Holly IN Posted February 23, 2009 Share Posted February 23, 2009 I have a question for you. HOw math intensive are the course of Chemistry or Biology in college? Oldest is looking into the possibility of a degree of Chemistry or Biology in order to get into Forensics Crime lab with Firearms area. He doesn't like math. He is good at it but do not like it at all. He was looking into Computer Graphics but changed his mind after seeing how math intensive it is. He does know that every course will have math. It is the amount of it that scares him with Computer Graphics. Holly Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ria Posted February 23, 2009 Share Posted February 23, 2009 I have a question for you. HOw math intensive are the course of Chemistry or Biology in college? Oldest is looking into the possibility of a degree of Chemistry or Biology in order to get into Forensics Crime lab with Firearms area. He doesn't like math. He is good at it but do not like it at all. He was looking into Computer Graphics but changed his mind after seeing how math intensive it is. He does know that every course will have math. It is the amount of it that scares him with Computer Graphics. Holly I double-majored in biology and English. Biology and chemistry majors at my private university were required to take calculus 1 and 2. I think that's probably standard, but you can check it out on most college's websites - most will let you get into each department's website and view the course requirements. Ria Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Holly IN Posted February 23, 2009 Author Share Posted February 23, 2009 Thanks!! What science and math do you recommend for high school in prep for Chemistry or Biology major in college? Holly Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cmarango Posted February 23, 2009 Share Posted February 23, 2009 (edited) I was a biochem major a while ago and this is what I remember. Chemistry: quite a bit of math, especially more advanced level chem classes like analytical and physical chem Biology/Zoology: not so much - basic statistics should suffice for lower level biology, upper level had some more math but still not a whole lot Christina Edited February 23, 2009 by cmarango Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
patchfire Posted February 23, 2009 Share Posted February 23, 2009 I was a biology major at Georgia Tech. I had to take a year of calculus (this was back on quarters, so technically Calc I-III, but it covered Calc I & II on a semester system), plus a biostats course taught out of the biology department. (As an aside, I adored my biostats prof - she was adjunct and worked at the CDC. I think she was a big reason a good friend of mine did a biostats masters.) High school prep-wise, I took 'Honors' Bio I, 'Honors' Chem I, Physics I, AP Biology, and AP Chemistry. Senior year I took AP Calc BC. I would recommend AB Calc for a bio major if I had to do it all again. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Holly IN Posted February 23, 2009 Author Share Posted February 23, 2009 What is AB Calc for bio major? Sorry! Holly Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gwen in VA Posted February 23, 2009 Share Posted February 23, 2009 My dd is a chemistry major. She needs to take math through calculus 2 in order to get a B.A in chemistry. If she wants a B.S. in chemistry, she needs to take calculus 3 as well. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
patchfire Posted February 23, 2009 Share Posted February 23, 2009 Oops, sorry! I was nak'ing and wasn't clear. :) I just meant that if I knew I was pursuing a biology major, and I wanted to take an AP Calculus class in high school, I wouldn't (knowing what I know now) put the effort into AP Calculus BC unless I was really good at math AND really enjoyed it. I'd just do AP Calculus AB or even a non-AP Calculus, so that when I took it at college, it would be familiar material. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
EKS Posted February 23, 2009 Share Posted February 23, 2009 I have a degree in bochemistry. I switched from biology. The biology major essentially required no math beyond what you'd learn in algebra 1, which is good because I hadn't learned anything beyond that. The biochemistry major was essentially a combination of the biology major and the chemistry major. The chemistry major required 2 semesters of calculus (I had no trouble with this), and then the physics courses were calculus based, which I actually prefered. The physical chemistry and biochemistry sequences also had some math but I was able to deal with it with my spotty math education. I am quite sure that I would have gotten a lot more out of the math based courses if I had actually paid attention in my math classes. The amount of math in these courses wasn't terrible. Of course, back in the 80s we didn't have courses like computer graphics. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Alice Posted February 23, 2009 Share Posted February 23, 2009 I double-majored in Biology and Chemistry. Biology doesn't have much Math in the courses, although a lot of schools require you to have Calculus to get a BS degree. Statistics is also very helpful, and in some places required of Biology majors. Some Biology majors require you to have Physics, some don't. There is a lot of Math (Calculus level) in even Intro Physics. There is a lot of Math in Chemistry, especially upper level Chemistry. In Chem I and Organic Chem there isn't as much (those are the courses a Biology major would have to take as well). But when you get to Analytical Chemistry or Physical Chemistry there is quite a bit of Math. I took Mulitvariate Calculus and Differential Equations in College and both were helpful in Chemistry. But they weren't a requirement, there were Chem majors who did not take that much Math. It was helpful to have but you could still do the Chem classes without them. I have to say though that I am NOT a Math person and didn't really like the Math classes I took. I could do it but I was not at all a natural at Math. So if your ds can do Math but just doesn't enjoy it he might just consider it as something he has to get through to pursue his chosen career. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Holly IN Posted February 23, 2009 Author Share Posted February 23, 2009 There are TONS of math in computer graphics. I was shocked as to how much math is required in that course. I thought there would be more arts than math. I think the college that we looked at in regards to that is more of an architectual in nature than the arts. Lots to think about. Jann in TX said that my son is very smart in math but lazy about thinking what type of problem it is in re: to the symbols which sounds like a visual tracking problem. Jann told us that he is smart with math. :001_huh: I had a hard time believing it but she knows more than I do. He rather not learn math though. Holly Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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