Should i do maths in uni if planning to major in chem or biochem?

[Left5Dead]

I'm currently enrolling in my first-year subjects for bachelor of science. I will most likely major in chemistry or biochemistry (still a long time to decide). Hence, i have decided to choose chemical sciences (CHEM10003/CHEM10004) and life sciences (BIOL10004/BIOL10005) subject sets. I still need to choose another subject set that complements these.

I am thinking of choosing Mathematics and Statistics (Calculus 1 and calculus 2) to aide me with the maths in chemistry and the data analysis in biology. Is this a good idea? I've heard from various people that maths in uni is only for those who are genuinely interested in maths or engineering due to its difficulty. Because of this, i am cautious of choosing it.

I didn't really find maths that interesting in high school, although i did do pretty well. I got a ss of 46 in further maths and 36 in maths methods if that helps.

I will be going to STOP1 for assistance in monday. I just want to hear your thoughts on my situation.

[Syndicate]

I'm currently enrolling in my first-year subjects for bachelor of science. I will most likely major in chemistry or biochemistry (still a long time to decide). Hence, i have decided to choose chemical sciences (CHEM10003/CHEM10004) and life sciences (BIOL10004/BIOL10005) subject sets. I still need to choose another subject set that complements these.

I am thinking of choosing Mathematics and Statistics (Calculus 1 and calculus 2) to aide me with the maths in chemistry and the data analysis in biology. Is this a good idea? I've heard from various people that maths in uni is only for those who are genuinely interested in maths or engineering due to its difficulty. Because of this, i am cautious of choosing it.

I didn't really find maths that interesting in high school, although i did do pretty well. I got a ss of 46 in further maths and 36 in maths methods if that helps.

I will be going to STOP1 for assistance in monday. I just want to hear your thoughts on my situation.

*just my opinion*

If you didn't enjoy mathematics in high school, then you won't enjoy it at universitry, and sometimes may even be stuck in a detrimental situation. From what I have heard is that University Mathematics covers the specialist content in weeks (or even days!), and is a joke compared to what you learn in University.

You may know that Melbourne University offers UMEP Mathematics, and the critirea clearly states that applicants must achieve a B+ in Specialist and A+ in the other maths subjects. Specialist content may also be considered assumed knowledge, and seeing that you haven't done specialist at all, it will be quite hard for you to keep up and may struggle throughout the year . However, if you really want to do it, I would suggest going through the Specialist and Methods curriculum, when ever you can! I am unsure if UMEP maths is similar to what you are trying to do, however, I just wanted to give you a little information about it (it is still considered a University subject, I guess)

Good Luck 

[Left5Dead]

*just my opinion*

If you didn't enjoy mathematics in high school, then you won't enjoy it at universitry, and sometimes may even be stuck in a detrimental situation. From what I have heard is that University Mathematics covers the specialist content in weeks (or even days!), and is a joke compared to what you learn in University.

You may know that Melbourne University offers UMEP Mathematics, and the critirea clearly states that applicants must achieve a B+ in Specialist and A+ in the other maths subjects. Specialist content may also be considered assumed knowledge, and seeing that you haven't done specialist at all, it will be quite hard for you to keep up and may struggle throughout the year . However, if you really want to do it, I would suggest going through the Specialist and Methods curriculum, when ever you can! I am unsure if UMEP maths is similar to what you are trying to do, however, I just wanted to give you a little information about it (it is still considered a University subject, I guess)

Good Luck 

Thanks for the info!!

Just wondering if I can succeed in second/third year chemistry subjects without undertaking any maths subjects?

[96n_n]

if you enjoy maths and do quite well in it then take it However, do note that university maths is pretty different from high school maths - the speed is quite quick (calc 1 is basically 3/4 specialist compressed into 12 weeks) and the subject cannot be learnt within swotvac so you have to consistently dedicate some time to study for it and do all the questions if you want a minimum H1. From the maths and stats department, I've heard from lecturers that some of their students choose to take maths subjects as it gives them an extra 'edge' in their major.

[mahler004]

You absolutely should.

There's really no other way about it. Maths is critical to understanding a lot of higher level chemistry (especially physical chemistry), and you'd be surprised how often it pops up in biochemistry, especially if you wind up doing biophysical chemistry - and that's ignoring statistics. To be honest, I'm pretty surprised that the chemistry department hasn't made first year maths compulsory yet for the major, when I did third year chem it was not possible to do some questions without calc 2 knowledge (triple integrals) and linear algebra made many topics in second and third year much, much easier.

Maths is hard, for sure, but you'll be giving yourself a definite edge in later years. All you need is calc 2 and linear algebra, plus calc 1 if you didn't do specialist.

[Left5Dead]

You absolutely should.

There's really no other way about it. Maths is critical to understanding a lot of higher level chemistry (especially physical chemistry), and you'd be surprised how often it pops up in biochemistry, especially if you wind up doing biophysical chemistry - and that's ignoring statistics. To be honest, I'm pretty surprised that the chemistry department hasn't made first year maths compulsory yet for the major, when I did third year chem it was not possible to do some questions without calc 2 knowledge (triple integrals) and linear algebra made many topics in second and third year much, much easier.

Maths is hard, for sure, but you'll be giving yourself a definite edge in later years. All you need is calc 2 and linear algebra, plus calc 1 if you didn't do specialist.

So you recommend I do three level 1 math subjects in my first year? I'm guessing calc1 in first semester and calc2 and linear algebra in second semester.

Is this all the math subjects I need to do?


Thanks for the help everyone. Greatly appreciated!!

[Mieow]

So you recommend I do three level 1 math subjects in my first year? I'm guessing calc1 in first semester and calc2 and linear algebra in second semester.

Is this all the math subjects I need to do?


Thanks for the help everyone. Greatly appreciated!!

Calc2 and Linear Algebra in one semester sounds like a lot of work imo. It's possible but you'd need to be fairly motivated to tackle it. Another option for you is to do Linear Algebra over the summer

[Left5Dead]

Calc2 and Linear Algebra in one semester sounds like a lot of work imo. It's possible but you'd need to be fairly motivated to tackle it. Another option for you is to do Linear Algebra over the summer

Hmmm as in the summer of 2017? After i (hopefully) complete calc 1 and 2?

[mahler004]

So you recommend I do three level 1 math subjects in my first year? I'm guessing calc1 in first semester and calc2 and linear algebra in second semester.

Is this all the math subjects I need to do?


Thanks for the help everyone. Greatly appreciated!!

I did calc 1 in semester 1, and calc 2 + linear in semester 2 (which wasn't actually that bad honestly, but a bit of work). You could do linear algebra in the summer semester, or semester 1, second year.