't be the case anymore.

>>2322671
I'm a physicist, so I didn't do any math in my last year(not officially).
Math students? Some advanced topic of real analysis, complex analysis, differential geometry, things like that, depends on the place.
Also, if that your calc4 what did you study in cal1 2 and 3? I thouught american learned limits, differentiation and riemann integrals before college.

>>2322738
Depends on what path the elect to follow. Students can graduate from high school with no calculus experience if they choose to do so.

>>2322738
we do, so most people start with calc 3 in college. However, calc 1+2 in high school are pretty shitty in the US in a LOT of public schools, and the ap exam can be passed with a meh knowledge of calculus (even stewart's is harder). The good thing is that that meh knowledge of calculus is all an engineer needs anyways. Still, some colleges require people to retake calc 1 + 2.

Also, calc 1 = limits/integrals, calc 2 = differential equations + sequences/series

if you get a 5 on the BC exam you're pretty well off.

>>2322553
0/10, but i'm just gonna say that that is a retarded concept if i ever heard one. Im majoring in mech eng right now, have done 3 years and have yet to do anything remotely related to 'car engines' - try fluid dynamics, you fucktard

why are people telling OP to give up? you guys are assholes. I suggest you take a trig and precalculus class in a community college before you try Cal 1 at your uni. If you get A's with 100% effort in those two classes then I say go for it.

>>2322773
>meh knowledge of calculus is all an engineer needs
Lol, this is the same here.
Also, for some reason all the bros and jocks go for some kind of engineering, specially civil. I imagine that after a couple generations of this our engineers are probably the worst in the world. They're ALL shit tier. It's amazing.
We do have some good mathematicians and phycisists though, but they're so rare, barelly anyone even tries to major in these things here, 25 guys got in with me, me and 2 others got a bachelors in 4 years(the time it takes here), one guy went on to become a school teacher, the other 21 either dropped out after repeatedly failing classes or are still trying to graduate. At least here I can't complain they simply pass shit students (though it happens, specially if they're engineers), maybe it's because public universities are better than particular ones since the government decided to pump much more money in them than in the basic levels of education, therefore leaving (paid) universities to the ones that couldn't get admitted in the public ones and have rich parents to pay.
Anyway, I suppose there's germans and russians here, mind telling me what constitutes a bachelors and masters in maths and physics there(in terms of classes)?

>>2322840

>>2322821

>have yet to do anything related to car engines

>try fluid dynamics

Erm...I've had an undergrad in Mech and I know very well that Fluids relates particularly well to engines. Look up volumetric efficiency.

>>2322840

>>2322738

basically calc1 was differentiating cal2 integrating calc 3 was areas and calc4 volumes. That's the oversimplified version, but you should have some idea of what that entails.
Calc1 was a review because it's essentially HS calc. It goes a little deeper and tends to include physics or applications. I can't remember if there was any trig or not.
In Canada at least, I'm pretty sure just about every B.Sc. needs to take all 4 calc classes, except maybe bio. Chem, Physics, Math, Engineering and (Comp-Sci?) all took those 4 as "core" math courses.
Then there's algebra, differentials, complex, stats and special functions, at least for Physics and EE.
I think I'm missing one because I got a minor in Math and I think that's 10 courses.

>>2322848
it takes time away from other hobbies. i know this because my only 3 hobbies are mathematics, rugby and writing, unless you count reading about economics as a hobby. i only go out on fridays, sometimes saturdays.

i know other mathematicians with more hobbies, but rugby takes up around 30 hours of my week (i play for money though). math takes up 50-60 fucking hours (even in undergrad). most students will only spend 25-30 hours a week on class, and that's for engineering. though grad school will probably take 50 hours a week, since that's when engineering starts to become more like math.

also i don't see a point in having more mathematicians/physicists, i'm already struggling to get a professor position man!

>>2322541
>genetic engineering and biomedical engineering separate

confirmed for idiot [4/10]

It all depends on where you go. I'm in Electrical Engineering and I'm only decent at Math. I've just trudged through it because its never about how hard it is it is always about how much work you put into it.

For Biochem I don't think there is a lot of math but you'll have to be good with chemistry and organic chemistry which is a bitch.

I'm in the US, going to a trimester college. Calc 1 is limits, and differentiation, Calc 2 is Riemann sums and integration, and Calc 3 is a brief introduction to separable differential equations, then into Taylor series.
We don't have a class specifically called Calc 4, but we do have one called Vector Calculus. And of course Linear Algebra and Differential Equations.

I think you can get by in a lot of engineering programs only studying Calc 1-3 and ordinary differential equations. It really just requires you to be good at algebra and memorizing procedures.

Lol @ the people saying engineering uses little calculus. Besides a damn mathematician, engineers use as much calculus as ANY major. This board just has a few too many wanna be physicists trying to put down a harder undergraduate subject area (since 95% of /sci/ is only ever going to be concerned with undergraduate).

