For the umpteenth time MATH 155A VS. MATH 150A! Please answer!

Pancaked
Tue, 05 Jun 2012 02:32:51 +0000

DISCLAIMER: I didn’t take 150 or 155. You should try to ask other current students if you can get a hold of them somehow. Maybe try asking on the Facebook group, I know there are few upperclassmen hanging around in there, and they might help/refer you to others.

I recommend 155. You aren’t going to see new material in either class assuming you’ve covered BC material. You have to know calculus like the back of your hand to get an A in 155. You’ll probably get a B. But that’s fine because the standardized tests tests are so bad in 150 that you’d probably get a B there as well and still have to take an additional semester of math (170) to cover everything covered in 155.

If you’re already comfortable integrating you should take 155. In summary, if you HAVE to take one of these classes… both classes have very difficult exams, but 155s are a little more fair because they aren’t standardized. 155 has harder material though, so if you aren’t great at calc, the fact that exams are more fair won’t be helpful, and 150 will probably suit you better.

You’ll quickly learn at Vanderbilt, especially if you’re doing math/science, that there is nothing wrong with a B. I was a kid in highschool who was offended if I didn’t get an A on a test and never got less than an A in a class. Now, I’m quite pleased to get a B in a tough class.

As for professors… Rafter is a GREAT teacher but is notorious for difficult tests. Chance and Bova tend to get good reviews. Can’t really speak for the others. Take a look at ratemyprofessor (and after you take these courses, do the world a favor and submit a rating for them as well).

150/155 and Chem are weed out classes because people who don’t put effort into the classes get C’s or D’s, and are so not used to those grades that they are led to change their major or drop their pre-med aspirations. The classes are really great to get you to start actually trying and putting in effort, which is something a lot of us didn’t have to do in highschool. The material for Chem and 150/155 is not very different than their respective AP exams- they just very difficult exams.