<p>So I was looking around my.cmu.edu, clicked on the Academics tab, and saw that our placement exam is now online. I haven't started it at all, but just thought I'd let you all know...</p>
<p>where?
.............</p>
<p>yea i saw it on thursday or friday, i forget which</p>
<p>does anyone know if it's necessary ot do well on the calc placement test to get into analysis I (21-131)</p>
<p>I talked to someone at the math department and they sadid if you have over a 1500 (SAT math and SAT II Math) they automatically consider you for analysis I. For some reason I got the impression this person didn't know what they were talking about. Has anyone here heard anything?</p>
<p>samcold0,
I heard the same thing about the analysis requirements. Though, I'm guessing those are more like minimum requirements and that one needs to do well in the placement exam as well as have the minimum sat math and sat II math scores... But I can't seem to find the placement test on the academics tab.</p>
<p>um i have a question, its dumb but im kinda confused. if we took the AP tests, do we need to take any of these placement exams? cuz it sounds everyone is taking them.</p>
<p>tamirms, it's good to hear comfimation of this 1500 thing and the placement test should show up on the first page u get to when u log into m.cmu.edu under the blackboard thing</p>
<p>If I took calc 1, calc 2, and calc 3 (multivariable) at a university do i have to take placement exams? (I made a's in all of them)</p>
<p>Don't worry. You'll have a great time. Placement is important. You will be at an entirely new level of learning. </p>
<p>If you were top dog at your HS, imagine 1300 other incoming students as smart or smarter than you. Definitely being tail end dog is not the place to be. I repeat, placement is important.
My son's roommate graduated with dual majors, a master's in mathmatics in 4 years. My son was (CMU2006 ME and into MS-CS program at another school) like you, but in comparison to his roommate...he wasn't even close.</p>
<p>Hmmm, with placement, I really don't care where im placed... unless it has to do with fulfilling requirements. For my personal case, for every class I get a C in I have to make up the tuition, so I simply want to take a math course thats my level, not something over my league... So I'm just going to take it when I have free time and simply not study... unless someone advises against that.. ?</p>
<p>I definitely advise everyone to take the test truthfully or even DUMB yourself down. </p>
<p>It definitely helps to ace your freshman year and get put on dean's list. CMU does NOT have stringent requirements. You can be a year behind in math and usually do alright by taking it in later years. Sure your friends might be a bit ahead but think about it:</p>
<p>More free time (perhaps raise your grades in other classes)
Guaranteed A's in Math (Getting on Dean's list and scoring nice interns)</p>
<p>vs.</p>
<p>Taking advanced math classes + getting B's and C's while having no free time or much less.</p>
<p>I dunno about that AA. Personally I'm going to college to learn as much as I can. If I wanted to get good grades and not learn I wouldn't have picked CMU. If I get into analysis I'm taking it. If I can then test out of analysis and into mathematical studies I'm taking it. </p>
<p>I don't know if it's just me but when classes bore me I tend to do worse. I know I'd get bored re-taking regular calc. And anyways who say you're going to get B's and C's in the more advanced class.</p>
<p>I'm a business student so take my posts as business-based. We care about money, jobs, and perhaps getting into Top MBA programs which all require a nice GPA. </p>
<p>You may not get B's and C's in the advanced math classes but you sure as heck will be working harder than if you were taking easy math courses. For us business kids that means more time to party and enjoy college.</p>
<p>But of course to each his own. If you actually do worse in easy classes then by all means take the hardest ones possible.</p>
<p>aa, since I have already taken up through calc 3 at the college level, will I have to take any math courses? I'll be majoring in economics and business (maybe computational finance instead of business, if I can get into it).</p>
<p>Yea I'm a math/physics/cs major so we're in different situations. If I was a business student I'd feel the exact same way.</p>
<p>Ivyguy: You want to ask the office for that. I haven't heard of anyone on my floor not taking any math but I would think for calc 3 you are done with math.</p>
<p>Thanks, I probably will take a few higher level math courses though because I like math.</p>
<p>hang on can someone please explain the purpose for these math placement exams? are they for people who didnt take the AP exams? can i just use my AP scores or do i also have to take math placement exams? someone please help me!</p>
<p>
[QUOTE=Mr. Pattis, a CS Professor]
8. If you do poorly on the On-Line Calculus Placement Exam, you will have to take a Calculus course at CMU, even if you have earned AP/IB (or transfer) credit. Several years ago, the previous freshman advisor received a phone call from an incoming freshman concerning the Calculus Placement Exam (it wasnt on-line then) that went something like this:
Freshman: I took the AP BC exam for Calculus in the 8th grade and scored a 5. Do you really expect me to remember all that stuff for this placement exam? </p>
<p>Advisor : Yes; if you do not remember this material at an appropriate level, you must repeat the course here at CMU, because subsequent classes will assume you know it.</p>
<p>As another example, once a student with an AP English grade of 5 registered for a 300-level English writing course, also against all advice. This student was not dropped from the course, as in the previous case. When he showed up at his advisors office, he complained that the 1500 pages of weekly reading, coupled with the written analysis due each week, was unfair because none of the other students in the course had a Programming assignment and Discrete Math problem set due each week. Very little sympathy was offered. What was offered instead was the question, What did you expect from a junior level writing course that is full of junior English majors, who are not taking a Programming or Discrete Math course? This was why you were advised not to take the course in the first place?"
[/quote]
</p>
<p>A good friend of mine sent that to me, he recieved an email from a professor about the math test... and courses in general</p>
<p>Yeah, you have to take the placement test regardless of AP, if your major requires calculus(all i know is SCS does).</p>
<p>I just took it, got a 36/40. Anyone know if that's good for calc bc credit? I think so.</p>
<p>I think that 36/40 is borderline for granting credit in CS. Last year the requirements changed several times over the course of the summer. The score is also looked at by section- if you missed an easy question but got most of the hard ones, they assume the wrong easy question was just a careless mistake.</p>
<p>Not everyone finds calc at CMU to be as easy as they think it will be, even if they got As in high school and a 5 on the AP and take the course because they didn't do well on the placement test. I think it is partially because they don't put in as much time as they would if the material was all new. Also, there was one calc class that had a professor that tested over material not covered, and, needless to say, people didn't do very well. Hopefully taht won't happen again.</p>
<p>If you receive credit for both semesters of calc, both matrix algebra and calculus in 3-d are reasonable alternatives (read: not too hard for first semester freshmen), although they both have time-consuming problem sets that sometimes feel like busy work. Two semesters of calc credit will get you the prerequisites for differential equations, but that is a harder class, from what I understand. Matrix algebra is a required course for CS majors, but I don't think many other people take it, except for math majors, maybe. Linear algebra, a more abstract, higher level course can be taken instead of matrix algebra, and some people prefer it because it is less arithmetic-y. However, I don't think that linear algebra is a good idea for first semester.</p>
<p>3-d calc is not very difficult conceptually, just 'oh, look, you can apply stuff to three dimensions.' The professor for it this fall is very thorough, and I think everyone I knew that took it with him felt they had a good grasp of the material at the end of the semester. The course is not required for CS majors, but it is a prerequisite for computer graphics and some course for computational finance majors/minors. I didn't feel as though I had a very good grasp of some of the things at the end of the second semester of calc (sequences and series, taking derivatives/integrals of exponentials with non-e bases), but that doesn't matter for 3-d calc. If you plan on taking differential equations (also not required for CS, but required for some computational finance course and maybe a good thing to know), understanding that stuff is probably more important.</p>