OMG I'M SCREWED!

letsbefree

Canada123 Posts

July 28 2008 04:58 GMT

ok guys, I'm going into grade 12, and right now i'm shitting my pants. So during the summer break I'm like fuck this shit i'm gonna take some courses to prepare myself for grade 12. So so far i am taking advance functions and grade 12 physics, physics is ok, but omfg im almost done advance functions and starting calculus, i'm so fucking scared. My teacher likes to show off so he wrote some shit about derivatives and limits on the board in our advance functions class, and i'm kinda scared of calculus now. People say its a hardcore subject, and to be honest i am a very competitive person who has always been achieving high marks in math during all the high school years. So my problem is, for those of you who taken calculus before, is it really really that challenging? If you have some advice or tips for me, they will be appreciated. =D

Conquest101

United States1395 Posts

July 28 2008 05:01 GMT

Depends, what kind of calculus course is it? Generally speaking, basic calculus (IE derivatives and shit) is pretty easy IMO. It would also depend on the high school you go to I would imagine, since some super elite prep school might have some crazy version of your basic calc class.

decafchicken

United States20154 Posts

July 28 2008 05:01 GMT

wtf why would you take anything remotely difficult senior year? My hardest class was like Individual Reading.

Jibba

United States22883 Posts

July 28 2008 05:02 GMT

I'm not sure how difficulties are handled in Canada, but Calc isn't that bad.

The hardest highschool level in the US (BC Calculus) can be difficult, but not back breaking if you actually pay attention.

Plus, not that we're going to do your homework for you, but there's about a million posters on TL that can explain any calculus question you have.

BuGzlToOnl

United States5918 Posts

July 28 2008 05:02 GMT

I took it and dropped it in college.

Don't be scared thou it's like any other math class, its challenging, but very doable. Just make sure you don't fall behind and if you don't understand a particular thing ask about it. If you get behind during the first couple of chapters its really hard to get back on top of things. Because material kinda of builds on top of itself what you use the first couple of lessons you'll end up using throughout the rest of the year.

micronesia

United States24761 Posts

July 28 2008 05:03 GMT

Calculus can be overwhelming, depending on how it is presented to you. If you are interested in it, and can discuss it with someone who already is competent in it, then it can be easy (and sometimes fun) to learn. The lower level stuff isn't that 'hard' but the upper level stuff requires a lot of work.

Ecael

United States6703 Posts

July 28 2008 05:04 GMT

On July 28 2008 14:02 Jibba wrote:
I'm not sure how difficulties are handled in Canada, but Calc isn't that bad.

The hardest highschool level in the US (BC Calculus) can be difficult, but not back breaking if you actually pay attention.

Plus, not that we're going to do your homework for you, but there's about a million posters on TL that can explain any calculus question you have.

After Raithe's threads throughout the summer I was beginning to think that I should just dump any future math problems on TL blogs :p

blabber

United States4448 Posts

July 28 2008 05:10 GMT

High school calculus should be pretty easy, the AP test can make you go "wtf" but if you understand the material then you should have no problem with it

Calculus taught in college will obviously be harder

Monokeros

United States2493 Posts

July 28 2008 05:13 GMT

On July 28 2008 14:01 decafchicken wrote:
wtf why would you take anything remotely difficult senior year? My hardest class was like Individual Reading.

You sir get the award of going BEYOND expectations because you joined a class where they expect YOU to READ ALONE congradulations on your accomplishments.

Wow. Then again I had easy beans senior classes too, if you're not shooting for valedictorian then you should've just stayed away from that stuff until college imho(thats what I did and am about to take those classes :O ) BTW Calculus is NOT THAT hard I took Algebra 2 3 years in a row (LOLOLOL) because it was my nap class for 3 years.

My friends both upperclassmen(when i was a sophmore/junior) and my peers(when i was senior) showed me their calculus homework, and I'm not trying to brag but honestly I wasn't that shocked by it. Of course I didnt solve it the instant I look at it, im no novel genius or anything but if I sat down with it for a few hours the concepts are pretty easy to get and if you have a good math foundation(id hope so if you got this far) this stuff is cake, and this cake is not a lie.

