Pre-Calculus Essentials

Welcome! We hope you are looking forward to the fall semester. We are excited to offer you the opportunity to participate in a special program designed to help you in your first year math courses here at Cal. Below we have lots of information on the program, and you can find the sign-up link at the very bottom of the page.

What is this?

Pre-Calculus Essentials is a short course covering foundational topics from algebra and pre-calculus. It was designed specifically for students intending to take Math 1A, 10A, 16A, or 32 here at Berkeley.

We know many students have a difficult time transitioning from high school mathematics to university level mathematics, and we want to set you up to be more capable and more confident in your first year courses here at Cal.

Who is involved?

Pre-Calculus Essentials was developed by Alexander Paulin and Kelli Talaska, who have both been teaching at UC Berkeley for over a decade.

This year, Professor Alexander Paulin will be leading the program and teaching the summer course with the support of a team of enthusiastic undergraduate peer tutors and learning a specialist at the Student Learning Center (SLC).

How should I interpret the score from my MDTP assessment?

The MDTP assessment can help determine if you have mastered basic high school math skills needed to do well in pre-calculus or calculus courses. Below are our recommendations based on your MDTP assessment scores. MDTP assessment results will be emailed to students with 1 to 2 days after completion of the assessment.

• Below critical level in three or more topics or an overall score of 0-47:

  • • Recommendation: Peer-Tutor Option (ONLY available in the summer)

    • Scores in this range indicate that students have multiple basic skill areas in which they need to build strength.

• Below critical level in one or two topics or an overall score of 48-57:

  • • Recommendation: Self-Study Option

    • Scores in this range indicate competence with multiple core skills, but room for improvement in others.

• Overall Score of 58-60:

  • • Recommendation: Self-Study Option

    • Scores in this range indicate competence with most high school math skills. However, there is a big jump in rigor from high school to college, so students can still benefit from our summer program.

While the Pre-Calculus Essentials course is completely optional, we do feel that it can help all of students to kick off the year with a strong start. The recommendations above are just starting points to help you determine what math topic you might need additional support in.

What topics will we be covering?

Pre-Calculus Essentials contains 36 lessons, divided into three sections: Algebra, Functions, and Core Functions. Each lesson contains in-depth video lectures and comprehension exercises, all designed to reinforce your foundational knowledge and introduce you to university-level mathematics. In the three-week program, we will focus on 15 of these topics, accompanying them with worksheets to hone deeper understanding.