Question about"Easy" Math courses

[LostStudent]

I guess i'm one of the selective few who are good at every other subject except math. Anyways i got 68 in functions (which brought down my average to 83) and going into grade 12 i'm going into the medical field so they require one of the three maths (data management/Calculus/Functions and advanced functions) which of the three are the "easiest". I tried calculus when my friend was taking it and didn't comprehend it at all. So what would you guys recommend?

[JiffyPB]

Lots of people have it rough with math.

Data Management or Functions are probably your best bet. Calculus can either be easy or incredibly hard.

Either way, suck it up and choose what looks more interesting, regardless if it looks 'easy'. Get tutoring/extra help, ask friends who are good at it, anything to get you through. You might think you are good at everything but math, but wait until University corrects that for you. Especially if you are taking Science/Engineering to get into Medicine. Learning how to actually cope and excel with difficult courses is a handy skill to have, something that Highschool can actually be good for.

[LostStudent]

ideally, that would be nice but ive been to the tutoring (for calculus) it just doesn't stick lol EVERYTHING sticks up to grade 10 math then after that nothing. and my university programs im interested in only has one math each semester (very easy probability grade 10 stuff even). My friends aren't even taking math :S (i don't know what they are going to do in uni). So maybe functions is the way to go?

[wqzmbshz]

I guess i'm one of the selective few who are good at every other subject except math. Anyways i got 68 in functions (which brought down my average to 83) and going into grade 12 i'm going into the medical field so they require one of the three maths (data management/Calculus/Functions and advanced functions) which of the three are the "easiest". I tried calculus when my friend was taking it and didn't comprehend it at all. So what would you guys recommend?

There is no easy math. Unless you are doing soc/humanities in university, you need to have a strong grasp of calculus, there is no alternative. And university admission is not stupid, they will put aside your avg, then look at the courses you have that are relevant to the program you applied, for example, calculus of course one of the top priorities for engineering and science, but english as well. So the best way for you is to find a personal tutor or use school tutoring services, or study ahead during the summer. High school math are all just basic equation manipulations. If you really sit down and do practice questions from the back of your textbook you should have no problem with the literature. Hope that helps.

[mingming]

calculus is the "easiest" of them all IMO. reason being everything relates, once you lay the foundation and understand the basics, everything else is just building on that foundation and will be much easier to comprehend.

[IBOPM]

Data Management is the easiest. That's what everyone says. Personally I've only taken Calculus and Algeo (aka discrete). I know many people that dropped out of Calculus, but in Data Management everyone did very well.

[Sniper001]

Advanced Functions is pretty basic if you comprehended the concepts in grade 11. That's just what I've been told, not based on personal experience. Data Management is not too bad either. I would choose one of the two. Take both classes, see which teacher you like better, and drop one of the two.

Sometimes a teacher makes a BIG difference. Sure, most of it is you (do your homework, pay attention in class, etc) but if you have a teacher who does not teach you the lessons properly and marks very hard, you won't do so well.

[ben_liu]

I prefer to do Advanced Functions homework over Calc/Vectors and Data Management. Even though my best grade was in Data...

[IBOPM]

Did the education system change or something? This sounds so foreign to me. Can someone explain the differences of each math subject?

[skyblue12]

when i was in grade 12 there were 3 math courses: data management, calculus (advanced functions) and geometry / discreet math.

data management was mostly about probability (permutations, combinations), matrices. calculus i don't remember so well.. but i remember derivatives. geometry and discreet math was mostly proofs and it had some permutation / combination stuff too.

if you're somebody who isn't good at math, i'd probably say data management is the easiest. calc to me was extremely easy, but that's because i'm good at math. but most of the time you hear people struggling with calc, but not data management. geometry and discreet.. ugh. proofs just aren't my thing, and unless you're good at proofs i wouldn't take it.

however, i think the math courses in grade 12 have changed or something.. (it changed last year i think?) so i have no idea which ones are offered now.

[geronimo]

Yeah the educational system did change a 1 or 2 years ago.

When I was in grade 12 high school, back in 2004-2005, I found calculus to be hard and data management not so bad. I am horrible at math and hate all math courses, but data management wasn't that bad. It didn't really feel like a math course. I never took the third math course, Geometry/Discrete Math or whatever, because I knew that would be the hardest.

[fdhw]

data management is not the easiest........ they are all different branches of math like chem phy and bio. Whats easiest of the 3 sciences? can you give me an objective answer?

I dont know the new curriculums but based on my friends, geometry and algebra is the hardest then calculus or data management. I'd take calculus for the sake of knowing what im doing rather than data management where i had to guess what formula to use many times.

[hoon]

i'd take calculus

most science programs in university require you take a calculus course anyways.
by taking calculus in high school, you will be ready without any surprises.
you don't want to be screwed..esp if you are going to med school...marks matter..

[steevee]

Calculus: when in doubt, take the derivative. How hard is it to take the derivative?

[flygo]

Data is the easiest and is pretty relevant to lifesci, but many univs (i.e. UTSG) require 1st year life scis to take a calculus, so go with that (or both!) :P

[ameko]

probably calculus....
but im still scared for life from the mat133 course at utsg haha

[UWO Engineer]

........Data Management is the easiest. I hope this thread is a joke.

[hoon]

mat133? try mat137
that course was killer! problem sets every week!!!

like common! the course name has an exclamation mark
Calculus!

[IBOPM]

I conclude data to be the easiest simply because the % of people dropping out is the lowest and the average is the highest.

[wbastien]

With the new math curriculum, from easiest to hardest:

1) Data Management
2) Advanced Functions (ughhh so much effing graphing, but pretty easy overall)
3) Calculus and Vectors (the vectors killed me at first but once I got to lines and planes it was easy, and practice derivatives OVER and OVER, they are used so much, especially for optimization)

[dre145]

Best thing to do is... look at the uni program you are applying to and check the courses for that program find out what sort of math you will need to take in university and take that math in high school.

Then get a tutor and read chapters before class and at least attempt homework questions before class.

That is the best advice you will get. There is no reason to take the easiest math when in university you will have to take some sort of math courses that expect you to already know the basics.