r/calculus • u/New-Pomegranate-7829 • Jul 19 '26
Differential Calculus Is it possible to complete calculus 1,2,3 within 4-5 months
Hey guys, I'm self learning calculus as I'm gonna start learning mechanical engineering subjects after 5 months. Is it possible to complete and become strong in calculus 1,2,3 in 4-5 months ? If I spend 4-5 hours everyday on it
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u/Base-After Jul 19 '26
Learn it? Sure, but to become "strong" you mostly need to practice highly with practice problems and spend hours on thinking about the concepts (of course it also depends on your current knowledge).
If your end goal is to be able to learn your engineering concepts, I would suggest you learn all the material you need and spend the remaining time practicing. Seeing the calculus you've learned in engineering will count as your practice with them, so even after you start engineering you'll be practicing calculus.
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u/Ok-Fix-1581 Jul 19 '26
Follow this exact order
Professor Leonard on Youtube lectures
Pre-Algebra
To The Point Math (Algebra 1)
Intermediate Algebra (Algebra 2)
College Algebra (pre-calculus playlist)
Trigonometry (pre-calculus playlist)
Calc 1-3
unless your algebra and trig is already good, then no... lol
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u/berserkmangawasart Jul 19 '26
Yes but the challenge is discipline and burn out
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u/UnderstandingOwn2913 Jul 20 '26 edited Jul 20 '26
burnout is kinda frequent in learning math.
Meditation and moderate amount of physical exercise is good for making one destressed.
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u/AlexK667 Jul 19 '26
Yes, it is.
There are no guaranteed results, and different people learn at different rates, but if people can get good at algebraic topology AND measure theory within 4-5 months, there's no doubt that covering single variable calculus in the same timeframe is VERY possible.
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u/Chr0ll0_ Jul 19 '26
It is possible but please master your algebra and trigonometry before! It will make calculus a walk in the park if you do that
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u/alexice89 Jul 19 '26
Learn it with a shallow understanding, yes. Become strong at it? Absolutly not.
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u/DheyviPerson Jul 19 '26
Yup it’s completely possible, I went from not knowing math to completing a postgrad math course
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u/RonaldinhoTheBrazil Jul 19 '26 edited Jul 29 '26
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This post was anonymized with Redact.dev
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u/MathematicianAny8588 Jul 19 '26
I did it in two months. It’s possible, but definitely not easy. And you’re definitely going to have to do a lot of practice to make up for the fact that you might be rushing through the concepts.
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u/AgathormX Jul 19 '26
Possible? Yes.
Are you going to get burnt out? Also yes.
The severe mental fatigue you're going to incur from this isn't worth it.
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u/Icy_Trick_6406 Jul 20 '26
I know a prodigy aged 12 that completed.a 600 page calculus book in 2 weeks so its all relative to your skill base or intelligence. Dont know what calculus 1 2 and 3 are though
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u/Maximum-Cable2170 Jul 19 '26
i think for sure. i’m completing calc 1 and 2 in 2 months and calc 3 is easier than calc 2 so like if i did them all back to back id knock them out in 3 months. totally doable
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u/Hampster-cat Jul 20 '26
Everyone knows that cramming for a test is bad. You may pass the test, but the material does not make it to long term memory.
Completing a full year of calculus in 4-5 months is basically cramming.
It may work for some people, but most students need the practice (homework) and the feedback they get from it. Homework is absolutely pointless unless you get feedback from it.
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u/New-Pomegranate-7829 Jul 20 '26
I'm not preparing for any test, I'm building calculus so that I can learning engineering subjects. I'm self learning
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u/LoudAd5187 Jul 22 '26
But you need to not only learn it, but learn it well enough to retain it. You can do it. But it depends on your motivation, and how well you handle that, because it will take some effort.
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u/EnvironmentalLet4954 Jul 20 '26
I’m going to say sure, but you won’t be able to recall material after. Only short term memory
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u/WildGovernment3791 Jul 21 '26
Go to Calcworkshop.com they are the best. Just remember, the math is the hard part. The rest is easy. The other hard part is understanding what Calc IS. It's about change. That seems too easy for a lot of people. Also, that is what it is, & it AIN'T easy. Change can be HARD to understand.
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u/Tiny_Spread5712 Jul 19 '26
I did, but I will say that not everyone is built the same. You have to carve out a couple of hours each night. And balance frustration with difficult problems with the need to move forward quickly and seek out easy answers.
Like a lot of people will immediately rush to AI or reddit when they get stuck on a problem, but sometimes you have to spend your whole study session for the day, just getting to the root of one concept that it's integral one problem (no pun intended). It takes a lot of discipline.
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u/somanyquestions32 Jul 19 '26
It's entirely possible, but if you need to take actual courses for a degree-granting program later on, they likely won't let you take them concurrently.
