stertip

I'm planning on majoring in Mech Engineering this fall, and need a little input.

Do you guys believe it is a better idea to take my AP credits for BC Calc and Physics C, and use the freed up time to take other courses, or repeat Calc and Physics next year?

Thanks for any input! And thanks for all the help I've already received browsing this forum!

kha1ed

I'd say take Calc 2 to help you as you move on and take calc 3. Some of the things you might have not covered.

frever

If you are very comfortable with calculus, I'd recommend starting at 408D (calc II). But I say this with caution as many high school students believe that they're great at math -for whatever reason- even though they are not. I would qualify very comfortable as an easy 5 on the AP test. I would not recommend going straight into 427K (diff-eq/3rd calc) as a freshman simply because you need time to transition to university-style courses and the great majority of 427k students are sophomores.

Which physics C credit(s) are you referring to? For the physics sequence, it would be sensible to claim credit for E&M but, considering your major, it might be wise to retake mechanics to establish a firm base for future courses.

I claimed a good deal of AP credit and I feel like you should approach any of these decisions with the question of "can I get away with it?". By that I mean to make the point that no high school course will cover the material as thoroughly as you will at UT. In fact, it's pretty common for courses at UT to cover entire topics that were not required for AP tests. For this reason, if you enter class X having used AP credit for its prerequisite, you will likely enter with a more superficial background than most of your peers. Don't let this scare you too much: the topics were skipped on the AP tests because they were less important. But you should expect to see things in the advanced class that are completely new to you, but not to your peers.

stertip

Ok, thanks so much for the input!

For the AP credits you claimed, did you regret any of it?

And, I know this will vary greatly person to person, but how hard was it to self-study the missed concepts?

frever

I do not regret claiming any of them. I am preparing to take the MCAT this summer and used AP credit for intro bio, chemistry, and physics (~half of the test concepts) and do not feel very disadvantaged. In class, I will sometimes have trouble with a concept or miss a question on a test and one of my friends will tell me that they learned it in their intro course. However, these tend to be minor points and the total effect is small. That said, I should qualify my opinion by letting you know that I studied relatively hard in high school, knew the material well, and got 5's on all of my tests. That's why I emphasized that you should be very comfortable with the material before you claim credit for a class that serves as a prerequisite. Prerequisites are required for a reason and the minimum accepted AP score isn't necessarily a good indicator of competence.

As a mechanical engineer, I don't know if a good physics background will be critical but a strong background in calculus is definitely necessary.

While you should be careful about claiming credit for courses pertinent to your major (e.g. physics and calculus), you should have little worry about claiming credit for core requirements like government, English, history, arts, etc. Just get those out of the way and forget about them.

For the random high school student looking to get core classes out of the way: If you have the room, try to take AP Art History or AP Art. A lot of incoming students do not realize that a Visual & Performing Arts (VAPA) credit is as required as government and English.

Locness

I took calc BC in high school

Made a 4 on the ap test(without really studying all too much, just crammed the night before).

I took calc 1 in community college...failed my first test with a 43. I worked my butt off and pulled an A in that class. Calc 2...I learned my lesson and studied hard and made an A with a bit of less effort than in calc 1

It really depends on your teacher in high school. But I'd say that that calculus ap test is NOTHING compared to calculus in college.

You have to back up your calculus knowledge with a DEEP understanding of algebraic manipulations in college(at least with the professors I took).

So since your major(engineering) requires you to use a lot of math...just retake it.

I know my math MUCH MUCH MUCH better now that I have had such rigorous classes over them.

I know that easily I could have made a 5 on that AP test...if I did make a 5, I would have taken credit and missed out of actually learning some real grown up math, the ap test is like baby calculus