OP the math isn't bad. If you have the math smarts to pass calc 1/2 then engineering won't be too math crazy for you. and bioengineering is a great fucking place to be, despite some of these morons' opinions. (spoken by a ChE, not BioE)

>>2323027
You can break down any major into that dumb of a description, look at your variables, figure out what's known and unknown, write out the equations, solve for unknowns. Engi/sci aren't as different as the children on here would lead you to believe.

>>2323057
What? It's true.

>>2322533
if you it keeps your interested, it shouldn't be hard.

It's all about attitude

OP here. I think I'm just going to stick with my pre-med plans. The reason I was considering bioengineering was because I'm interested in doing graduate research in neuroengineering. If I decide I still want to do that after med school, I can do a neurology residency and adequately prepare myself. Best of both worlds.

I took college algebra and it was a fucking joke, it was optional weekly lecture and half online problems that weren't required. Every grade was online quiz or one the the 3 exams, of which only the final was hard(because it is written by the head of the department).

Before you guys go screaming HURP DERP retard in college algebra, my high school had no calculus class and the pre-cal teacher never taught the material(in fact he let you retake tests if you failed and gave you the same one again) so everyone in the class just failed tests and retook them after memorizing the problems given to us.

Either way, I've gone through pre-cal, calc 1, calc 2, discrete math, and linear algebra since and every class has ranked among my easiest in my given semesters and I got A's in all of them.

>>2323094
A doctor in an engineer's body is a god awful engineer. An engineer in a doctor's body is a great doctor. Decide which one you are mentally. I have zero faith in most fucking doctors, memorizing shit should not be enough to make $300k/yr. Most of the time they lack problem solving abilities.

>>2323102
I also want to say I was the only who thought the calculus classes were easy besides a couple of people who claimed to take Calculus 2 in high school.

The pace at which college calc courses go is kind of laid back in all honesty because a lot of people struggle and over 50% of the class ends up retaking it.

BioE is great if you want to go to grad school or medical school. I would not take if I was simply looking for a job.

From what I know about my school's BioE department is that you get a wide variety of engineering topics(mechanics, electrical circuits, organic chemistry, transport, programming), but to get anywhere with it you need to keep a high GPA. Other engineering majors can get through with a 2.5-2.7. Right now your best prospects with BioE are grad/medical school so you need 3.5.

For chemE's the math is not too terrible. I took 3 calc classes and a diff eq class. I got a B in calc 1, a D+ in Calc II(re-took it to get a B), and C+ in calc III. I got an A- in Diff eq.

It's damn near universal that in an engineering curriculum you'll have Calc 1&2, Multivar (Calc 3) and DiffEq. MEs,ChemEs, CEs, etc.

>>2323102
that musta been college college and not university college right? I've been out of university for a bit but I'm pretty sure it's still 3 lecture hours per week for Algebra. It wasn't a hard course, but I hated matrices. They didn't seem to come back again until 3rd year and by then I had to re-learn them all over again.
The only memorable part of Algebra was that we had a tenured prof who had returned to teaching after brain surgery. Tumor or something. I guess he was strange before the surgery, but after, after he was wacky. meh, easy A. Wish I had him for differentials...

I didn't take calc in highschool and I'm transferring into a computer science major. Am I fucked?

>>2323173
Have you had trig? If yes then you should be fine (assuming you're decent at math)

>>2323180
I haven't. ;-;

Decent at math, though.

My school has Chemical Engingeering and Biomolecular Engineering being the same sort of engineering degree.
They also have a biomedical engineering program.

What is the difference between?

if you aint in EE

you aint shit.

>mfw EE is the least populated engineering in most schools.

>>2323485
do you go to mac?

Currently mech eng student. First term calc wasnt bad, second term seems pretty fucking gay. I was the master of calc in highschool... like I could not be tricked.

first term calc exam was ridiculously hard. I knew everything in the course and the exam was just too fucking NEXT LEVEL. Eng is probably the hardest shit ive ever done. Thought I was going to die first few weeks.

>>2323485
That's becoming common nowadays, chemical and biomolecular engineering departments. Chemical engineering teaches you to make chemicals on large scales. Biomolecular is very similar with some courses being different to emphasize biomolecules.

>>2323536
I'm in my schools EE program.
2 girls in 6 of my classes. One is do-able.
Same 30(+/-)3 people in everyone of my classes.
And the shit is fairly boring.

>>2323107
There are awful doctors just like there are awful engineers.

>>2323597
>>2323597

Is biomolecular engineering the same as biological engineering?

>>2323784

yes, both require the same amount of cock sucking

Go for engineering OP.

It will take hard work, but its worth it.

You'll encounter 'math jocks' who took AP Calc and Physics in high school and think they're the shit - but once you get to upper level math courses and engineering courses you'll all be in the same boat.

>>2323740
The mindset of the average professional is what I meant, every profession has shitty people.