<p>Hello guys! I posted this same question in the Tufts forum because I'll be going there in the fall, but then I realized this might be a better place to ask.</p>
<p>I'm a high school senior and I was just accepted to the school of engineering at Tufts under EDII! needless to say i'm very excited.
But, I have a question about course selection. I'm in AP calc (AB) right now, and the only way to get out of taking it again at Tufts would be a 5 on the AP exam. I'm not sure that's going to happen, but after poking around the Tufts website i noticed something. There's an honors course that combines Calc I and Calc II in one semester. My high school calc class runs all year on a block schedule, and my teacher says that we will get through about half of Calc II before the end of the year. So if i can't place out of Calc I with the AP Exam, would this honors course be a good idea? Since I'm already taking Calc I and some of Calc II now, would I be able to handle taking it again but crammed into one semester in college?</p>
<p>Do any of you have experience with the class, or a similar class at a different college?</p>
<p>I think it really depends on how well you do and how well you grasp the material.</p>
<p>My initial thought is there would be no reason for it. You can just use those grades as GPA boosters. But, if you study hard enough, I don’t think it would be a problem.</p>
<p>Just a word of wisdom, people usually find Calc II difficult in college.</p>
<p>Most of Calc II is integrals so if your good at that than it shouldn’t be a problem. You just have to really understand integrals well enough to know when to use all the different techniques to solve them. It’s easy if you just study a little bit though.</p>
<p>College material moves at a faster rate. Some enjoy it, others struggle with it, at least initially. If it were, say composition I & II in the same semester, I’d say go for it. But calculus is not freshman composition. I’m not a math whiz or anything, so maybe I’m being over cautious, but I don’t see anything wrong with doing it over the course a year instead. If you really feel the need to get ahead, try it over summer or something if your college offers it, or at a local CC. My two pennies.</p>
<p>BTW: That AP calc exam is tough. No one in my entire graduating class got above a three, and there were only a few threes. Then again, we had two different calc teachers both junior and senior year. Both of them fired/demoted due to inadequate performance.</p>
<p>If you’re not capable of getting a 5 on the AP calc exam you might want to reconsider taking the honors class. While I have not taken such a class I would expect that it moves at an extremely fast pace and is more suited towards review rather than learning.</p>
<p>I got a 5 on the AB and a 3 on the BC… eight years ago. I still don’t know how I did it. mustve been mostly thanks to my calculator.</p>
<p>but when I was entering engineering, I had no idea how to do an integral, so I had to retake calc</p>
<p>my point? well eight years ago the AP tests were easy enough to complete without have learnt anything. not sure how they are now</p>
<p>oh and calc 2 blows. pretty much its just a bunch of vector **** explained without vectors that’s made incredibly simple by using vectors in calc 3. shell/washer method? ya I’d rather do a triple integral than that crap</p>
<p>Maybe some of you are right and the honors course is too much for my first semester at college. I just read in the Tufts forum that is supposed to be a very intense and fast paced 2 credit course (each class at Tufts is one credit…). BUT i also heard i can take a placement exam during orientation and possibly get out of calc one. anyone have experience with these?</p>
<p>Unless you feel like you have a strong grasp of all of the material covered in calc 1, I would not place out of it. You need to look at a syllabus and figure out ALL of the topics covered in the class. If you believe that the ap calc exam is a breeze (basically barely challenging) then go ahead and place out of it. Otherwise I would see value in taking the course again, and worst case scenario is you get an easy grade which you will find is a good thing.</p>