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[amnesiac]

I've been getting into Physics/Astronomy lately and I'm considering them to be a possible major for college, which I start in the fall. The "recommended knowledge" section or whatever says that I should be familiar with Calculus.

I didn't really care about math courses throughout high school... I only took the required classes and did the work so I could get a good grade. The highest math course I took was Advanced Algebra, which I took last year. I did pretty awful on the math placement test for my university; a lot of the stuff looked familiar, but I was only supposed to put answers to questions that I was certain I knew. I'm 99% sure I'll be placed in Intermediate Algebra in the fall, and from what I understand, that's pretty similar to Advanced Algebra...

So yeah, I regret not really putting forth the effort to enroll myself in more math related courses in high school... I have to find a way to get "caught up" to Calculus so I can take college Physics/Astrophysics classes. It's probably going to cost a lot of money compared to what I could've got for free in high school.

Any physics/astrophysics/astronomy majors in here with experience that could chime in? Were you familiar with higher level math skills when you took those science classes?

 

[Mysterious]

I believe high school mathematics can be self-taught and pretty quickly too. Tools such as Khan Academy and PatrickJMT are good.

 

[terrisus]

I didn't even take pre-calc in high school
Somehow did Physics in my first semester of college
In my 2 years at community college, only did pre-calc and "Intro to Calculus"
Went on to major in

Spoiler

Mathematics

feelsbadman.jpg

 

[triplestation]

how old are you

 

[Surface of Me]

Fuck math yo, physics is dope as hell though. Practical math, none of that other bullshit.


Took up to calculus in high school.

 

[amnesiac]

how old are you

Eighteen

 

[Grakl]

this doesn't quite answer your question, but most colleges have classes not relevant to your major that you need to take -- just take calc 1 along with that stuff for your first year. I doubt you need calc 2 or 3 for lower level physics courses, but I'm not a physics major, so I couldn't say for sure

edit: I see the intermediate algebra thing, what's the next course that you take? trig or calc?

 

[Kisaya]

I wish I took less math classes in high school.

 

[Perfect Cha0s]

Paul's Online Math Notes

Has good notes for Calculus I-III.

 

[Ultima_5]

I did chemical engineering and didn't have any calc til college. You'll do fine dude.

 

[Ken]

Eighteen

Does your school do placement tests? Maybe you can try to catch up with a tutor, take the placement test and hope you do really well and get put in an higher level math course for your first quarter.

Also, core classes at my school had pre-requisites so if you weren't at the appropriate level of a certain course you couldn't enroll in the core class anyways.

Edit: Oh nevermind, skimmed over the part where you said you did do placement tests. If you're really adamant about trying a physics course for your first quarter, I'd probably try to go for a lighter workload with just your mathematics and physics courses and fill the time in between with tutors and self-study to catch up. Also keep in mind the latest day to safely drop a course in case you really can't keep up with the physics course. Another option would be to delay your cores and maybe get some summer sessions in if available?

 

[Chris R]

Eighteen

Plenty of time to catch up. Once you get over the hump, Calculus is pretty easy, and makes things you learn in a physics class make so much more sense.

 

[830920]

Buy school books and learn it on your own. Use internet for help if you get stuck.

 

[Hitokage]

If you're going to be taking non-GenEd Physics, then you need Calculus and Trig, but it's hardly too late if you're just starting college. It's just not ideal.

 

[riotous]

My guidance counselor recommended I take a lot of meth in high school.

At least that's what I thought he said

 

[oxrock]

this doesn't quite answer your question, but most colleges have classes not relevant to your major that you need to take -- just take calc 1 along with that stuff for your first year. I doubt you need calc 2 or 3 for lower level physics courses, but I'm not a physics major, so I couldn't say for sure

edit: I see the intermediate algebra thing, what's the next course that you take? trig or calc?

in my college it was trig or pre-calc next.

 

[Crayolan]

As someone who took AP Calculus in high school....no, you can't catch up from just Advanced Algebra. You're missing trigonometry/pre-calc too, so you'd be catching up on two years' worth, not just one. Trying to teach yourself trig, pre-calc, AND calc 1 over the summer will be torture, and probably not very effective either.

Will they still let you enroll in summer school even after you graduate? If your school does that might be a good way to at least get trig/pre-calc out of the way over the summer so you can start college in calc 1.

 

[FelixOrion]

Getting ready to graduate at the end of this week with a BS in Chemistry from a STEM-only school and going on start to grad school this fall.

I took calc in high school, but ended up taking Calculus 1 & 2 + Differential Equations in my undergrad (There was a Calc 3 that the engineers took that I was spared from). Physics 1 & 2 at my school really only required up to calculus 2, I believe. Some of my higher level chemistry courses required DiffEq (like Physical Chemistry). I felt pretty prepared leaving HS and jumping into these courses.

I think your best hope would be to bust your hump between here and school and try to get yourself into calc shape, but that's probably not likely. If you've never taken it, Calc could be a bit much of a mountain to go at immediately. It's not the end of the world if you don't, I know non-trad engineering majors at my school that struggled initially because they were long removed from school and they pushed through the remedial course work, but them's the breaks.

