I am having so much trouble with Calc II. Honestly, part of the problem is that my professor will give us all these difficulty 3 of 10 problems on the homework and review, and then the ones on the test are easily difficulty 8 of 10. The rest is how unfocused I am when it comes to studying for Calc II. Anyone know any tricks, or ways to study it most effectively?
Did anyone find Calc II easy?
- Thread starter DrYeRLiNt
- Start date
calculus and all math classes were always really easy for me... i had up to calc 4 in college. the best way to prepare for the test is just to do lots of practice problems. or try and find somebody that had the class last year with the same professor, and review their old tests...
Not a math guy but if i had to do it all over again i would have done more practice problems, as svt_4_me suggested, and maybe formed a study group/session with friends... those were always effective.
I aced all my calc classes. Study group and LOTS of practice problems is very important.
But MOST important is that you understand the concepts. If you really understand the concepts of what and why you are approaching a problem, then you can easily figure out what is the best approach and techniques to use.
Good luck!
But MOST important is that you understand the concepts. If you really understand the concepts of what and why you are approaching a problem, then you can easily figure out what is the best approach and techniques to use.
Good luck!
Last edited:
In engineering, calc II is the worst calc class. Everyone was afraid of differential equations, hell that was so much easier than calc 2.
In all honestly, I just did what I had to get through. Partial credit and 3 x 5 index cards in my TI-83 got me through.
Thinking back, its odd h ow perfect a 3 x 5 index card fits into the lid of the TI calculators...its almost like they designed them to fit in.
In all honestly, I just did what I had to get through. Partial credit and 3 x 5 index cards in my TI-83 got me through.
Thinking back, its odd h ow perfect a 3 x 5 index card fits into the lid of the TI calculators...its almost like they designed them to fit in.
Trigonometry challenged me. CalcI whipped my ass!
I had a GTA for clac2, made life much easier.
I was a business major but since I had an NROTC scholarship, I had to take Calc I, II and III (had to take calculus based phsyics as well, I, II, III). For me, all were very, very difficult.........thus the business major. I got by Calc I on my own but had to have a tutor for II and III. My best grade was in Calc III (a C+ with no curve) and that was after getting a 27% on my first exam. Had a mid-term and final after that. I got lucky, got this great tutor who sat me down and said, you're stupid.....so I'm going to teach you how I teach stupid people. Hey, he was right and it worked. He only tutored me for my next exam and the final was all me. So if it comes down to it, get a good tutor. Might pay dividends.
not to get you down but I'm a sophomore and calc II is the only class ive failed so far. I just couldnt keep up with it. And like you said, the test questions were always harder than the hw problems which is aggravating. Like theyll teach you how to do something with linear equations and the test would be all quadratic equations.:cuss:
Same here; CalcII was great; I kicked my butt.
I found it very easy because I did my homework and what I didnt understand fully I went and talked to the teacher about. I didnt just do the problems not sure if they were right or not or... not sure how I got the right answer (I wanted to know why it is correct). Thats what I would do if I were you... do what ever it takes to do it and get it and be prepared to fly through the test you have done it so many times.
I would partly agree with this, although I think really understanding the concepts is a bit beyond Calculus 2, or any of the series. But I agree with you in a way - I think having a broader outlook on what you're doing and why you're doing it goes a long way. Kind of hard to explain over the internet.
I took AP Calculus BC in high school, which covered Calc 1 & 2 (and 3, depending on what system your school is in). At the time I remeber it being very difficult - I could grind through the problems well enough, but I always felt uncomfortable with it. In retrospect, it seems like it was a very easy class. I think it was partly that calculus was a foreign entity - it relied heavily on algebra, but theres enough change that it kind of blindsided me. Having to acquire new information like that, and then immediately put it to use without any real experience with it is difficult.
To that I say (as everyone else has done) practice as many problems as you can. Get to where the most basic concepts, even if only in practice, are familiar so you can assimilate that concept into a solution to more complex problems.
It's fairly easy from there - linear algebra, ODE's, PDE's, complex variables, etc. are all just offshoots of calculus. By the end of those classes, I felt like I was doing the exact same thing over and over and it became a routine.
:beer:
+1 Other than I had a TI-89.
TI-89 FTW!
Unfortunately, no math class in college would let us use anything other than a scientific calculator. My 89 got me an A in AP calc in high school. I had to take calc 1-3 and diff equ. for engineering. Calc 1 and 2 I understood all the concepts, but the way the tests were made up made it completely impossible and I ended up with a B after the curve. Calc III was insane and I did awful but barely passed. DE wasn't too bad, knew how to do pretty much everything, but just couldn't put it all together on the tests.
I agree with most of these guys, get together with friends and do a ton of problems from the book. Make sure you find an answer key to help you out if you really can't figure stuff out. Ask all the questions you need to, its the only way to learn.
i had a professor do that to me once. homework questions were always cake, then test questions sucked!! i asked him why he did that, and he says "i want to see who will actually put effort into passing my class. the people who have a problem on the tests are lazy, the people who do well on the tests put in the extra effort and got the outcome they deserved" needless to say......i was one of the lazy ones until he told me that:kaboom:
Never took CalcII, or Calc for that matter.
But if it counts for anything, geometry was easy... the second time around.
Goddamn I hate math.
But if it counts for anything, geometry was easy... the second time around.
Goddamn I hate math.
Users who are viewing this thread
