<p>D wants to study ChemE. She scored a 5 her junior year on her Calc B/C AP Test. She is getting conflicting advice on which calc course to take. Some say take Calc I (an easy A), some say since it's been over a year take Calc 2 (to review), others say go ahead and take Calc 3 (calc 2 is a weedout course and unnecessarily brutal). Any advice. We don't know where she'll be attending yet so it may vary by school, however, I was curious about people's thoughts in general.</p>
<p>As far as the material is concerned, I think the best advice is what others have posted before in this section, which is looking at old tests/problem sets from the college’s calc I and II courses (some schools like Cornell have a couple online –> <a href=“http://www.math.cornell.edu/~web1910/[/url]”>http://www.math.cornell.edu/~web1910/</a>). If she feels she understands those problems well enough, then riding that AP credit is a good idea.</p>
<p>That said, it probably won’t be the material that causes problems. It will be the format of the classes, the pacing, and the new environment into which she will be fully immersed. If she decides that she’d like to hop into the next math class, my honest advice would be to wait until the spring semester to take it. That way she’ll have a lighter freshmen fall semester, which will give her time to adjust to being in college. Better to ramp up than ramp down!</p>
<p>Just have her take Calc III, reviewing calculus isn’t hard to do on one’s own time need be. At my university they had a similar situation where even if you took and did well in BC calc in HS, they recommended doing calc II for whatever reason. I did an honors Calc III course at my school and did fine without retaking Calc II, so I know your daughter will be fine too. She should just take a little time the summer before college to review if she can’t remember much.</p>
<p>Edit: I didn’t see da6onet’s post before, but I do agree she should check problems and see how much she can do. I think she should study up and see by the end of the summer if she can do all the problems and if she can, she can most likely stay in a Calc III course.
However, as da6onet said, the pace is more intense and so if she would like to start off easier, then I would agree with what was posted above. If she thinks she can handle it though, just take Calc III in the fall!</p>
<p>I’m a college freshman in calc 3. I got a 5 on the BC exam in the spring, and I’m doing well now. The pacing is a bit of a shock, but you’re kind of eased into it. The first couple chapters are often focused on vectors without/ with light calculus, so you’ll have a bit of a buffer zone before you hit the college level material.</p>
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<p>When she chooses a school, she can look for old calculus 1 and 2 final exams on the school’s web site and check her knowledge of calculus based on what the school’s calculus 1 and 2 courses teach.</p>
<p>Some schools have advising pages that include such final exams for new freshmen to review. For example: [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>Some schools have a more formalized calculus placement testing program for new freshmen. For example: [Calculus</a> Placement Exam | Department of Mathematics](<a href=“http://wumath.wustl.edu/Calculus%20Placement%20Exam]Calculus”>http://wumath.wustl.edu/Calculus%20Placement%20Exam)</p>
<p>Right to Calc 3. Calculus is not a pleasant class to take and it’s better to just independently review when the need arises.</p>
<p>Absolutely take calc 3. No reason to be bored out of your mind sitting through all that material again. I did well in it, but if I had to take it again, I would probably start skipping classes and then do poorly because of it. Like Neo said, independent review for everything going forward should be just fine.</p>
<p>Calc 2 spends a lot of time on things you don’t need for Calc 3. I would not retake it. Just jump in and review as needed.</p>
<p>Take Calculus 3 easy.</p>
<p>Why is everybody recommending calc III, Multivariable calculus? I’m taking it and its hard…</p>
<p>Hard is very relative. This individual seems to already have a very good foundation in Calc 2, so why we recommend it is that it would be a waste of time to just go over the same information they already know when they have the chance to learn something new. Hard or not…its better than wasting time.</p>