<p>I see from the Haverford website that only 4 course credits will be given for AP and/or college courses taken elsewhere. How flexible are departments about placement for additional classes already taken? Like in higher level math beyond what is typical? My son will have taken calc III, differential equations and linear algebra in addition to many other AP and college classes by the time he graduates high school in June. We'll communicate with the department (especially math), but we'd love to hear of personal experiences in various departments. He has a few philosophy department classes, too, as well as biochem and computer science.</p>
<p>We're really impressed with the school and he isn't looking to graduate faster. He just wants to be placed into appropriate level classes. </p>
<p>My experience with our Hford student is that Haverford does an excellent job at ensuring students are in challenging classes. There are placement tests and a very supportive advising process to ensure placement is done right. Even if a student wants to take a class in a topic they already have mastered for an ‘easy class’, the school will push the student to learn something new. I know of at least one student who came in with advanced math skills and placed above most freshman and another who went into a medieval Spanish history class - in Spanish, because her adviser thought she could handle the challenge.</p>
<p>Thanks! I appreciate the input! My older son is (obviously) at Cornell. We made sure to help him choose a campus with a graduate program because his math level was already so advanced. He was quite certain that he would be a math major. He’s taking mostly graduate classes now as a junior. His younger brother is less certain of major and more in need of a smaller campus for best fit. I think Haverford is perfect for him. I just like knowing that they will be flexible, too. We’re meeting with another friend who graduated from Haverford to discuss more about the school. We’ve been doing a lot of that.</p>
<p>Keep in mind that AP credits aren’t used for placement (thats what placement tests and advisors are for). I know one kid who came in who already took linear algebra and he was placed into the appropriate class. Professors want to make sure your not in a class that is too easy for you.
Plus at Haverford 4 credits is equivalent to 4 classes which how many classes people usually take in a semester (so for example if you have a particularly tough schedule one semester you can take fewer classes).</p>
<p>Thanks. We’ll keep that in mind when deciding whether or not to pay for all of the AP tests this year. A friend told us that he knew of students who were allowed to advance to appropriate levels in math, as you said, but that was decades ago. It’s good to hear that the practice continues. It sounds like such a great place! </p>
<p>Wow. Some high school stats. However he may find that Linear Algebra at Haverford is not the Linear Algebra as taught in H S. Most likely more theoretical work.That said it is very difficult to enroll in classes at Haverford below one’s ability. He has chosen to attend a truly excellent college. </p>
<p>Thanks! Hopefully it will work out for him to attend Haverford. His linear class was at a community college while some of his other college classes were at a state university. We live close enough to pick and choose. Our high school offers calc III and diff eq, too. My older son had taken those classes as well as some university math classes, too, which had him very well prepared for the honors theoretical freshman math major sequence at Cornell (some linear, calc III and diff eq all together). Others found those classes extremely challenging and many dropped the idea of majoring in math as a result. Younger son isn’t sure about major at all but is keeping math as an option. </p>