goheels358

hi so i'm coming to duke next year and just had a couple of questions...I have taken french literature and place out with my AP score...so i would need to take one year of french 100S or 101...does anyone suggest doing this? or should i take another language from the beginning?

also..i had a couple of questions about AP credits. Should i use my credits in biology/chemistry/BC calculus to place me out of the intro classes...or will taking them help me understand the upper level courses?

godevils2011

goheels358: First of all, I don't know what's up with your username. For language, just take whatever language you want to take. Do you want to continue French? Then take French. Do you want to learn Arabic, Chinese, Japanese, or what? Do what you want. You have a lot of opportunities to take whatever language you want.

As for AP credits, I would use them to place out of intro classes. Sometimes, intro classes are actually really hard in order to weed out the people who aren't serious about the subject (for example, economics is a trendy major to start in, but a lot of people get burned in Econ 51D and end up pursuing something else).

Mondo

Math 32 is harder than Calc BC.
I would just take 103.
I took 32, got a B in it, and have been learning that nothing I learned in 32 (except for how to use integration..) is used for 103.

eulalia

What about if you are going into engineering. Would it still be recommended to accept credit for BC and go into 103? Would I learn things in 32 (that are not in BC) that may show up in the engineering curriculum?

DukeEgr93

eulalia - from 31/32 we (Pratt) certainly would expect single variable differentiation, integration, series analysis, limits, and the ability to understand the fundamentals of what starts in Math 103, which is the multivariable version of...that stuff If you had a strong AP background, you can certainly go straight to 103. We've also had folks hit 103 and decide to switch into 32 or 41 during the semester.

runforfun529

Question:

I took AP Calc AB last year and got a 5, so I'll get out of Math 31. Should I take math 32 or math 41L? Options for Calculus II outlines the differences, but I'm wondering if there is anything else I should know when trying to make my choice.

fast27

hi I'm 2012.

I was wondering what the courseload/difficulty differences are between humanities and science/engineering. (and econ, which might be a separate category?).

I want to do some electives, maybe a minor or two, and definitely some study abroad. Will science/engineering allow this? Will econ? Or should I just stick to humanities? :-)

Enteril

I'm a biology major and going abroad fits in perfectly with my schedule. However, I had some engineering friends who were trying to figure it out and as far as I can tell it's hard as hell to study abroad as a Pratt student.

And there really is a huge difference between the humanities courses and science courses that I've taken. Of course, the humanities courses I've taken are foreign languages and the science courses I've taken are weeder-entry level freshman courses, so take that with a grain of salt.

mahavir10

I've heard that the bio/chem/science intro courses are hard and that the curve in all science courses is tough (B-/C+).

At the moment I want to do premed. Last year I got a 5 on the AP Chem test and I signed up to take the AP Bio test next week. Do you think I should take the AP Bio test and use these APs to get out of intro courses? Or do you think I should just forget about taking AP Bio and take the intro courses so that I get a good foundation for other pre med requirements and medical school?

mafool

Our son is in Pratt and has arranged to study overseas first semester junior year, as have 2 of his close friends who are also in Pratt. It can be done, but it does require planning.

irishforever

and missing a few basketball games...

mafool

but not the BIG ones

irishforever

You're right mafool! But S1 decided early on that Pratt + basketball meant no study abroad during the school year for him. He actually didn't want to anyway, though we encouraged it. D went to England for her whole Junior year, and loved it! I think it's a great thing to do, and hope S2 will plan for it!

Coleatduke

I would use the credit. Class will be boring if you've already had the material and will generally just not be worth it in the long run. I used credit to get out of Chem 21/22 and Calc 31/32 and haven't regretted it for a second--allowed me to take classes these past two semesters that I otherwise would not have been able to and, if it's easy As you're looking for, there are other classes that would serve that function better. Most of my friends who took classes that they already had AP credit in actually did worse because they felt like they already knew the material and didn't study as much for the exams, which resulted in worse grades.

dukie123

I'm looking at math courses...
has anyone had Prof. Paul Aspinwall or know anything about him?

thanks