Electronics > Beginners
Maths in Engineering
Johnwicc:
BUMP ^
coppice:
If things like basic calculus trouble you, you are likely to have a lot of problems in an engineering degree course. However, the options in most courses let you avoid the hardest maths in the later years of the course, so you can steer your degree to suit your interests and abilities to some extent. Much of the maths in an engineering course is less about preparing you for a lifetime of doing maths than about giving you the framework needed to understand what is going on in a wide range of physical processes. A life in engineering can be tough if you lack a feel for the maths, even if you aren't working through maths problems every day.
rstofer:
Being from the US, I have no idea how your system works or what the various levels mean. Nor do I understand what a BS in Technology means. Is it a full blown engineering degree (like our BSEE) or a technician certificate?
In terms of engineering:
You have identified a weakness and it needs to be fixed. Take the gap year and spend it doing math. Around here the course might be called "Pre-Calculus" and it would involve Algebra, Geometry, Trigonometry and definitely is focused on solving problems. It takes two semesters (a full year) and is considered a prerequisite for Calculus I which is a first semester class in an engineering curriculum. IF you don't have pre-calc skills, you just added a year to your graduation date.
Around here we have Community Colleges that offer pre-calc and they are fairly inexpensive.
You can get help at Khan Academy and, if you want to spend some money, at CalcWorkshop.com (highly recommended). There is a free course on "Limits" at CalcWorkshop to help you evaluate whether her style of teaching meets your needs.
More advanced math is taught in parallel with engineering subjects but, first semester, you need to start with Calculus I. In turn, there will be classes for Calculus II, Calculus III, Differential Equation and Linear Algebra. That is 5 semesters of math or about 2-1/2 years of a 5 year program. Not to worry, there will be more math in the last 2-1/2 years. It just will have a different title, like "Field Theory" or "Signals" or "Control Systems" or "Circuits". There will be a math oriented class every single semester for 5 solid years!
Get that pre-calc out of the way!
floobydust:
Taking a year gap is dangerous, many people get a job and relationship and get comfy. They never take any post-secondary and end up with a life of low wages and hard labour.
What you do in that year is really important, it's easy to get lost in the freedom of not having to go to school.
You say you want to climb a mountain but are not good at it. Where is the part of you that looks for help or wants to improve that, instead of worrying about falling off the mountain?
To see if you have any chance at being a mountain climber, take a university entry math course like pre-calculus and see how you do.
Many of my peers in engineering flunked courses, some flunked the same course twice. They stuck to it and graduated.
rstofer:
It's either use the gap year to get a foundation in math or plan on working twice as hard if you head off to the university now. Still, you can make it.
I dropped out of college as a freshman the day Kennedy was assassinated. Not because of that but more because I was just tired of going to school. A couple of years in the Army, a few years of working and I started over (6 years late) but this time I had a family, a job and had to do classes at night. Not an easy way to get things done. I wouldn't recommend it.
I would only recommend the gap year if you plan to spend every waking moment working on math. If not then you still have two choices: Start at the university or give up on the idea altogether. If you think pre-calc is tough or you think your first freshman semester is tough, just wait. It gets more intense as you go along. The good news is that you build the foundation to make it through as you go along. It's still going to be a lot of work but I always look at this kind of thing as: "Hundreds of thousands of people have done this, I can do it too!". My version of "The Law of Large Numbers". If enough people take the exam, I'll pass.
It's easier if there are no side issues. Compliments of the US Navy Seals: "The only easy day was yesterday!"
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