AP classes should I skip the course?

<p>I'm taking AP Chemistry at my school and self studying AP Calculus BC. If I were to get a 4 or higher on these exams this year would it be a good idea to take the credit for the classes in college or to take them in college?</p>

<p>I forgot to add that I will be majoring in aerospace engineering next year (rising senior in high school this year).</p>

<p>As long as you understand the material, skip it. Introductory courses taken in a university are designed to be a nuisance (to weed out those who won’t put up with it), and you’d be better off skipping that if you can.</p>

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<p>If the course is not a prerequisite for any other course you will take, skip it if your college allows doing so with your AP credit. You will get to take a free elective now or later in its place.</p>

<p>If it is a prerequisite for a course you will take, find the old final exams for the college course and do them to check your knowledge to decide whether you should skip it.</p>

<p>Skip chemistry, but only skip calculus if you are a calculus diva.</p>

<p>It depends a lot on what the particular college recommends. But I generally tend to agree with ucbalumnus’s advice, and suggest to not skip a class which is needed for other classes later, since you need to be sure you have a solid foundation and aren’t at a disadvantage compared to classmates who took the class at your college.</p>

<p>So, if you are only required to take one chemistry class for aerospace engineering, you might as well take credit for it and be done with it. However, if you are required to take a 2nd chemistry class which has the 1st chemistry class as a prerequisite, take the first class instead of using AP credit. </p>

<p>Calculus is very foundational for engineering. Don’t place out of it unless your college highly recommends that you do so. Especially since you self-studied Calculus, you would likely be less well prepared than those who took the Calc classes at your college.</p>

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<p>Actually, my recommendation is to use the college’s old final exams to check your knowledge of the course that may be skipped, in order to make a more informed decision on whether to skip. Many students are well prepared and can skip with no problem, while others (particularly with scores less than 5 on the AP test) are less well prepared than what the college expects from someone who completed its own course.</p>

<p>Berkeley’s College of Engineering has similar advice with respect to math courses; sample Math 1A (calculus 1) and Math 1B (calculus 2) final exam problems are provided for students with AP calculus credit to check their knowledge before choosing a math course.</p>

<p>[Choosing</a> an Appropriate First Math Course ? UC Berkeley College of Engineering](<a href=“http://coe.berkeley.edu/students/current-undergraduates/new-students/choosing-an-appropriate-first-math-course.html]Choosing”>http://coe.berkeley.edu/students/current-undergraduates/new-students/choosing-an-appropriate-first-math-course.html)</p>

<p>I had self-studied differential and integral calculus from a Teach Yourself book and was good at it but I lacked the breadth of material that a college calculus class covers and my first B on my first calculus quiz startled me. I hadn’t bothered studying or following along in class because I thought I knew it all already. So I studied the textbook like crazy and was well ahead of the class before the end of the quarter.</p>

<p>Had I been able to “test out” of calc I and II, I might have missed a lot of important stuff like trig substitution, for example.</p>

<p>Tom, what do you mean by “trig substitution”?</p>

<p>The series of integrals that involve using trigonometric ratios to integrate.
It’s one of those things you learn once, always have a reference book to remind you of, and then pass on to a TI-89 which will do the heavy lifting for you.</p>

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<p>Bah! Why not let a computer wipe your butt and cut up your food for you also?!</p>

<p>Looking at the final exams as others here suggested is a good idea. If you get 5’s you probably know the material well enough, but it wouldn’t hurt to check. I considered retaking calculus in college, decided against it, and got an A+ in multivariable my first semester, so it’s definitely possible to learn all the required material before college</p>

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A sentiment shared by all physicists who idolize inefficiency if it makes them look smarter, I’m sure.</p>

<p>Well, physicists actually have to do math after they graduate. :P</p>