Math.

[natedog]

What's the most advanced math class you've taken? I'm a senior in high school, and I'm taking pre-calculus right now and I'm actually struggling a bit. Last year I took AP Stats and aced it and got a 5 on the AP test. Yes, I know I took them out of order *bangs head*, and now I'm out of practice for normal algebraic math. What level of math should I be prepared to take once I'm in college for a chemistry or biology major?

[Marnoot]

I took AP Calculus BC my senior year in high school. I took BC over AB specifically because in so doing, I wouldn't have to take any math in college (with my major). Doing a science major will probably require you to take at least a couple of calculus classes to get into the major.

I don't know how advanced they make you go though as I was an information systems management major, which required only the level of calculus that the AP class got me out of. I do wish I remembered how to do calculus beyond really simple derivations... not that I ever need to use it, but I really hate forgetting something when it took me months of hard work to learn.

[Brad Johnson]

Particle Analysis (almost painful, but kinda interesting)
Diff Calc II (definitely painful, and totally uninteresting)
Astrophysics for Non-Astronomy Majors (taught by the head of the astrophysics department, and probably the single most misleading class title ever)

and...

Intro to Quantum Physics (which made me consider throwing myself in front of the nearest train on pretty much a daily basis).

Brad

[280plus]

"Discrete Mathematics" Learned to add, subtract, divide amd multiply sets, boolean algebra, probabilities and a bunch of other quite discrete forms of math. I got a "C" but only because I had perfect attendance and begged the prof to please, PLEASE just pass me!

[Guest]

The Calculus will stimulate your brain...and make you mean and hateful in the wee hours of the morning.

I had a year in high school and 2 years in college. This was so long ago my first quarter professor at VA TECH still called it THE CALCULUS. I enjoyed most of the classes, but the 2 real losers were the instructors who were teaching to pay for their advanced engineering degrees..."As an engineer you will need to know..."

"Aw jeez, I'M A FREAKING PHYSICS MAJOR YOU IDIOT!!!"

This was the guy who taught a class of 27 and gave out 1 A, 2 B's, 2 C's, 2 D's and 20 F's. How dumb was he? I got a B.    

I really felt sorry for the construction management major who ended up in the class somehow.

John

[charby]

The highest level I took was College Algebra and Trig.

In highschool I took AP Stats, hated the class.

I have had a lot of math in classes I have taken, especially physics.

I use a ton of math with my job, not sure that I do it correctly but I always coem out with the right answer. I am a computer support specialist at my current profession and some how I also got picked to be an electronics expert and use my math in configuring getting sustainable power to field equipment.

Its funny to argue to the math with the researcher who are stat people and I use math for physics to find the solution.

-C

[Antibubba]

Hell, I gave up trying to balance my checkbook a decade ago.  I don't know how I even got out of college.

I read a condition called dyscalcia-dyslexia for numbers.  That's me right there.   I have no trouble wrapping my head around the concepts, oddly enough.

[cfabe]

Well according to the course numbering system, the "highest" class I took was Probability and Statistics, but I found Differential Equations and Laplace Transforms much harder, though they consider it s 200 level. Also took Discrete Math, which is a 200 level Computer Science course. Of coruse also took Calc 1,2 and multivariate calc. Chem or Bio major, I don't think they do a whole lot of heavy duty math, only way to know for sure is to consult the program outline at your school.

[Jamisjockey]

Geometry....I failed it.  Twice.

[wingnutx]

I went as far as college algebra. I was pretty good at math, but it wasn't a priority.

[Headless Thompson Gunner]

4 semesters of calculus in college:

First semester callculus was derivatives - pretty eassy.  
Second semester was integrals - moderately hard.  
Third semester was multivariate calculus - easy.  
Fourth was differential equations - really effing hard.

I started to take a fifth semester, on vector field calculus.  I fled for my life partway through the semester.  

[DJJ]

Differential equations. Didn't understand a thing. Found out halfway through the semester that the lazy dumbass teaching the class gave the same tests every semester. I rocketed from a 40% on the midterm to a 100% on the final. Here's example of how un-math-savvy the instructor was: He thought a 40% and a 100% averaged to an A!

I don't consider that cheating, either. I consider it capitalizing on the instructor's stupidity.

[Moondoggie]

Math is my "Great White Whale".

I'm great at arithmetic.  Loved it through 6th grade.

Then came 7th grade.  Teacher started putting "X=" on the blackboard.  I thought to myself "WTF do letters have to do with numbers?"  That was it...lights out on math for the rest of my life.  Never got it.  Never cared.  I got hounded by a platoon of math teachers..."You can do better than this"  my response "I'm not going to run out and find a job figuring out what "X" is when I get out of here".

Thank goodness I was a business/history major.  I had to drop a Microeconomic Theory class because the professor demanded that I "show my work" on exams in trig...nevermind that I had the right answer.  There were only three variables...it wasn't rocket science to plot a curve on a graph.  Also nevermind that trig wasn't listed as a prereq in the course catalog.

Two trains leave the station.........yada, yada, yada.  Don't care.  If I'm there when train A catches/meets train B I'll know when it happens.  If I'm not there, it doesn't matter to me.

Fortunately, I have other talents.

