<p>I’ve already learned Trig/Precalc, but I’ve gone an entire year (gap year) with absolutely no math. So it’d just be “refreshing” and maybe learning a few new concepts (I don’t think my class covered everything it should have). I was thinking about majoring in Bio, and being placed in Trig/Pre-Calc in UChicago would delay me. I want to take the AP5 Bio sequence, and I believe one is not allowed to start the science until s/he’s finished trig/precalc, which is two quarters long. I think…</p>
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<p>There’s also a never never land between the 160s and the higher level courses. That’s where D ended up a few years back. She placed out of all the 160s, but not into honors analysis, so as a bio major, she took Spanish instead. </p>
<p>I recall a stat I came across that about 9% of students place beyond the 160s each year. </p>
<p>The beauty of math at UofC is that there are so many paths.</p>
<p>I’m also convinced that there’s an ideal path for everyone. Not everyone takes the ideal path, but it exists. And the placement exam does a really good job on the whole of putting students on the right path, but a lot of times it’s necessary to talk to a bunch of people to get some anecdotal evidence for what to do. It’s a good idea to not only attend the O-Week info sessions, but also to talk to current students and whatnot. The advisers in the math department seem to err on the optimistic side about what students can do, which is fine, but it’s good to know that going in.</p>