Wasabi

United States3085 Posts

July 28 2008 05:13 GMT

#10

--- Nuked ---

Kupon3ss

時の回廊10066 Posts

July 28 2008 05:14 GMT

#11

The calculus showoff stuff isn't all that scary, its much like the way long algebraic functions were scary back when u didn't understand but became easy after you learned to simplify

but basic calculus really isn't that hard, especially in the elementary levels and when you get to use a calculator

Raithed

China7078 Posts

July 28 2008 05:15 GMT

#12

Raithed*

dude, calculus is really easy. its just my profs suck. =p

paper

13196 Posts

July 28 2008 05:21 GMT

#13

calculus is ridiculously easy in high school

don't even fret o_O

so many underachievers in this thread ;;

SayaSP

Laos5494 Posts

July 28 2008 05:24 GMT

#14

On July 28 2008 14:01 decafchicken wrote:
wtf why would you take anything remotely difficult senior year? My hardest class was like Individual Reading.

Decaf... Hmm. Yes, yes I see now.

Mastermind

Canada7096 Posts

July 28 2008 05:26 GMT

#15

Calculus is easy man, dont worry about it. They build it up really slow and no single idea is difficult. All you need to know is a small number of simple rules for the entire course. If you have done well in math in the past calculus will be no different.

eazo

United States530 Posts

July 28 2008 05:29 GMT

#16

Dont worry too much about. Honestly, i think it depends on teacher to teacher. When i took a pre-calc class, it was somewaht hard for me b/c of the teacher being an over-acheiver and really not holding anything back. She gave hard tests and lots of hw. However, calculus was some what easier for me b/c the teacher was more laid back...and normal. Calculus doesn't have to be that hard, many people just seem to make it that way in their mind.

ShaLLoW[baY]

Canada12499 Posts

July 28 2008 05:31 GMT

#17

I just graduated from Grade 12, and Calculus 12 is really, really easy. Just make sure to pay attention in class; if you understand limits, which are easy, the course will be a breeze.

What province are you in?

Fr33t

United States1128 Posts

July 28 2008 05:36 GMT

#18

I am also going into my senior year and took Calc AB last year. Take this from a guy that played games on his calculator and slept straight through some classes, it is not a hard class. I got a 4 on the AP exam and I did zero studying outside of class. If you are worried, just pay attention and make sure you get the fundamentals down. Like mastermind said it's nothing more than putting a couple of small rules together to solve a problem.

Canada4732 Posts

July 28 2008 05:51 GMT

#19

All calc is easy.

Skip all the classes. Spend 2 days doing problems from the textbook before your final. EZ A+

ShaLLoW[baY]

Canada12499 Posts

July 28 2008 05:51 GMT

#20

On July 28 2008 14:51 L wrote:
All calc is easy.

Skip all the classes. Spend 2 days doing problems from the textbook before your final. EZ A+

Don't listen to him he's Mafia.

SpiritoftheTunA

United States20903 Posts

July 28 2008 05:55 GMT

#21

wait

hold on a fucking second

you're my age, you're this stupid, and you made that thread about advice for guys around girls?

holy fuck

bubblegumbo

Taiwan1296 Posts

July 28 2008 06:23 GMT

#22

dont miss a class for calc, if u fall behind it will be extremely difficult to catch up.

It will be easy enough in the beginning, but later on it will definitely get tougher.

If you are the genius type that can just cram before the day of the test, I doubt you would be posting this, don't listen to those that told you to take it easy.

CommanderFluffy

Taiwan1059 Posts

July 28 2008 06:38 GMT

#23

Calc's not a big deal dont worry about it.
I took ap calc B/C in high school and i was called the backpack kid cuz i never took my backpack off in that class. Still passed.

Just go to class and you'll be fine.

riotjune

United States3394 Posts

July 28 2008 06:43 GMT

#24

AP Physics B was hard and the teacher was an ass. He was so fed up with the class getting low scores on his tests that he spends most of his time talking about how worthless and inept we were instead of teaching. I was enslaved to do problems in his office during lunch. There I saw a student ask this guy for a letter of recommendation. He must've been a super nerd or something.

