Ohio State MATH 1150: Precalculus
MATH 1150 is Ohio State's combined precalculus course, covering college algebra and trigonometry in a single five-credit semester as the direct on-ramp to MATH 1151. It's the compressed alternative to taking MATH 1148 and 1149 separately, which makes the pace its defining feature.
Fennie is independent and not affiliated with The Ohio State University. This is an unofficial study guide.
What makes it hard
It's two courses in one semester, so the speed is the difficulty: functions, logs, and exponentials sprint by in the first half, then trig arrives before the algebra has settled. The common exams stack multi-step problems that combine both halves, and students who placed in with marginal algebra scores often find the trig unit lands on a foundation that's still wet.
What you'll cover
- • Functions, transformations, and inverses
- • Polynomial and rational functions
- • Exponential and logarithmic functions
- • The unit circle and trig functions
- • Trigonometric identities and equations
- • Applications and modeling
The MATH 1150 study guide
How to study for Ohio State MATH 1150, step by step.
- 1
Treat it as a five-credit commitment from day one
MATH 1150 covers two courses of material in one semester. Budget daily time immediately, because the pace never slows enough to let you catch up casually.
- 2
Stabilize the algebra before trig arrives
The trig unit lands hard on students whose log and function skills are still shaky. Use the first half of the term to make those automatic; they're the substrate for everything after.
- 3
Do every online homework problem early
Homework deadlines come fast in a compressed course, and rushed entries into the homework system cost easy points. Early starts leave room to get help on the problems that resist.
- 4
Rework every quiz and exam miss within the week
In a course this fast, an unfixed gap from week four is still on the final. Keep an error list and close each item while the material is fresh.
Today's MATH 1150 plan
What a Fennie Daily Plan looks like for MATH 1150. Yours is built from your syllabus and adapts every day to your deadlines and progress.
- Review: Functions, transformations, and inversesReview · 25 min
Work back through the MATH 1150 material on functions, transformations, and inverses. In the app, Fennie builds this from your own notes and syllabus.
- Practice: Polynomial and rational functionsPractice · 20 min
Targeted problems on polynomial and rational functions, the kind MATH 1150 actually tests.
- Quick quiz: Exponential and logarithmic functionsQuiz · 10 min
Five generated questions to expose weak spots on exponential and logarithmic functions before the exam does.
- Preview: The unit circle and trig functionsPreview · 10 min
A first pass over the unit circle and trig functions so the next session starts from familiar ground.
First plan free, no card required. Fennie is independent and unaffiliated with your school.
FAQ
Is MATH 1150 hard at Ohio State?
The material is precalculus, but the pace is the challenge: it compresses MATH 1148 and 1149 into one semester. Students who keep a daily practice habit do fine; students who study in weekend bursts get buried when trig arrives on top of unsettled algebra.
Should I take MATH 1150 or the 1148/1149 sequence?
1150 saves a semester if your placement and work habits can handle the speed. If your algebra is rusty or your schedule is already heavy, the two-course sequence gives the same preparation with more breathing room. Talk it through with your advisor against your placement score.
Does MATH 1150 prepare you for MATH 1151?
Yes, that's its entire job. It covers the algebra and trig that calculus assumes. The catch is that 1151 inherits whatever gaps you leave, so aim to exit 1150 with the function and trig skills genuinely automatic, not just passed.
More Ohio State courses
MATH 1151: Calculus I
MATH 1151 is Ohio State's standard first-semester calculus course, covering limits, derivatives, and an introduction to integration. It is required for most STEM, pre-med, and business-adjacent majors, which makes it one of the highest-enrollment courses on campus, taught in large lectures with recitation sections.
MATH 1148: College Algebra
MATH 1148 is Ohio State's college algebra course (functions, polynomials, rationals, exponentials, and logarithms) and the on-ramp to precalculus and the calculus sequence. Thousands of students take it every year, many placed there by the math placement test rather than by choice.
MATH 1172: Engineering Mathematics A
MATH 1172 is the accelerated second calculus course for engineering majors, combining integration techniques, sequences and series, and an introduction to multivariable ideas into one five-credit semester. It follows MATH 1151 and is a prerequisite gate for most of the College of Engineering's sophomore curriculum.
MATH 1149: Trigonometry
MATH 1149 covers trigonometric functions, identities, equations, and applications: the trig half of the precalculus preparation for MATH 1151. It's the standard route for students whose placement score clears algebra but not trig, and it runs every term at high enrollment.