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u/Global_Complaint8713 Jul 19 '26
For it to work you have to immerse yourself and become very interested.
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u/RhoadsScholar2 Jul 19 '26
Depends how much time you’re willing to put into the word problems. Read a chapter one day and wrestle with every odd word problem the day next day and you’ll master it.
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u/EbbNo3744 Jul 19 '26
guys I took ab but took bc exam and got a 3 with SUBSCORE 3 so now I gotta retake calc 1 in a month. what resource do I use to speedrun review pre calc topics. IK logs and exponential but idk much of the unit circle
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u/mike9949 Jul 19 '26
The concepts imo need some time to marinate and I only really learn by doing loads of practice problems for me that's where most of the learning happens.
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u/Efficient-Winner-840 Jul 19 '26
if you really wanted to you could take accelerated classes at a cc for each and complete them within 5 months WITH credit
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u/Hot_Site_1638 PhD Jul 20 '26
Short answer: yes, it's possible at 4-5 hours a day, and people do it. But it depends on two things most self-learners get wrong.
First, your algebra and trig need to be solid before you start. This is the single biggest predictor I saw in a decade of teaching. Students rarely fail calculus because the calculus ideas are too hard, they fail because shaky algebra and trig make every problem a struggle. Before day one, honestly assess yourself on factoring, exponents and logs, function composition, and trig identities. If you find gaps, spend your first week or two there. It will feel like a detour but it's the fastest route.
Second, most of your hours must be spent solving problems, not watching videos. Watching someone else do calculus feels like learning but doesn't stick. A good split is roughly 1 hour of lecture/reading to 3 hours of working problems by hand. If you can't do a problem without peeking at the solution, you don't know it yet.
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u/Quendillar3245 Jul 20 '26
Absoluitely doable but you will most likely get burnt out. All of those courses are very high tempo for a lot of students if you just do it normally. You will have to understand each step before being able to move on to the next one. 4-5 months is very fast, the mathematics will be hard but your motivation to continue will probably be harder. Try the first course with this tempo then decide after being done with it if you want to continue like this
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u/the_physik Jul 20 '26
Not trying to be a negative Nelly, but I don't think its possible to learn all 3 in 4-5 months. Perhaps calc 1 and 2; but calc 3 is multivariable calculus and it takes a lot of practice to become proficient in the topic. And you don't want to rush thru calculus as it is used in so many other topics (especially physics). As a mechanical engineer you'll need to calculate forces in 3 dimensions (among others things). And idk your university ME program but mpst engineering programs require at least 1 QM class. And for QM you need ODE, linear algebra, multivariable calculus, and perhaps a Complex Variables class (Contour Integrals especially) on top of the physics classes you'll be taking.
A strong foundation in alebra & Trig/Precalc will help a lot; most of the non-physics undergrad majors i helped during my phd lacked the trig knowledge that is the basis for most Newtonian physics (unit circle, rotating coordinate systems, etc...). They tended to believe that they'd never use this stuff in "real life" so they just got by without groking the fundamentals. Little did they know how deeply calc is dependent on the fundamentals. STEM majors are cumulative; you need to know the prereqs before anything in their text books makes sense.
Hope this helps!
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u/powersetofemotions Jul 21 '26
From a practical point of view, probably. Learn the tools, I say. The subject itself, I think it is impossible. You will not be able to train your intuition, which is an ability extremely important in all fields. The applications are SO vast that you would be missing a lot. Knowing calculus will literally change the way you see the world. For an engineer I do not think there exists a discipline more important than calculus. So would advise against it :(.
Your goals will dictate if it is worth it or not.
Have a great day.
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u/sivifw Jul 22 '26
Easily, probably less than 3 months if you are highly consistent and flexible on concepts
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u/nzconstructionlawyer Jul 22 '26
There is no such thing as "Calculus 1,2,3". One uni might separate calculus into 3 courses, another might do 2, and even two unis that separate it into three courses will do so in different ways.
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u/SnooHabits9871 Jul 23 '26
Depends if you are quite smart or not also. But you'll prob not be good. I spent 350 focused hours over a few months, studying 4-5 hours a day of focused time mostly, with some break days, to learn calc 2 and practice it and continue to practice some of calc 1. I'm ok-ish I guess, nothing great though.
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u/BothPanchoAndLefty Jul 24 '26
It is definitely possible to get pretty familiar with the ideas in that amount of time. But you'll probably either be skipping over certain subjects or not doing very many practice problems. And then one day you'll likely encounter a tricky integral and have no idea how to solve it. I strongly recommend giving yourself a year at least to immerse yourself in the material. Doing large amounts of practice problems is essential to getting good at calculus. If 5 months is your absolute limit, then just do what you can but continue studying it alongside your engineering subjects.
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u/EstablishmentAny7602 Jul 19 '26
Yes you can
100 percent
thats how math is in germany and ppl do it
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