Anyone worried about standing exams?

engrishGamer · 05-11-2007, 04:58 PM

I just got my packet and saw all the placement exams (what I meant to saw in the topic title) I could take to place out of certain classes and I must say...I'm a little worried. The FEE, I'm fairly confident I can do well in but some, like the Calc exam, I'm not too sure about. I took the BC exam in 11th grade and though I got a 4, my only experience this year has been in AP Physics C (and that's only basic stuff). I know the exams aren't too important in that they'll only determine what classes I start in but I'd rather no have to take some classes if I don't have to

iostream · 05-11-2007, 05:10 PM

i'm planning to take all six of them, and i'm not worried - you have plenty of time to prepare provided you don't fritter too much of your summer away.

the bio one i'm a little scared about because i haven't taken any bio before besides freshman bio, which is useless. it's scheduled for when the famous math 55 class at harvard is scheduled... if i don't pass that, i might delay completing that until sophomore year or something. i'm sure it's study-able, though.

pebbles · 05-11-2007, 05:50 PM

They're ADVANCED standing exams. You dont have to take any of them! The vast vast majority of students take absolutely no advanced standing exams and are not in any way behind because of that. Also, a 4 on Calc BC passes you out of 18.01 (single-variable calculus) already. Also, of all the people I know who decided to pass out of classes and get ahead, the majority ended up taking filler classes freshman or sophomore year while waiting for other classes to be offered, and ended up at the same place as everyone anyways. Unless you're SURE you will get nothing out of a class, you should take it, if for no other reason than that it'll give you a good solid foundation to build on.

collegeguy2k7 · 05-11-2007, 06:03 PM

I didn't take a single advance standing exam. My AP's got me out of 18.01 and 8.01

Other than that, I was perfectly fine taking the rest of the classes. Don't stress!

iostream · 05-11-2007, 06:19 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by pebbles

the majority ended up taking filler classes freshman or sophomore year while waiting for other classes to be offered

uh... what? if you pass out of the intro level courses, you can take advanced courses. why would you need to wait/take filler courses? heck, you can take advanced courses even without the ASE's... you just have to ignore the advice of your advisor, right?

collegeguy2k7 · 05-11-2007, 06:21 PM

Yeah but those classes are institute reqs, so you'd have to get credit for them one way or another

iostream · 05-11-2007, 06:33 PM

okay then, if you fail the exams, you're hosed. but if you pass them, you DO get credit, according to the website. so you can still take advanced courses, and so i still don't understand pebbles's comment.

pebbles · 05-11-2007, 11:26 PM

Oh sorry, lemme clarify. Many majors, such as physics (which I am in so I know a little more about) only offer certain classes certain years or certain times of year (spring semester or fall semester). In other cases, oftentimes the best professors are the professors assigned to teach the course when most kids in your year will be taking it. So, what ends up happening (at least with the people that I know) is that if they're a semester ahead, they just hang around and take some filler courses until the next course in the sequence is offered. 8.044 for one is only offered in the spring. So is 8.033. So if you'd finished 8.02 by first semester, you will still need to wait until sophomore fall to take 8.033. 8.04 is offered both in fall and in the spring, but even then I know many just waited until spring sophomore year to take it so that 1) they could be with their friends and/or 2) the professor is better.

engrishGamer · 05-12-2007, 01:44 PM

Thanks for the comments. I'm a little less worried now that I know more about the exams and exactly what they do

Physics08 · 06-12-2007, 04:37 PM

Does anyone have insights into the Chemistry Advanced Standing exam? I looked on a previous thread and someone had said it was impossible and only 2-3 people pass each year during Orientation.

drunner2007 · 06-12-2007, 08:06 PM

yeah i definitely heard that its really hard.
i met someone that passed it. he said that he passed it because he had like 2-3 years of college level chemistry at a prestigious school in oklahoma

molliebatmit · 06-12-2007, 09:29 PM

Quote:

Does anyone have insights into the Chemistry Advanced Standing exam? I looked on a previous thread and someone had said it was impossible and only 2-3 people pass each year during Orientation.

It's not 2-3 (anymore), but it's also not many. The chemistry department doesn't like to award credit generously.

At the chem department website, they've put a list of suggested practice problems.

Also from their website:

Quote:

What type of exam will the Advanced Standing Exam be?
Like most MIT subjects, chemistry is oriented toward problem-solving rather than memorization. Nearly all of the problems on the Advanced Standing Exam involve calculations or analysis of information. None involve mere memorization. For example, there are no questions like: "Name the metals that are liquids at room temperature" or "What color is lead chromate?" In preparing for this exam, spend your time learning to solve problems of the type listed below quickly and accurately.

Many of the problems on the exam have numerical answers. Most of the credit for solving a particular problem will be given for providing the correct answer together with a clear demonstration of how the answer was obtained. Correct logic that leads to an incorrect numerical answer will receive some credit, but usually no more than 30-50% of the point value of the problem. The exam will be accompanied by lists of required physical constants, equations, and a periodic table of the elements. You may not use notes or books during the exam. You will be allowed 3 hours of time to work the exam.

Physics08 · 06-12-2007, 10:47 PM

Thanks Mollie! Except I think that the practice problems still come from the old text not from the new one (Atkins-Jones Chemical Principles: The Quest for Insight).

Sklog_W · 06-15-2007, 10:48 AM

It's not 2-3 people anymore for the chemistry? That's a bit disappointing. I got a kick out of going to that place super-hungover and doodling on all the answer sheet (seriously I didn't know anything about what they were talking about). A friend of mine just wrote jokes all over it. And if those practice problems are going to be good at all they better include MO theory, because the textbook they suggested my freshman year merely skimmed that subject and it's a good portion of 5.112 and included on the ASE.

Yeah, I don't think I know anyone who took (and passed) an advanced standing exam thus far, so out of the 30 freshman, '09 and '10, that have lived on my floor I'm pretty sure not one of them passed an ASE.

khon · 06-26-2007, 09:14 AM

here are tables for ASE results for 2004-06:

http://www-tech.mit.edu/V125/N41/41asetable.html
http://www-tech.mit.edu/V126/N40/40asetable.html

MIT folks--is the benchmark indeed a C as this website (http://web.mit.edu/registrar/www/schedules/advst.html) says?

"If you are a first-year student and receive a C or better on an Advanced Standing Exam taken in August/September or December, you will receive the grade P. The P grade will be posted to your fall term record and will appear on your transcript."

The low stats seem to suggest that the minimum passing grade might be higher...although perhaps the exams are just graded with little partial credit, as mollie's quote suggests.