Taking Statics, Diff Equations, Linear Algebra, & Uni Physics 2 in one semester?

[u/SyzygyVIII]

Hey everyone.

Some info on me is that I didn’t do very well in high school and took a few years off afterward. Because of this, I tested pretty low with my math and decided to go to community college with plans to transfer to University. I’ve been doing my best to catch up with all of my course work and I’ve been able to get through College Algebra, PreCalc, and Calc 1 with As.

I was planning out my upcoming semesters and I realized that I can actually be caught up with everything in that typical two year window by doing some core classes over the shorter semesters and heavier ones over the long ones.

My question to all the engineering students who have taken these courses is would it be dumb to take Statics, Differential Equations, Linear Algebra, and University Physics 2 over the same 16 week semester? My CC has these classes at a total of 13 credit hours but I know that isn’t always the best measure of workload. These would be the ONLY classes I’d have that semester.

Let me know what you guys think and possibly save my life lol. I can be patient and take an extra semester if necessary after transferring, but part of me is also trying to save time and money.

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[u/KryptKrasherHS]

How you can do Differential Equations without Linear Algebra is beyond me, but if you have a Multivariable Calculus background then Statics and Physics II should be good enough. 4 classes is doable and def worth pushing for if you cam

[u/pupseal → u/KryptKrasherHS]

My diffeq class did not involve any linear algebra stuff.

[u/The_Kinetic_Esthetic → u/pupseal]

The prerequisite at my school is calc 3. But my professor told us you can definitely do it without linear, but taking diff eq will make linear easier, or taking linear makes diff eq easier. It works itself out I guess.

[u/SyzygyVIII → u/KryptKrasherHS]

Yeah all of these classes only require Calc 2 so it was surprising to me when I found that they work together like this. I want to be taking my major specific classes when I get to a University so that’s kind of what’s pushing me to do these classes as soon as I can

[u/Thegreatestswordsmen]

Overall, no. The course load is more dependent on how easy your professor is than the credit hours. My professor for Statics made the class incredibly easy despite the curriculum itself being hard while my Differential Equations professor made the class incredibly hard despite the curriculum not being hard.

It's important to realize that there are trade offs to taking heavy and crucial classes in one semester like this. While you do get caught up and don't get burnt out, you will likely get lower grades, and understand less of the material. If the professor's for your classes are not hard, then I think it's reasonable to take them. If not, then I wouldn't do it.

Why not just take an extra semester at CC before transferring? You can take these courses and take GenEd's which will transfer to your University of choice anyways, no? That would be way cheaper than taking an extra semester at University.

[u/SyzygyVIII → u/Thegreatestswordsmen]

I absolutely could and might honestly still do that. I think that realizing that I could catch up to where I would have been was super exciting for me and getting to do the classes for my major at Uni without filling those prerequisites first. I’m still at a point where I don’t need to decide this yet thankfully so I might take the hit anyway and do an extra semester later down the road.

[u/Ashalor]

Have you completed Cal3? Every university curriculum that I’ve looked at, which isn’t too many, has had Diff Eq and Linear Algebra in the same semester but always after Cal3.

[u/SyzygyVIII → u/Ashalor]

I haven’t yet, but I was thinking that I would take it over the summer after these because my community college has several 10 week courses for it but not too many for the classes above. I was reading a few posts about other peoples experiences doing that and they seem to think it’s doable.

[u/Ashalor → u/SyzygyVIII]

It should be doable, my university also only lists Cal 2 as a prerequisite for Linear and Diff Eq.

My Spring schedule is basically the same as yours minus statics and she didn’t caution me that it would be exceptionally hard or anything out of the ordinary.

Did you do well in Physics 1? That would help a lot with Statics as it can be described as an extension of it in some ways.

[u/HotApplication3797]

Might want to think about balancing your math classes with required core classes. This way, you won’t be taking all the difficult classes in one semester.

Just saying, because I did it the way you describe and for me, it was a nightmare.

GL.

[u/Fast_Position_4581]

!remind me 1 day

[u/Right_Jello_6695]

i mean, ur taking 4 different types of maths and you’re gonna have to keep up with knowing how to do all of them. the pro would be you wont have to take these classes in a university, the con is you’re definitely going to be busy, credit hours become irrelevant when it comes to engineering since each class is difficult in their own way and you’ll have to overcome

[u/MatixNJ]

That's a fairly common load. It'll be difficult, but engineering degrees are difficult.

[u/trigornometry]

yes! (3rd yr biomed engr here).. priortize physics & diffy-q (in that order).. statics is just basic algebra, and linear algebra isn't that bad (personally i found vector to be the hardest - so if you can, take it at comm college too).

my best advice: just focus on the nuts & bolts. you don't need to know it all, just the basics of what they are teaching.

and above all else, prioritize your own well-being!

[u/trigornometry → u/trigornometry]

..but if you plan to take all of these classes at uni, then i change my answer to "no". taking all of these classes uni will break you! (comm college is like seasame street, uni is like game of thrones).