<p>Hey, Im a rising freshman this year and am currently looking at classes for next year. I just finished AP Calculus AB. If I were to receive a 5 on the AP exam would it be in my best interest to take Calculus II? My cousin, who has recently graduated from Columbia, as well as my uncle, who attended WUSTL, recommended that I take Calculus I regardless because of the difficulty of college calculus. </p>
<p>I would really appreciate some input from current WUSTL students or anyone that has experience.</p>
<p>By the way, math has always been my strong-suit.</p>
<p>If you get a 3 or up and feel you understand the material, or 4 or up regardless I’d skip Calc 1. There is no reason whatsoever to take it. If you complete Calc 2 with a B- or above you’ll receive credit for Calc 1 if you didn’t get credit from AP.</p>
<p>Short of failing your class and getting a 1 on the exam, I wouldn’t retake Calc 1.</p>
<p>Calculus 1 is really no different to AB, and Calc 1 and 2 is no different to BC. No point retaking something you know…this isn’t something that’s done much at Wash U.</p>
<p>Getting an A in Calc 2 isn’t unrealistic at all if you skip Calc 1 (especially if you earn a 5 on the AP). As RaVn mentioned, if you know what a derivative and an integral is you’ll be fine. The math department has an online placement test. Work through it and see what it tells you. </p>
<p>People have told me that they found calc 2 easier that calc 1, since calc 1 tries to compensate for being an intro course by throwing really nasty derivations at you. And if you’re worried about getting an A, last year the curve worked out so that ~50% of calc 2 students got some type of A.</p>
<p>I found both to be about the same difficulty, although more people here seem to think that Calc III is easier than Calc II and not the other way around. It may depend on the professor, but when I took both courses neither one was curved. Calc II exams consisted of 16 multiple choice questions and 4 short answer questions, while Calc III exams consisted of 20 multiple choice questions. Both courses have weekly homework assignments which you complete and submit online.</p>
<p>Another point for consideration: Calc II meets for lecture three times a week, for an hour each day. To compensate, the course also has a weekly recitation that you must attend in order to take a quiz. Depending on when you get a chance to register, you could get it at a bad time, like 8 AM. Calc III has no recitation, but meets for lecture four times a week for an hour each day.</p>
<p>Calc 2/3 exams are dependent on the professor. I believe last year fall semester Calc 3 exams were 16 multiple choice only. Difficulty will again lie with the professor.</p>
<p>For both classes, it comes down to the effort you put in. I put in almost no effort for Calc 3 (don’t do this) and struggled pretty hard for an A-.</p>
<p>Also, as the previous poster said… timings are terrible for Calc 2. Personally, I know very few people that have successfully maintained the high school schedule of waking up at 7 or earlier. Food for thought.</p>
<p>the course book says calc 2 (im talking about calc 128) is at 10am for fall 2011 - how is that a bad time? waking up at 9ish sounds pretty good to me if that ends up being the first class of the day!</p>
<p>Calc II should be no problem for you
I took the AB exam my Junior year of high school and Calc II with Shapiro (think: Professor Binns) my fall freshman semester, and it was totally easy. As long as you do your homework, getting As on the exams should be feasible. My roommate took Calc II after AP Calc BC, and regretted it the whole time–there’s a lot of overlap with AP Calc AB, and she was bored the whole time. In addition, I’ve heard Calc I is actually pretty difficult, in a painfully and specifically redundant way. (I’m sure this depends who gets stuck with teaching it.)</p>
<p>I am going to be a sophomore this fall and i took calculus two this previous spring and barley missed a “C” i had a tough prof and didn’t study as much as i needed. I plan on applying for the mech engineering program this spring which means I need calc one,two and three by the end of the spring. My question is,</p>
<p>Whats your opinion on taking calculus three and Calculus two(again) next semester(fall)?
i hear calc three is easier than calc two.
what are your thoughts. </p>
