Starting Calculus in community college

[Anonymous No.11280096]

I haven't done math in just about two years and pretty much forgot everything. I thought I'd study for Calculus over the break but instead I just coomed and went to the gym.

I'm about 130 IQ, should I continue with Calculus despite forgetting most of pre calculus and not having done math in 2 years or should I just do something easier and ease myself into it? I don't want to waste time and $$$ and end up failing

[Anonymous No.11280099]

>>11280096
Check out the advice given here >>11278005

If you like maths, you should go for it but depending on where you're from, getting a job afterwards might be a problem.
/sci/ can't make that choice for you, though
Also, you're really going to have to get your shit together and study daily.

[Anonymous No.11280103]

>>11280096
>>11280099
Oh, and your IQ is basically irrelevant in the beginning, it all depends on how much work you're putting in

[Anonymous No.11280110]

>>11280096
Read Lang's Basic Mathematics or possibly more efficient use Paul's Online Math Notes, Khan Academy and Professor Leonard's lectures on intermediate algebra and precalc to get up to speed. In truth Pre-Calculus is not a real subject in any meaningful sense, its a loosely associated group of unformalized techniques like graphing, basic analysis of functions, algebra, trigonometry and random results from geometry that are thrown together all of which can be mastered in about a month by anyone who would be intelligent enough to do Calculus. At all costs avoid using a large pre-calc textbook, you will not use most of what is in those things. What would be absolutely vital for calc is understanding elementary functions, composite functions, how to interpret a graph, trigonometric identities and the basic slope intercept form of a linear function, especially interpreting what slope should imply analytically. Calc 1 starts with relating average rates of change with the possibility of finding an instantaneous rate of change, usually this segues into demonstrating how a limit can be used to contract a secant line along a graph until we have a tangent line which is the slope of the function at a single value the function takes on. They'll go over things like continuity, which you might develop intuition for from precalculus but in all honesty you probably will never think too deeply about on your own until its made apparent for you. The rules of differentiation are very simple if you know how polynomials and the exponential, logarithmic and trigonometric functions work. Optimization is a bit tricky for some people, but its not well taught in precalc books and without calc you sort of fly blind and learn very little. The other tricky topics are implicit differentiation but that is something you will get the hang of in time, and then related rates problems. All Calc texts review precalculus if you're worried about it.

[Anonymous No.11280116]

>>11280096
A great text to start Calc with instead of wasting time on pre-calculus is either Courant's Introduction to Calculus and Analysis Vol I or Apostol's Calculus vol I. Both are very gentle initially and while they do include proofs and expect basic highschool mathematical education you can pick up most everything as needed. At a certain point you just want to begin the real subject and if you're already primed for Calc mentally you'll grow very disatisfied with tedious exercises from precalc. The one caveat being that trig is very important for Calculus II and if you cannot fathom where the identities come from, or at the very least derive them (possibly at worst memorize them) you will struggle for a while. But nothing before Analysis is complicated, its all plug and chug with minimal thinking required. The modeling stuff depending on what type of thinker you are is really the difficult aspect and that's half because the word problems do a very poor job of telling you the information you need, and also you may not be accustomed to using the chain rule and really composite functions or analyzing graphs. All of that again can be learned in due time. I believe in you anon.

[Anonymous No.11280120]

>>11280099
Thing is I start tomorrow but still haven't reviewed pre calculus or anything math related? Should I just drop it and just study math on the side and then do well next term? I'm a socially inept sperg and I don't want to embarass myself in the tutorials because everyone else has already recapped on pre caclulus while I'm still clueless

[Anonymous No.11280135]

>>11280120
Just take it and look things up as you go along.

[Anonymous No.11280144]

>>11280135
I don't want to look like a retard. I'm thinking about just dropping it and taking it next term while studying a bit of calculus on the side now

[Anonymous No.11280147]

You really should know your basic algebra more than anything. Most people suck at calculys because their algebra is garbage. If you have not done math in awhile I would say it might be risky, but I dont know you. You need to really understand algebra and be comfortable with the concept of a function and common functions like sin(x), cos(x), e^x etc.

[Anonymous No.11280153]

>>11280120
If you don't even know calc, let alone precalc, taking some more time to prepare seems wise. Get Basic Mathematics by Lang (like that other anon suggested) and do Khan Academy (at least Maths I, it's easy as shit)
Then again, if you're from burgerland your introductory classes are probably going to be manageable

[Anonymous No.11280159]

Here's a youtube playlist that takes 3 hours to get done. It should give you a basic understanding of calculus.

https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLmdFyQYShrjd4Qn42rcBeFvF6Qs-b6e-L

[Anonymous No.11280161]

>>11280144
It's community college, nobody cares, just take it and work a bit extra the first couple of weeks.

[Anonymous No.11280212]

>>11280161
But the curriculum is the exact same as a regular university

[Anonymous No.11280213]

>>11280096
I just took algebra and trig at community college and I've already forgotten everything anyway. You'll be fine, just practice a lot outside class

[Anonymous No.11280301]

>>11280213
ya but u need to known algrebra, trig and pre calculsu to be a good at calculus and I'm very rusty even on algrebra

[Anonymous No.11280468]

>>11280096
We made a discord server in the other thread, for people who want to study maths at college/uni but have little knowledge of the field.
Feel free to join in
https://discord.gg/v7rTvje

[Anonymous No.11280477]

>>11280103
>your IQ is basically irrelevant in the beginning,

When does IQ start to become relevant? Linear Algebra? Real Analysis? FoL?

[Anonymous No.11280509]

You'll be fine. I was an awful student in high school, I got a D in pre calc and a 1 on the AP Calc exam because our teacher got pregnant and we just watched nature videos instead of learned calculus literally the whole semester. I got a B in Calc 1, a B+ in Calc 2, and an A+ in Calc 3, and trust me I didn't have to try THAT hard. you'll pick up the algebra and trig as you go and really, just work really hard WHEN THE CLASS STARTS, get a good foundation and it won't really be that hard going forward

[Anonymous No.11281865]

>>11280477
>When does IQ start to become relevant? Linear Algebra? Real Analysis? FoL?

Never, IQ never starts becoming relevant.
In any case no more than astrology or homeopathy.

[Anonymous No.11281881]

I went into calculus after 3 years of a full time job and passed with an A, just study and do practice problems. Don't just go to class, sleep and cry when you start failing.

[Anonymous No.11282012]

>>11280096
If you go in with the mentality that IQ will make things easier for you then you are surely going to fail.

[Anonymous No.11282859]

>>11282012
I don't think that.