For current students: Is it worth skipping the introductory Calc sequences by getting a 5 on the AP? Do people who do so (and I assume there are a bunch) normally feel like they missed something or are behind because they didn’t actually take the course?
Unless you are completely committed to a humanities major and to never taking an advanced course in the social sciences, physical sciences, biological sciences, or math – unless, that is, you are prepared to go to Chicago and to cut yourself off from a lot of the best of what it offers – you are probably going to want or need to take at least the third quarter of the 150s or 160s introductory calculus sequence (or Math 199, which I think is essentially the same thing as 163 for people who didn’t take 161-162). I believe students with AP 5 scores who intend to go into a math-heavy major, of which there are many, often take the Honors Calculus 160s sequence from the beginning, as the Math Department tends to recommend. (I don’t think you can start the 160s sequence in the middle. You can start with 152 or 153, though.) Students with a 5 on the BC test can choose to take an “inquiry-based” 160s section, which is reportedly very challenging and a great educational experience. (Every one of my kids’ friends who did that said it was the best course they took their first year.) There is also a subset of students who place out of the 160s sequence altogether; many of them will take Honors Analysis as first years, but those are really strong students who tend to have a lot of exposure to university-level math beyond calculus.
What math course you take is a decision you should probably make after taking the math placement test and talking to a math advisor. A lot of math education happens at Chicago; math is at the heart of a great deal of what the university does. The Math Department does a good job of it. You should trust their assessments and recommendations.
It’s worth getting a 5 on the AP b/c it auto-places you into 153 which will save you some stress when placement tests come out.
Don’t bother stressing about which math to take, everything will be explained in a lot of detail during o-week.
From what I have heard the placement test is a much better guide to which math to take than AP scores.
@dcplanner Eh…not really. It depends on the person. The placement test for determining 150s vs 130s is pretty good at determining your comfort level with math provided you haven’t learned calculus yet, but there’s really no reason to retake 151 and 152 if you’ve already learned Calculus in high school. 153 in Autumn is taught assuming you know how to differentiate and integrate but do not know anything about proofs, and proceeds accordingly, so it fits right in after BC Calc. It will suck being stuck in two extra quarters of math covering material you mostly already know, especially if you’re a non-STEM major and only need math to complete the core, which could happen if you don’t take the AP test and then screw up the placement test for whatever reason.
The o-week placement test screws up in totally different ways (and comes with a whole different set of drama), but that isn’t really relevant to AP scores.
^ Can you elaborate on the last comment?
Interested in that as well. My son already has a 5 on BC and a year of dual enrollment beyond but community college level math is not the same level as UChicago so wouldn’t want to skip too many courses especially with plans to study physics.
Drama with the o-week placement test mostly has to do with differentiating between 160s/159/Analysis/Honors Analysis. People get placed in Honors Analysis who aren’t prepared and people who think they are prepared get placed lower than they want to. Basically they give you a fairly easy proof and then assess you based on how you did the proof. If you are very thorough they assume you know lots of higher level math. If you aren’t they assume you don’t. It’s not a fantastic way of determining where to place you, though it works in most cases.
Also occasionally people with no proof experience somehow get put in Analysis because the math department was unaware that the guess at a proof was just a guess.
It works out for most people but there’s always a small group that gets screwed one way or another and is very upset at the placement test or ends up way over their head. The math department is also famously inflexible when it comes to Honors Analysis, though if you’re very determined they will let you take the first few p-sets and let you into the class if you do well.
I recommend anyone seriously interested in math to start with the 160s regardless of background. This is, fwiw, the most common path, there are a lot of people who covered theoretical math in high school and still started with the 160s. They do a very good job teaching proofs and offers a good foundation in higher math. You can still take Honors Analysis as a second year. The math major is small and mostly electives and the extra 3 quarters are worth the comfort you get with proofs and mathematical thinking, especially when the material covered is relatively easy.
Isn’t Honors Analysis the class that is supposed to be one of the hardest in the country? Definitely not where most first years really need to be but good it’s an option for those that do.
Honors Analysis is a first/second year class. That’s a major reason why it’s so hard.
I was placed into 153 in the fall quarter before taking the placement test o-week due to a 5 on BC and decided to just roll with it (I’m not a huge fan of theoretical math and kind of wanted to get that requirement out of the way ASAP) and found it reasonable. It is tricky going into 153 first quarter without any prior exposure to UChicago math because it is way more theoretical than everything you’ve likely seen before in high school, but we’re UChicago students so we all pick it up eventually. I’m a physics major and have had no issues with this, mainly because the physics department has additional mathematics for physical science requirements outside of the core calc sequences (these being PHYS 220 and PHYS 221) that make sure all the physics students’ math skills are up to par. Honestly when it comes to calculus do whatever you’re comfortable with (unless you’re a math major, then take either IBL 160s or any analysis you place into).