Choosing your first Math course…
Detailed information and step by step instructions for selecting all of your courses, including math, will be
available on the Engineering Advising First-Year Planning website in early July, prior to the start of fall
course pre-enroll.
The (4) core mathematics courses for Engineering students are:
MATH 1910, MATH 1920, (MATH 2930 *or* MATH 2940), and a fourth Math course chosen by the major.
(A list of the topics covered in each course is located on the third page.)
***Students must enroll in one (and only one) math course for the fall term in order to be in good academic
standing in the College of Engineering.
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------Students are encouraged to consider the following when selecting the first math course during course preenroll in mid-July:
1. Any standardized advanced placement exams (AP, GCE, IB) and coursework completed at another
accredited college (please see the College of Engineering AP and transfer credit information and the AP
credit table for details concerning how Engineering awards advanced placement and transfer credit).
***Because your performance in the mathematics curriculum is critical to your academic success in
Engineering, we encourage you to realistically assess your abilities and avoid creating a schedule that
is overly ambitious or demanding your first semester.
2. There is an optional Cornell Advanced Standing Exam (CASE) for MATH 1910 and 1920 offered during
Orientation as follows:
Date:
Time:
Location:
Sunday, August 25th
10:15 a.m.
Olin 155
You may wish to take this exam if:
 you are unsure of which math course is the best match for your knowledge or skill level;
 you do not have AP credit for math, but wish to try to earn credit for MATH 1910 and/or 1920;
 you are unsure whether or not to accept advanced placement or transfer credit, and wish to test
your current knowledge in this subject against what the Cornell faculty will expect you to know if
you were to complete the class.
Note: You will not lose any math credits you have already earned via your scores on a standardized exam
(AP, GCE, IB) or prior coursework as a result of your performance on this exam.
3. CASE exams are not offered for either MATH 2930 or MATH 2940.
4. You will be able to change your math enrollment during the Add/Drop period in August.
Which math course should you enroll in for Fall?
MATH 1910 (Calculus for Engineers): You should enroll in MATH 1910 (lecture and section), if:
(1) You do not have advanced placement or transfer credit for MATH 1910; or
(2) You have advanced placement or transfer credit for MATH 1910 but do not wish to accept it
MATH 1920 (Multivariable Calculus for Engineers): You should enroll in MATH 1920 (lecture and section),
if:
(1) You earned a score of 4 or 5 on the College Board (CEEB) AP CALC BC exam (not the AB exam)
and plan to accept this credit in place of MATH 1910; or
(2) You have a score of A, B, or C on the General Certificate of Education (GCE) Advanced (A-Level)
exam in Math or Pure Math and plan to accept this credit in place of MATH 1910; or
(3) You have earned transfer credit for MATH 1910 at another institution (confirmed by the Engineering
Advising Office); or
(4) You plan to complete MATH 1910 this summer at Cornell or an equivalent course at another
institution (must be pre-approved)
MATH 2930 (Differential Equations for Engineers): You should enroll in MATH 2930 (lecture and section)
only if: You have already earned credit for both MATH 1910 and 1920, through advanced placement, transfer
credit, or a combination of the two (confirmed by the Engineering Advising Office).
MATH 2940 (Linear Algebra for Engineers): First-year students typically do not enroll in MATH 2940 in the
first semester, unless they have already earned credit for MATH 1910, 1920 and 2930. If you feel there is a
compelling reason why you should enroll in MATH 2940 for the fall semester, please contact Engineering
Advising.
Which MATH course should I select if I don’t yet know my advanced placement exam scores
and/or plan to take the CASE?
If you have taken an advanced placement exam (AP, GCE A-Level) and do not yet know your final results, or
you wish to take the CASE exam for math during Orientation, select your class in July based on your expected
results or how confident you feel about the topics (see next page).
Please remember, detailed information and step by step instructions for selecting all of your courses,
including math, will be available on the Engineering Advising First-Year Planning website in early July,
prior to the start of fall course pre-enroll. Additionally, you will have an opportunity to adjust your fall
course enrollment during Add/Drop in late August, after you take any desired CASE exams and meet with
your faculty advisor during Orientation.
Phone: (607) 255-7414; or Email: adv_engineering@cornell.edu
ENGINEERING MATH SEQUENCE
Math 1910 (Calculus for Engineers 1)
Math 1920 (Calculus for Engineers II)
Math 2930 (Engineering Math I-Diff. Eqs.)
Math 2940 (Engineering Math II-Lin. Alg.)
Fundamental theorem
Polar coordinates
First order differential equations
Introduction/linear systems
Substitution in definite integrals
Conic sections
Initial value prob/existence thm
Row reduction
Numerical integration
Vectors in a plane
Separable equations
Vectors, linear combinations
Areas between curves
Cartesian coord/vectors in space
Linear equations
Matrix equations
Volumes by slicing
Dot products
Exact equations
Solution sets of Ax=b
Volumes of revolution
Cross products
Math models
Linear transformations
Cylindrical shells
Lines and planes in space
Qualitative methods
Matrix of linear transformation
Curve length/surface area
Vector-valued functions
Numerical methods
Matrix operations, inverse
Inverse functions and derivatives
Arc length/unit tangent vector
Linear differential operators
Invertible matrices
Natural logarithms
Functions of several variables
Second order differential equations
Partitioned matrices
The exponential/other bases
Limits and continuity
Constant coefficients/ homogeny
Determinants
Growth and Decay
Partial derivatives
Complex roots
Vector spaces
Inverse trig functions
Differentiability/linearization
Nonhomogeneous equations
Null and column spaces
Hyperbolic functions
The chain rule
Undetermined coefficients
Linear independence
Basic integration formulae
Directional derivative
Direction fields
Dimension
Integration by parts
Extreme values/saddle points
Boundary value problems and eigenvalue problems
Rank
Trig substitutions
Double integrals
Introduction to PDE
Applications
Improper integrals
Applications: mass/ center of mass/ average value
Fourier series
Eigenvectors
Limits of sequences of numbers
Integrals in polar coordinates
Sine and cosine series
Diagonalization
Theorems for limits
Triple integrals
Separation of variables
Linear transformations
Infinite series
Spherical, cylindrical coord
Heat equation
Complex eigenvalues
Integral test
Line integral
Wave equation
Apps to differential eqns
Comparison tests
Vector fields
Laplace’s equation
Orthogonal sets
Ratio tests
Flux and circulation
Inner products
Absolute convergence
Green’s Theorem
Orthogonal projection
Power series
Surface integrals
Gram-Schmidt process
Taylor and Maclaurin series
Stoke’s Theorem
Least squares problems
Taylor series convergence
Divergence theorem
Inner product spaces
Applications of power series
Curl/potential functions
Diagonalization of sym matrices
Change of variables
Orthogonal matrix
Parametrized and implicit surfaces
Singular value decomposition
Tangent plane to a surface
Revised 2/13/13