Maximizing Success in Self-Studying Calculus III: Tips and Warnings

[Luongo]

i'm planning on taking this course at a university in fall along with a large load of other courses, but i want to get a headstart. So i bought the book, would you recommend reading the text, reading a friend's notes and just doing the homework by myself? will this give me an advantage when i accually take the course?

 

[symbolipoint]

You must recently have passed Calculus 1 and Calculus 2 successfully, and by recently, I really mean you are currently finishing your Calculus 2 course, right now. Get the syllabus and the book that you plan to use for Calculus 3 and spend the whole summer studying the course.

In case you finished Calculus 2 one semester ago or longer, then you should restudy all of Calculus 1 and 2 during the whole summer. If this is the case, then you might want to concentrate on intuitive understanding, and skills.

 

[PiratePhysicist]

I recommend being very careful with this, because in the case you are very successful with learning the material a head of time, you will be tempted to not go to class. If you decide to skip class, you will miss important things, you will miss information about homeworks, tests, etc, you will miss hearing about deadlines and you will miss the professor's "flavor" so to speak (by that I mean, how they ask questions, how they want them answered, etc). So it could turn out that even if you know the material really well, you could do poorly in the class.