 

[Grakl]

in my college it was trig or pre-calc next.

huh, that would really suck then

I would just go through calc textbooks and use the tutoring resources that the math department at your school offers. Grab a syllabus from a class, if you can, and go through the book carefully, working through the problem sets. A tutor would probably be really important, since you'll need the one-on-one instruction. Also, if you haven't taken trig and will soon, make sure to pay attention, and just pay attention in your math classes n general -- it'll only get harder (but more fun!), and things build on each other. You can probably do this throughout the year since you'll likely have 'core' classes you need to do before anything related to your major.

I don't like khan academy, maybe it's just me.

 

[Hitokage]

this doesn't quite answer your question, but most colleges have classes not relevant to your major that you need to take -- just take calc 1 along with that stuff for your first year. I doubt you need calc 2 or 3 for lower level physics courses, but I'm not a physics major, so I couldn't say for sure

You should at least have an understanding of differentiation and integration, because you start with basic forces and Newton's second law. Integration is how you get from a function defining an object's acceleration as a result of those forces to a function of that object's position over time.

 

[Grakl]

You should at least have an understanding of differentiation and integration, because you start with basic forces and Newton's second law with integration being how you get from a function defining an object's acceleration to that object's position over time.

yup yup, that makes sense

 

[ccbfan]

You need a lot of math in physics.

Physics 1 you need trig and Calc 1

Physics 2 you need Calc 2

Statics you need multi variable Calc

Signals you need differential equations.

(that's all the physic classes I took)

 

[SummitAve]

I didn't try on those same entry exams, and I got stuck having to take pre calc in college. I had already taken that in high school so it was frustrating and seemed like a waste of time. I was never the best at math, but having to go through the course/information again really helped get my fundamentals down, and allowed me to cruise by all sorts of calculus courses and become an engineer. The hardest part about upper level math is not screwing up your basic algebra, it really isn't too difficult, and the classes are curved to hell. Just rack up that partial credit.

 

[fader]

Statics you need multi variable Calc

what the hell is statistics? my boss winces at the name of it.

 

[Grakl]

what the hell is statistics? my boss winces at the name of it.

statics != statistics

 

[Lonely1]

Is (almost) never to late to start learning maths.

Fake Edit: 18? You have plenty of time.

 

[Ionic]

I'm currently a third year Physics major who probably wasn't completely prepared mathematically coming in. I think you'll find that the curriculum at most colleges allows for plenty of math catch up, but you have to spend a large chunk of time on it. At this point I'm doing excellent in my studies and tutor students in both math and physics.

It's fine that you haven't gotten into Calculus yet, just over the summer take a look at some preliminary material (learn what a limit is and then what a derivative is for a basic look at what calculus 1 will deal with). However trig knowledge will become very important very quickly, so find a textbook and skim through some chapters. For the first semester of physics you can probably get away with just having to know how to apply sin, cos, tan to finding parts of a right triangle... Though college math and physics are on a level beyond high school, those first weeks begin with some serious easing in to the subject, you just have to make sure you keep up with it and before you know it you'll be on the same level as most of your peers.

So you can definitely do well in these classes with perseverance, but with that said, make sure you really do enjoy math. Courses in physics and astronomy aren't the same as watching an episode of Cosmos. They involve a lot of "bland" mathematical derivations, and understanding of physical concepts beyond the entertaining stuff you might read from a Brian Green book. If you enjoy it, you will find many classes to be immensely satisfying in how they build on your knowledge of physics, otherwise it may become tedious quickly. If you have any questions about what else might be expected of students in physics programs, or what kind of math you should be familiar with, feel free to PM me.

 

[Bear]

I'm wrapping up my BSc in physics right now, I have a few more credits to finish over the summer but none that are actually in my field. Early on, you're mainly expected to be comfortable with trigonometry and basic calculus since those are used pretty extensively. They usually expect that most high school students won't be too sharp in these subjects after the summer so the first few weeks are generally focused on bringing people up to speed. The more complicated stuff is taught as you go along, and in my case there was a pretty heavy emphasis on math courses during the first two years that mirrored what we would use in physics courses.

As long as you think you can keep up with the subject when you really delve into it, it's not a big deal if you didn't focus on it high school. An unmotivated and disinterested high school student usually doesn't hand in work that reflects their actual aptitude. If you like the subject enough to pursue it on your own, chances are you'll learn much faster than in a class you don't want to be in. There are a lot of great resources online (like Paul's Online Notes and Khan Academy) that teach trig and Calculus pretty well, using a ton of examples with clear explanations and detailed steps. If you're willing to put a little time into it, you should be able to be able to learn the necessary subjects on your own before long.

I didn't have any experience with physics specifically when I started (in another major) and I've known several older folks who got into math and physics without much background in it. They've probably spent a lot of time drilling the importance of high school grades and it does matter for university applications, but it quickly becomes irrelevant once you actually start. Just focus on getting over that math hump over the summer, if you can make good progress by learning independently then you shouldn't worry about some dicking around in high school.

 

[amnesiac]

Since the physics major takes 3 years to complete, maybe I should just take all of the math classes my first year up until (and including) Calculus 1?

 

[Grakl]

Since the physics major takes 3 years to complete, maybe I should just take all of the math classes my first year up until (and including) Calculus 1?

that's what I was thinking, yup

 

[ItIsOkBro]

It's only recommended knowledge?

Here a calc class is required for the physics major.