If I got 5’s on AP Chem, AP Physics 1, AP Physics C, AP Calc AB and BC, does that mean I should skip these classes? Also, I am thinking I still have to take some Honors Eng design classes being in the honors college. It looks like that means my AP Physics exam will not help me out. I also got 4’s and 5’s on my Economics, World History, Human Geo. I am taking a few more this year. Will any of this help me save money?
5 on AP chemistry = CHM 11500 and 11600
5 on AP physics 1 = PHYS 22000
5 on AP physics C mechanics = PHYS 17200
5 on AP physics C E&M = PHYS 27200
5 on AP calculus BC = MA 16500 and 16600
4 on AP microeconomics = ECON 25100
4 on AP macroeconomics = ECON 25200
4 on AP world history = HIST 10500
4 on AP human geography = EAPS 12000
You need to check which of the above courses are specified for your major. Also, if you are planning to take more advanced courses in the subject area, you may want to try the old final exams of the courses above to check your knowledge against Purdue’s standards.
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Couple of things about AP credits at Purdue. First off, they are pretty generous as to what they’ll accept: College Board Advanced Placement Credit - Undergraduate Admissions - Purdue University
The question of whether you should skip a course is less straight forward. My D’s advisor suggested she take some the old finals that are posted on the department websites and see how she did. If you get more than 85%, it was recommended to skip.
As a chem E, she chose not to skip AP chem. Physics didn’t help because as noted, it’s integrated into engineering design.
My D used all her non STEM APs to place out of her gen eds, which helped free up space for courses for certifications, concentrations, minors.
What wasn’t possible was graduating early because of engineering course sequencing.
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My son skipped anything he could. And tested out of anything he could.
He ended up with 58 credits at the start. YMMV
Calc 3 was a tough one since he took AP BC his sophomore year.
He says Honors Eng design is annoying. It takes a lot of time but is a good class.
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Oh mine took it sophomore year too. Hope he remembers it!!!
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Depends on whether you will be able to graduate early. Despite the “AP’s help you save money” story, I believe the vast, vast majority simply allow students to start in advanced classes, take more electives, have more flexibility, etc. As noted above, it can “free up space for courses for certifications, concentrations, minors.”
But paying 8 semesters of tuition is paying 8 semesters of tuition, regardless of the courses you take.
You can look through the FYE and individual major plans of study to see if you can accelerate graduation. Engineering as a lot of sequential pre-requisities, which can make it difficult.
Just looking at the list, there are maybe 9 courses that can be credited to an engineering plan of study. My guess is that it would be possible to construct a 3.5 year path to graduation, though you’d be off-cycle with many students in the starting class.
An academic advisor is in place to answer these questions. You may be able to contact the FYE office and ask for someone to walk through this before enrolling and getting an assigned advisor.
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Just heard from the FYE teams meeting that Calc I, II, III are hard. My D did Calc BC with a 5 and she’s currently doing Calc III MVC at HS. Do you think she should skip all the math courses in Purdue?
If she feels she knows the material, and is well prepared for the follow-on Linear and DiffEq courses, then yes.
Most professors post previous exams on their sites - she should look through them to evaluate her level of confidence.
Yes, as a T10 engineering school, advanced math courses are difficult, as they likely are at peer universities.
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Have her take the finals that are posted on Purdue’s website. If she can consistently score 85% or higher, the advisor will most likely tell her to go ahead and skip ahead.
Almost all the upper level engineering courses are heavily calculus based so be sure she has a very solid foundation and understanding before jumping ahead.
FWIW, my D found LA and Diff Eq to be easier than Calc II and MVC at Purdue.
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First, I doubt Purdue will allow her to skip Calc 3. They give credits for AP courses but I don’t think there is a Calc 3 AP course (I could be mistaken my D graduated HS in 2013). I can give you my D’s experience. She took AP Calc B/C and got a 5 on the test her junior year. She went straight to Calc 3 at Purdue and it was one of 3 Bs she had as a Chem E major. Her problem was the Calc 2 review portion of the course. She said it was taught differently and it had been awhile since she’d taken it. The new material she had no problem with nor did she have any problem (not that they were easy) with Diff Eq or Linear Algebra. I agree with looking at prior tests if you can. It’s not something that my D did.
There is no AP Calc III but many high schools offer MVC either on site or through college partnerships. My D knows two Purdue engineers that started in LA.
I wouldn’t recommend skipping that far either unless a student is very very strong in math.
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As pointed out by momofboiler1, my D has dual college credits. I told her only to skip those classes that will not affect her core courses and she gave me a sad face. I hope the advisor can talk her out. Btw, is the English class worth taking? She has credits to skip it. I just wonder if it will be a miss of a good class.
My D used her English AP credit to place out of the written communication requirement but went ahead and took a class for oral communications. She loved her class and would recommend it.
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My son started out in calc3 in the fall. He said there were a lot of freshman that started in Calc 3. He didn’t have a problem. They give the class a pretty stiff curve at the end.
You can take advanced credit exams to receive credit for MA261 and you need 70% to pass. If she feels she knows the material this is a possibility.
I am not sure I would go on the sole advice of the advisor. Some advisors suggest it could be an easy gpa boost. You know your student as well as anyone. She knows herself.
Dr. Chen has most of his lectures and exams available online since 2018. Some come complete with Solutions. Have her look those up and see what she thinks.
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5 on BC lets her skip MA 16500 and 16600. If she wants to be sure, she can try the old MA 16500 and 16600 final exams to check her knowledge. If she knows the material well, best to skip to avoid wasting time and tuition on them.
Assuming dual credit for multivariable calculus, check whether Purdue accepts it for subject credit. She can also try the Purdue old final exams to check her knowledge.
As far as English, humanities, and social studies, she can skip the introductory level courses with AP credit as allowed and take more advanced ones that may be more interesting. Again, trying old final exams may help her determine how well she knows the material by the college’s standards (although English composition courses are often essays and papers only without exams).
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How does one “test out” of a class?
With AP or IB credit, or with an approved DE class.
In addition to AP or CLEP testing:
For CS180, through the CS180 Proficiency Exam.
For Foreign Languages, through Language Placement Testing.
For Chemistry, through the Advanced Credit in Chemistry test.
For 13 Math courses, the Mathematics Advanced Credit Exam
The Purdue Testing Center lists a few others with which I’m not familiar, and individual departments may have others.
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I decided on Chem E. I transitioned into it this semester. I will be able to graduate in 3 years. My advisor helped me set up my courses to finish in 2025.
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The chem e department is wonderful! Such great professors!
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