<p>I recently started college in Norway, studying petroleum engineering. It’s very different and more difficult than I am used to. I took calc ab + bc in high school, and have no problems doing calc I or II final exams that I find on the internet, but the calc course I am taking here is different, and more challenging somehow, even though we use the same book I had in high school. Anyways, I’m rambling about something that has nothing to do with my initial purpose of this thread.</p>
<p>In my current class, 37% of the students were accepted to the university through a “pre engineering year”, which they took at a school which only offers pre-engineering classes. The students accepted to this pre-engineering year are at least 19 years old (time everyone graduates from high school in Norway - no skipping a year or two), while the median is 21, and have not taken any mathematic or science courses in high school. For one full year all they study is math and physics. Starting with basic algebra and end up going through integrals and complex vectors in math, and start with “what is an atom”, and end up going through a lot of calculus based physics. </p>
<p>Today, we received the grade statistics for our final exams(which count for 100% of our grade), These statistics also compare how the “pre engineering” students do, compared to those of us who went the normal route, learning math and physics in high school. To my surprise the “pre engineering” students greatly outdid the rest of us. Scoring on average a full letter grade better than the rest of the class, 1.1 better, on a scale from 1-5. </p>
<p>I guess I’m just posting this to inspire those of you who aspire to be engineering students. Even though you did not take the most difficult math classes, or perform well in high school, you still have a chance. Going back to the basics is not a defeat, it just means you need more practice.</p>
<p>There might be some other reasons for the grade differences between pre-eng and normal track students.</p>
<p>1) The poor pre-eng students may have already been weeded out. If a student started out in the pre-eng year and halfway through it realized it was not for them, they probably didn’t choose that major in college.</p>
<p>2) The pre-eng students that remain are then the better students, and should perform better at the next level.</p>
<p>3) The p-e track students are probably use to the type of questions on the tests. Maybe they had the same professor the year before, or know upperclassmen that have taken the classes before. I wouldn’t be surprised if there is a “hand me down” test program among those students.</p>
<p>1) True, there is usually a 20-40% dropout/fail rate for the pre-eng year(Although, the most difficult math classes in high school have similar fail/drop out rates).</p>
<p>2) To be considered for the college I attend the minimum high school math grade is a 4, which is upper 25% of the class, in the most difficult high school math course.</p>
<p>3) The pre-engineering track is not offered by the university. It is neither high school nor college. Basically, the universities offer a test to test math/physics skills for those with foreign high school transcripts. Since the pre-engineering track is offered by a school that is neither a norwegian college nor high school, these students have been eligible to take this test.</p>
<p>Of course I understand that there are numerous reasons why these students perform so well. I assume the most evident reason is that these students are older, and more mature. Also, these students have an easier transition into college, because they are used to the subject being very fast-paced - they basically went through all of high school physics/mathematics in one year. </p>
<p>I still find it fascinating that these students do so well. I can’t imagine the same thing happening in the states. We’re so stressed about getting everything done so early in life, it’s ridiculous. A few years ago I would have laughed at the idea of people studying music instead of going to high school, and then being accepted to some of the most prestigious engineering institutions in the country, after a year of “pre engineering”.</p>