demeter

OP, if your high school AP calculus class prepared you well, then I don't think college calculus will be that much harder. I took the AB test and placed into calc II. I had no trouble with it.

Cbeley, have you tried asking about your chem options on your school's subforum? Another thing to consider is why you got a 2 on the AP exam. The AP course covers some pretty fundamental stuff, so even if your class covered material beyond the AP level, that's not going to help you if you struggle with the basics.

My school offers a chem class similar to your chem 109. I took it , and while the material was hard and the exams difficult (but mainly because they were long), it actually wasn't hard to do well in the class if you knew how to study (and also thanks to the generous curve). I'd say half my class was full of engineering students and not too many potential chem majors (but then again, different school).

My high school AP Chem class also covered material outside the scope of the AP exam, and the exam ended up being very easy compared to what I considered at the time a ridiculously hard class.

You can always sign up for chem 109 and then drop it at a later date. In my case, the intensive gen chem (one-semester gen chem) and regular gen chem classes used the same textbook, which reduced the hassle for students dropping a level.

cbeley

Well, it's not really that I struggled, but more I got sick of it by the end of the year and never really studied...at all. The times I did read the book and actually study (with a minimal amount of time) things felt pretty easy to me. What happened, was there were a few core things that I didn't study, which hurt me when we went on to other things. Many basic concepts I do understand well, but there are a couple major things that I just didn't remember or really study.

Regardless, I still am extremely surprised I got a 2....I was expecting a 3, but possibly higher after taking it. Anyway, I'll go ahead and make a post in my subforum and probably contact someone in the department before orientation.

tw14

The "difficulty" of calculus in college really depends on the school and the course level. At many engineering schools, the primary reason for the math department to exist is to teach calc and divEQ to engineering students. At the top engineering schools this means that calc I and II will include proofs which are not that important for most engineering students.

As an engineering student, if you have earned a 4 or 5 in calc AB, you will be OK if you skip calc I. Unfortunately, you will have to take calc II for series and sequences (check the course descriptions for your school).

If you earned a 4 or 5 in calc BC you can consider skipping calc I and II.

I found that the elementary calc proofs can be important in grad school, but you will find yourself reviewing these proofs as needed.

precocious

depends on the rigor of your high school and your college calc prof.

i studied my ass off for ap calc ab in high school (not even bc, haha) and i almost failed the ap exam and got a b- in the class. in college, i never touched the textbook or did my hw, studied once a week for about an hr (right before the weekly exam) and made an A

wutangfinancial

completely depends on the college and the level. At top schools/schools with honors programs, calc 1 can be really hard (relative to high school) as it's totally proof based. Related rates questions also vary in difficulty, for example. Really depends on the school.

I know this because I've taken calc classes at 3 different schools, including high school. The first two institutions were monkey see monkey do, the last one I had to actually really think.

erhswimming

Calc III at UF is pretty hard I've heard. My friends got B's and C's in it.