<p>I have heard that some students who have already placed out of courses via AP tests are choosing to take the course anyway. What is the rational for this? Will they touch on this at O week? Why would you want to retake calculus or general chem again?</p>
<p>People will have a variety of reasons for making course decisions. Retaking the course is definitely not a bad idea, though, especially if it’s a subject that is important in your area of academic interest. AP classes really don’t compare to the material that you’ll cover in first-year courses at Rice.</p>
<p>I’m going to be majoring in Econ. I’ve had a summer course in Micro, but I’m still going to take Econ 201 because my course didn’t go as in-depth as it should have, so I don’t want to advance to a higher level and get left behind, even though I know most of the material in 201.</p>
<p>Basically, the idea behind retaking courses you’ve tested out of or received credit for is to (1) ensure that you as in a position to succeed at higher-level coursework in the subject; and (2) boost your GPA while you’re at it. It’s rather silly to do if you’re not planning on doing upper-level work in the subject, but it’s probably a good idea to have a solid background in a subject before pursuing it further.</p>
<p>
</p>
<p>This is spot on. If you plan on majoring in physics, you may want to take honors physics just to refresh what you know, and go more in detail.</p>
<p>what is a ■■■■■?</p>
<p>so someone planning to major in engineering should retake all of the math and science courses they placed out of?</p>
<p>
</p>
<p>Not necessarily. I would look at it in a case by case basis. If you feel confident in a subject and are generally good at it, then you can go ahead and test out of it. </p>
<p>It also depends on the type of engineering. As a chemE, we do a limited amount of physics. Chemistry is far more important as is math. ChemE’s only need/take 2 semesters of physics but take Chem 1, Chem 2, Organic chem 1, organic chem 2, chem lab and physical chemistry. In this case, testing out of physics but taking chemistry makes sense. The opposite is true for MechE’s.</p>
<p>Talk to your adviser at Rice. Also look over the course description. If you feel comfortable with the topics covered, take the AP credit.</p>
<p>Good advice Antarius. Wasn’t quite sure how to gauge it, my high school dropped AP classes years ago, but still managed to covered most of the subject matter in depth, so placement tests went reasonable well. I’ll talk to an adviser. Thanks.</p>
<p>
</p>
<p>not true. this is high school/class dependent. if you have AP credit, don’t retake it unless it was an absolute fluke that you passed. the extra flexibility you get by receiving credit is huge. if you like a subject but don’t want to jump into a sophomore level course, take the honors version. </p>
<p>i took AP calc BC in high school but took calc 2 my first semester. it was a breeze and a waste of my time.</p>
<p>It’s not true in every case, but I think generally it’s a good rule of thumb. In certain cases, you should almost certainly not take the AP credit; very few students succeed in jumping to second-year physics, for example, although a few will try every year.</p>
<p>I wouldn’t call it a rule of thumb at all. I made decision to retake Bioc 201 after getting a 5 in AP Bio (from what I thought was a very poor education) and was bored to tears the entire semester. Same story with Calc 101 (except I just skipped the test). </p>
<p>If you feel like you rocked AP, at least sit in the first week of the upper level class. It’s almost always easier to drop back down than the other way around.</p>
<p>I’m really not the ideal person to discuss this, because the only class for which I didn’t take my available AP credit was intro physics, but I think that in most cases the courses at Rice will be taught by more knowledgeable people and probably go into more depth than the average AP class.</p>
<p>It looks like there are two schools of thought. I know people at Rice who decided to retake some classes, and some who just jumped straight into the sophomore level stuff.</p>
<p>I do agree with Tilgaham’s comment
</p>
<p>If you are not sure whether to AP out or take the class, sit in the upper level class. If the syllabus is confusing and you are not 100% confident, drop the class for the intro one.</p>