<p>My son is currently taking AP Calculus AB, and he thinks that he can get a 5 on the AP exam. However, he is nervous about college calculus, Should he take the credit and move on to Calculus 2, or should he retake Calculus 1(probably the honors course)?</p>
<p>AP Calc <em>IS</em> college calculus! I would not repeat Calc I, especially with a score of 5. Calc II is not necessary an extension of Calc I - it is a different animal altogether and considered difficult in its own right. Note that there is no Honors Calc II sections in the Fall - only in the Spring semesters. Confirm this by going onto mybama and looking up these courses for both Fall 2014 and Spring 2014 (just past).</p>
<p>If he gets a 5 on AB, then move on to Cal II </p>
<p>Call II does not build on Cal I.<br>
Cal III builds on Cal I</p>
<p>what is your son’s major?</p>
<p>Mechanical Engineering</p>
<p>Interested in this thread. DD is taking AP Calculus BC and currently has an A. If she receives a 5 on the AP exam, should she skip Calculus 1 & 2?</p>
<p>If she got a 5 on BC, I would skip 1&2. </p>
<p>Bobmiami96, another option might be to spend time reviewing this summer vs. retaking an entire course. Perhaps something like Thinkwell <a href=“Calculus Companion | Thinkwell”>http://www.thinkwell.com/student/product/calculus</a>. </p>
<p>Or…What text did he use for AB? It looks like UA uses Stewart for both 1 and 2 (I checked one section for both cal 1 and 2 and both used Stewart. I didn’t check to see if other profs might use a different text or not.) If he doesn’t already own the Stewart text, he could go ahead and get it and review the first 1/2 of the text. Stewart is a pretty common choice, so your library might have a copy.</p>
<p>Don’t worry Alabama classes should be easy…it isn’t MIT or anything</p>
<p>Now-junior ChemE here. I took AP Calc AB in high school and got a 5 but was unsure about whether my high school work had really prepared me. I decided to retake Calc I, and while the professor was great and I met some people in my class, I didn’t learn much (if anything) new. Go ahead and take the highest Calc class for which you’re eligible. It gives you a lot more credit wiggle room.</p>
<p>Also, if you’re honors, I highly recommend the honors sections… but if you go straight into II, it’s not a big deal that you’re taking standard. It’s just an easy way to knock out Dept. Honors credit.</p>
<p>Especially if one scores a 5 on the AP exam, it makes sense to take the credit and go to the next course in the sequence.</p>
<p>All calculus courses use the same textbook and cover most of the same topics. Many use Webassign for online homework assignments. Beyound that, the course format is up to the individual course format is determined by the instructor. Dr. Trace’s course sections are known for following a different format than those of other instructors as he does not use calculators or online homework and allows the final to replace most or all of ones grade. </p>
<p>@SEA_tide Am I understanding correctly from your post that most profs allow students to use calculators? Do you know if that is true in physics as well? </p>
<p>My D had a 5(5) in BC(AB) and she went on to Calc III where she did well. Though she didn’t take Calc II, she is of the opinion that it is harder than Calc III. </p>
<p>@RoysG, I’m not sure if you made that comment to be a sincere help or to be snarky, but I would say that is not true. I’ve been surprised by how hard some of the classes my daughter has taken are. Or maybe how hard the grading is. And she had a solid prep education with 4/5s on her APs and 700+ on her SAT IIs. </p>
<p>Good question, OP. Thanks for asking it!</p>
<p>Along those same lines, how helpful is the placement testing they give at Bama Bound in determining which classes to take? My kid attends an independent school that did away with AP classes several years ago. Some kids take the tests anyway, but my son doesn’t plan to. He’s taken through Adv Calc II, but since he’s planning (at the moment anyway) to study mechanical engineering, he wants to make sure he’s on solid footing with his math courses. Can he rely on the placement tests to give him a good idea what he should sign up for with regard to Calc? The young woman we met during our honors/engineering visit (senior in mechanical engineering) said a lot of engineers re-take Calc I to be sure they’ve mastered the material. Not sure my son needs to retake Calc I, but I know he’d rather be safe than sorry. Thanks!</p>
<p>The math placement does not test for Calc level. From what I remember, it only tests the subjects leading up to Calc. </p>
<p>Thanks, @Class2012Mom. So what do folks recommend? Can one even place out of Calc I without having taken the AP test?</p>
<p>Maybe the way to go is to take Honors Calc I in the fall and Honors Calc II in the spring?</p>
<p>It looks like UA accepts CLEP for 125. <a href=“Page Not Found | The University of Alabama”>Page Not Found | The University of Alabama;
<p>Thanks, CLEP tests may be the way to go, although I’m still not sure if there’s any downside to repeating Calc I & II for an engineer, especially if Honors sections are available.</p>
<p>Is there a review of Calculus 1 at the beginning of Calculus 2? I think my son would be more comfortable if he could brush up on Calculus 1 before just jumping right into Calculus 2.</p>
<p>Calc II does not build on Calc I. </p>
<p>Lucie - the same textbook is used for Calc I, II and III. You could buy a used book and have your student take a look at the materials and make a decision based on that. You can find which chapters are covered per class in the syllabi which can be found online. </p>