I will attending Cal Poly this fall as an electrical engineering major. I looked at the major flowchart and AP credit chart, and it was a bit confusing to understand whether my non-STEM AP courses could count towards general education requirements. I will have taken AP Calculus AB (predicted score: 5), AP Biology (predicted score: 4), AP Spanish Language (predicted score: 5), AP English Language and Composition (score: 4), and AP U.S. History (score: 4).
Is it possible for my U.S. History, English, and Spanish AP courses to allow me to get out of some general education courses? It looks like my Calculus and Biology AP courses can help me test out of a few courses in the electrical engineering curriculum.
Your English score will get you out of A1, which is the beginning english GE. History won’t get you out of any GEs unless you have taken the AP Gov test also. Spanish AP won’t get you out of any GEs. They grant you free elective units instead, but I don’t believe any of the engineering majors have free elective units besides the 1 that’s allotted for the intro class.
Don’t assume your AP means you’re ready to move past Calc I. All AP teachers are different and passing the test doesn’t guarantee you’ve mastered the required material well enough to build on it. There is a way to know for sure. Look up the syllabus and old tests and finals from Calc I (math 141) and see how you would have done on the tests. If you crush it, move on. If you’re a little rusty, bone up on Kahn Academy. If it’s over your head, repeat. Good luck.
@eyemgh Any idea where to find the old tests and syllabi? My son is in roughly the same situation with AB and BC Calc, Physics C Mech, and AP Computer Science. Are the professors at Poly open to providing this info?
My son just Googled for old exams (midterm and final) from 141 and 142 and told by a couple of engineers to bone up on Taylor and Maclauren Series.
He couldn’t find tests for Physics, so he called the department and asked for them. At first they were a little suspicious, but when he told them he was an incoming student and wanted to see if he was prepared to use his AP credit, they happily obliged.
Any areas where he was a bit rusty, he freshened up on Kahn.
@eyemgh Thanks! When do you have to decide whether to take the AP credit or enroll in the earlier class in the series? My son is already being asked to fill out a survey that will be used to select his fall classes.
@NLinsanity Are you sure about that? From what I understand, and from what @eyemgh has posted in the past, you have the choice about whether to take the AP credit or repeat the class.