The first thing that I would mention to any student preparing for
calculus is the basis for any math class, you must do the homework to
stay in the game basically. You should set aside at least a half an
hour to an hour a night to work on any assignent given. It is
understandable that you will not always be able to do every homework
assignment, but that will get you one section behind and it is hard to
catch up. Another idea that goes along with the time factor is what
other classes you take along w/ Calculus. I had no choice the semester
I took it, but my advice to you is to take Calculus a semester you
don't have a lot of other hard classes. If you want a good grade in Calc.
you will have to study your butt off and concentrate on it more than many
of your other classes. My advice is not to take it the same semester as
other writing emphasis classes. One other suggestion that I have is to
make sure you have had a algebra class the semester before you take
calc.. You might be learning new things when you learn the Calculus
portion, but Algebra is the basis to this class and without the skills
of algebra there is no way to pass this class. So make sure you have
had some algebra recently or you feel that algebra was a strong point.
If you can keep up on the homework and you can go to the teacher's
office or tutor on a regular basis w/ questions, I feel that you will
be able to work yourself through a semester of Calculus.
Good luck to any future Calculus students, you can do it if you have
the desire to work hard at it. Don't give up, ask questions! That's what
teachers are there for!!!!!
Sincerely,
Adrian, Marketing Major
P.S. Quizzes are also very important, but if you do the homework
quizzes shouldn't be a problem!