<p>For engineering I keep hearing that no matter how well u do on AP exams, it is still worth retaking calculus and physics at college because they are so fundamental to engineering success. So the question is it worth taking those AP exams to begin with? If yes, does skipping these intro courses give u any advantage to get better courses in engineering? Would appreciate any input from current students and graduates in engineering dept.Thanx.</p>
<p>That’s a really great question, maryversity. I hope some of our more experienced UMD posters will take the time to answer it. My son is wondering the same sorts of questions.</p>
<p>It depends on how hard AP calculus and AP physics were in high school. D1 took the exams and placed out of (and did not retake) the courses. Calculus was no walk in the park at UMD, and she was a hs soph when she took calculus, so she spent a lot of time on that class. She was going to retake one of the physics courses at UMD, but after getting in the class and seeing the syllabus, she saw that most of it was review. Again, she had to work hard in the class that followed it, but both were doable (and she got A’s). I believe that if you take the AP test and score high enough to get credit at UMD, the extra credit hours will come in handy for most people because of earlier priority in registering and parking assignments, even if you retake the class. (But, I’m not sure if engineering registration priority benefits as much as all the other colleges at UMD in terms of registration dates being assigned by credit hours…one of the engineering CCer will have to answer that one).</p>
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<p>Why not? Is the cost a problem? (will the school not pay?) If for no other reason, don’t you want to know if you really know the subject?</p>
<p>I am in my 4th semester at Maryland and I will have 122 credits after this term.(a “supersenior”) This status has some perks. I am one of the first to register for classes. If I wanted to, I could graduate early(not gonna happen, having too much fun). I am taking all 3 and 4 hundred level courses and will take a few grad courses as an undergrad. This is possible because Maryland gave me 55 credits for AP work. IF you score a 5 on the exam, then you must know the subject and you should move on. There’s so much more out there. :)</p>
<p>OTOH, if you don’t score a 5, you might want to consider retaking the class.</p>
<p>I guess for me, the critical part of the question is whether to repeat the courses. There might be several reasons to do so.</p>
<p>I know a mathematician who says that math is best baked twice, meaning that often, students don’t really get the hang of something in math until they go through it a second time. I think there’s something to that, although it would be impractical to adopt that as a general rule for every math course. But calculus is pretty essential for all the math for engineering, and it’s often a bit of a leap for many students from prior math to calculus.</p>
<p>Another reason to repeat the initial calculus course or two, and possibly the physics course, too, is that some colleges don’t follow precisely what is taught in AP Calculus BC, and thus, it may be worthwhile to repeat it to get the additional material. Same thing with the AP Physics course. So that’d be part of the question - the courses for which one gets credit, do they differ much from the standard AP courses?</p>
<p>Then, there may be intangibles about which only a current student might be aware. Those of us (or our sons and daughters) who are getting ready to start college in the fall don’t have the benefit of experience, yet, and are looking to learn from those who do.</p>
<p>Thanks for your input.</p>
<p>@notjoe, your points are exactly why I posed the question. If it were any other major, I see no reason to not place out of those classes. However, since math is so fundamental to engineering, that is my concern - inconsistent teaching in high schools. Some people are naturally gifted at math and test well, but that doesn’t mean their teacher went over everything that a college will - that’s my concern.</p>
<p>@plumazul, first off, thank you for taking the time to answer so many of these threads. Your first-hand info and enthusiasm for the school is a very welcome voice. As for your question, no the school does not pay for the AP exams. So, cost is a bit of a consideration, but not a deal breaker. Yes, it would be nice to know proficiency, but if it’s better for engineers to specifically retake calc and physics anyway… If it were an English or History AP, then yes, there is a definite point to take those, because that saves on taking CORE requirements for the university, and neither of those are foundation-builder courses for engineering. So my question is not whether its worth taking AP’s at all, just the calc and physics for engineering students…</p>
<p>As a comp sci/math double major (who has had engineering roommates), I would say test out of it if you can. If it is absolutely necessary for future courses, they would teach it in the AP class. None of my friends have said they wished they didn’t test out of class X.</p>
<p>@Eddie, did you/your engineering roommates take the Calc BC and then go right into Calc III?</p>
<p>Yes. I might have thought about it a little more if it was Calc AB to Calc II, but Calc II doesn’t help with Calc III that much. Calc III focuses more on Calc I in higher dimensions (aka multivariable calculus). It isn’t nearly as hard as it sounds. </p>
<p>But Calc II is just a bunch of add-ons to Calc I. You don’t use series in Calc III nor do you have to take integrals of stuff like arctan. I never took physics so I can’t answer those, but testing out of college calc II will be fine.</p>
<p>EDIT: I also skipped Calc II and did fine</p>
<p>Thank you, Eddie. That is very helpful to know.</p>
<p>@mary,
I took Cal III (Honors) during my first semester at Maryland and I am currently taking Physical Chemistry. No problems. :)</p>