Calculus and AP credit

4mom4 · 07-24-2007, 09:41 PM

My son will be starting at ND in the Fall and it looks like he has tested out of the Calculus requirement. He received a 4 on both the AP calc AB and on BC. He emailed his counselor to ask him about it but has yet to hear back from him. He's not going to be a science major, probably history, but he wants to get a well rounded education. First, is it accurate that he doesn't need to take calculus and second, would those in the know recommend that he take it anyway as part of a good education? There are certainly many other classes he'd like to take.

ddjones007 · 07-25-2007, 08:04 AM

If he can get out of calc, I'd suggest he not look that gift horse in the mouth!

jvon2432 · 07-25-2007, 08:20 PM

my 4 on calc bc was the greatest thing that's ever happened to me

Mombot · 07-26-2007, 12:35 AM

D. got a 4 on BC, so she's taking multivariable calc instead. She's weird like that. She says she'd rather take math than English because it's easier.

4mom4 · 07-26-2007, 02:15 PM

Thank you for the input. I suspect my offspring would rather take something other than math. I wish his advisor would get back to him. How are the advisors in general at getting back to people?

notre dame AL · 07-26-2007, 02:42 PM

My guess is that it depends on the advisor. Son's FYS advisor never e-mailed him back when he wanted to discuss some AP Chem credit last summer as an incoming freshman. Everything worked out, but a confirmation might have been helpful. As it has turned out, son really did not care for his FYS advisor. And, although he really did not have any difficulties registering for either semester--he now has a new advisor since he has finished first year and had to declare a major. I think he is hoping that this one will be better!

letsgoirish · 07-29-2007, 11:16 AM

Will a 5 on the AP Calc. BC exam satisfy the Math requirement for the science pre-professional major? And, even if it does, is it recommended or required that pre-med students take another year of math anyway?

lh2007 · 08-02-2007, 08:00 AM

I'd think that you'd want to take at least 1 math course (calc I or higher) in those four years, especially before going into graduate school, as a pre-prof major. I'm not sure if a 5 will cover a whole year, but I'd take 2 years of math just to be safe.

jvon2432 · 08-02-2007, 10:54 PM

4 and 5 do the same thing

jvon2432 · 08-03-2007, 06:23 PM

which is credit for 2 classes (8 hours) but i would assume a science major still needs more calculus

tjlax25 · 08-12-2007, 05:00 PM

i tested out of both semesters, but i decided to take both Calc A and B again...aced both semesters, thats always an option!

shellzie2006 · 08-12-2007, 07:19 PM

Depends on what your major is. I think bio is set with just calc 1and 2, but biochem needs through calc 3 (but they have a special calc for the chem department now thats geared towards prepping you for pchem). Bio requires a statistics class later on though, usually senior year. I'm biochem and I tested out of calc 1 and 2 and took calc 3 last year.

bpayne1 · 08-14-2007, 12:54 AM

Calculus for the hell of it is absolutely pointless, I know because I fell into that trap. If he wants to take math he should do some useful business stats classes or even physics. If he is a masochist and likes to be challenged though then I guess he should roll with the straight calculus(which is really engineering calculus). As for advisors, they do vary. I was able to just show up at my advisor's office multiple times and she met with me and made calls to other departments to work things out.

4mom4 · 08-14-2007, 05:10 PM

As the original poster, I thought I'd let you know the upshot for my son. He never heard directly from his advisor but received his schedule without calculus and with one of his other choices instead. I'm not sure if his advisor read his email or just responded to the list of AP scores he received. In any case, my son's pleased with the result. Thanks for the advice.