I had to hire a tutor to help me out with the problems and even this guy was like wtf, it's too difficult
-.-;;

The next year the physics teacher left the school. He must've blown his last fuse with the class that, in his eyes, was even worse than before =P

I hated physics ever since.

First semester calculus was fun. Second semester was painful...If you ask me, Calculus II is more like English than math. All this proving stuff with words...

BottleAbuser

Korea (South)1888 Posts

July 28 2008 06:47 GMT

#25

Physics is fun if you think of it in terms of how to describe a scenario in which you are killing your physics teacher with various weapons.

hixhix

1156 Posts

July 28 2008 06:57 GMT

#26

calc is the easiest shit, no need to attend the class, all you need is to spend 1 day reading the text book before the final and get 100% ez.

KwarK

United States43729 Posts

July 28 2008 07:28 GMT

#27

Calculus is always scary and always gets harder. But when you're doing the hard stuff at the end of the year and you look back at the stuff you found really difficult at the start of the year you're like "wtf, that's easy lol". Basically you'll get the hang of it, but it is hard work.

IzzyCraft

United States4487 Posts

July 28 2008 07:55 GMT

#28

On July 28 2008 14:01 decafchicken wrote:
wtf why would you take anything remotely difficult senior year? My hardest class was like Individual Reading.

If you can do Physics you can do calc
TT i Took AP STAT, AP USH, AP BIO, AP ENGLISH, AP GOV, AP MacroEcon my senior year.

thou i took so many ap test i bleed ap
statics
physics b/c
calc b/c
bio
chem
Comp sci a/b
Macro econ
US history
us gov
english lit
psychology

all though high school

i took harder classes cuz i was able to pull worse grades and get good standing in schools
heh 3.1 accepted to UC with shitload of useless credit

intrigue

Washington, D.C9934 Posts

July 28 2008 08:04 GMT

#29

calculus is easy
each idea builds upon the others, so i guess if you fall behind early you're kind of fucked. even if you find it hard at the beginning, by the time the class is ending you'll realize how intuitive and basic it all is. it's fun because you are introduced to many concepts you will never forget and will definitely be able to apply everywhere.

auto.

Canada35 Posts

July 28 2008 10:44 GMT

#30

relax calc is easier than advanced functions, if u can get an 80 in mhf then ull prolly pull a high 80 in mcv

auto.

Canada35 Posts

July 28 2008 10:44 GMT

#31

unless u suck at math, then get ready for the most depressing year of your life

Ludrik

Australia523 Posts

July 28 2008 11:20 GMT

#32

My advice would be to stop taking everything so seriously. Honestly if you put all this pressure on yourself you will do worse. Calculus, like any other branch of mathematics, can be ridiculously easy or ridiculously hard depending on how you think about it. Some people just can't understand math concepts mostly because their brains aren't wired the right way and they weren't exposed to it enough as a child. At the end of the day though if you put enough work in you will be able to do the problems (even if you don't understand the concepts behind them). So don't stress out about it. Either it'll come easily or it won't. You say you've done well at maths in the past. If that's the case then it shouldn't be too much difficulty. As long as your teacher isn't a fuckwit you'll be fine.

Slaughter

United States20254 Posts

July 28 2008 13:35 GMT

#33

They have ap psychology? wow my school only offered ap bio/english/art/chemistry -_- and as to your question its basically all about how you learn and your aptitude in math. My buddy is a math wiz and has taken the highest level calc and he never had any trouble but me I never have patience with math so I never took calc and no higher math besides higher end statistics (social science major ftw). Like people have said just keep up with the class and you should be fine unless you get a teacher that doesn't know how to teach. In fact I would say almost all high school level classes are passable by almost anyone if they just put the work in.

Kletus

Canada580 Posts

July 28 2008 14:46 GMT

#34

h approaches 0.

You have now passed 3/4 of Calculus.

itzme_petey

United States1400 Posts

July 28 2008 17:36 GMT

#35

derivatives and intergrals aren't that hard. as long as you put in the work then you will be fine. im not great at math but got A's on both courses in college.

ps. your intructor is just trying to weed out students in that course by putting up equations on the chalk board. fuck him. god damned whore.

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