[drewtam]

Chem or Bio should really only need statistics and at most Calc 2. YMMV! Its all up to your university.
http://mathworld.wolfram.com/ (excellent reliable site, trustable content)

I had quite a bit of college math, I was in an engineering major that focused on theory and derivation:

-calc i differential, integrals
-calc ii more fun with integrals
-calc iii multivariable
-linear algebra
-differential equations
-partial differential equations (really out there)
-tensor, vector, field algebra and calculus
-Finite Element Analysis, which is really a linear algebra and programming class combined
-Intermediate Fluid Mechanics, alot of field calc, tensors, partial diffy q's, laplace tranforms, etc combined with programming and physically impossible to solve systems with current human understanding of math; plus a little chaos thoery thrown in for the fun of it.

I find that a thorough discussion of concept with someone knowledgable or with a group discussion of classmates helps to ease the math pains. Particularly the way that higher level calc and diffy q combines complex geometry with the algebra of calc.

I also found that it was very interesting to learn the concepts of how the math interacts but performing the practise problems and exercises was tedious and boring. But "No pain, No gain". Tedious but they do provide insight.

Many times, calculus and above can be explained several different ways with different points of view. So listen very carefully to different sources about how they explain. For example: The teacher, the textbook, and http://mathworld.wolfram.com/ (excellent reliable site) will all explain it differently. It all depends on you which explanation will "click" in your head. And the source that works can change from day to day and hour to hour, so review several times a week or day to really get it.

Drew

[Twycross]

So far, one semester of college calculus. I did pretty well, but I still disliked it.

[Sawdust]

As an engineering major way back when, my experience mirrors drewtam's list - except I had to do Finite Element Analysis by hand.

Sawdust

[Telperion]

The most advanced course I ever attempted was modestly named "Algebra".  Of course, at the PhD level, algebra means something totally different than the stuff taught in middle/high school that shares the same name...  I had to drop the course and punt to Field Theory since the instructor was trying to shoo us undergrads out by assigning workloads that only grad students had the time to tackle.

For a chem or bio major, most likely you'll probably need to study calculus and differential equations, but little beyond that.  If you go into chemical engineering, you'll end up with a list similar to drewtam's.

[RGO]

I have an EE degree with three minors, one of which is math.  I took Calculus 1-3, Diff Eq, Linear Algebra, and a number of out-there senior level maths in college.  Actually, the senior level classes were on-the-whole easier than the sophomore level classes.  (I found the same thing to be true with my EE classes - I think it's due to their efforts to weed some people out early.)

natedog, in biology or chemistry, you'll probably have to take math through Calculus 2.

[SpookyPistolero]

I've gone through calc 2 in college and enjoyed almost all the math I've ever taken. The only one I hated was a senile old man that would work one individual problem per class. His exams would then be about 3 problems long, no partial credit, each question more absurd than the next.

Back to the point... I've got a BS in Biology and did a minor in chem and I don't feel you really need above calc 1. I can't recall how much work with logarithms we did in that class, but if not you'll need to take another class until you do.  Logs and differentials are what's valuable. Being able to look at a graph and extrapolate lots of info in a jiffy is key, which calc can help with a lot.

Do you know what you're wanting to go into with a bio/chem degree?

[jefnvk]

My chem friends have three semesters of Calc, a half semester each of Linear Algebra and Differential Equations, and Statistics

[HankB]

After a couple of semesters of calculus, the courses had deceptive titles like "Applied Mathematics I" and "Applied Mathematics II" . . . most people would recognize these as courses in transforms, differential equations, etc.

Unfortunately, they were taught by math professors who had NO CONCEPT of the application of these mathematical methods, and got upset when a student would actually ask in class what the application would be.

I remember watching one memorable exchange in which the professor was taken to task by a student (!) for being unable or unwilling to provide an example of an application, when the course was APPLIED MATHEMATICS. The professor went on about the beauty of proving a theorem, and the student said "Oh, so in other words it's just mental masturbation. Thank you SO much."

[drewtam]

As an engineering major way back when, my experience mirrors drewtam's list - except I had to do Finite Element Analysis by hand.

Sawdust

We still do it by hand. It really helps when you go to program it on a larger scale.

Do you know what you're wanting to go into with a bio/chem degree?

This is the most important question to answer. If you get into a serious science field and do not love it and love the goal to which you attain.

YOU. WILL. NOT. MAKE. IT.

You will quite and will have wasted precious years of life and lots of money. And no, drunken orgies are not a good use of time. It will be years of hard work; so I highly, highly, highly recommend spending a few years at Junior College level to sort what you really love to do. JC/CC is alot cheaper than any Uni.

Drew

[Silver Bullet]

4 semesters of calculus in college:

First semester callculus was derivatives - pretty eassy.  
Second semester was integrals - moderately hard.  
Third semester was multivariate calculus - easy.  
Fourth was differential equations - really effing hard.

I took these four courses, but my experience was just the opposite:  for me, the first class was the hardest, and each of the others was progressively easier.

My first semester included both derivatives and integrals, though.  My second semester included multiple integrals, and I seem to recall my third semester including dot and cross products.  Fourth semester was definitely differential equations.

The class I wish I had taken in addition to these is linear algebra.

[BakerMikeRomeo]

Senior Year of High School: AP Calculus BC

1st Semester of College: Integral Calculus, Elementary Linear Algebra (solving systems of equations, manipulating matrices), Vector Calculus

2nd Semester: Multivariable Calculus (differentiation, integration, and vector calculus of > 1 variable), Intro to Differential Equations

3rd Semester: Intro to Diff Eq again, Intro to Proofs.

~GnSx

[280plus]

My head hurts just reading all that.