<p>Good question. I just completed my junior year of mechanical engineering and have a concentration in design. In note to the above post: our aero program is extremely structured, too.</p>
<p>My school caps our AP credits, especially in humanities and the sciences (AP Chem and AP Physics C are only counted for real credit, as opposed to electives). They accept AP credit (4+), placement tests and the ability to skip math courses (If you entered without Calculus 2 credit and started in Calculus 3, you could get credit for passing 3 and 4, retroactively. If you failed EITHER of these, you had to start back at Calculus 1, and could waste 1.5 years). We work on terms, so your freshman year would consist of some amount of Calculus 1-4. Calculus 1-2 is like AB Calculus, Calculus 3 is infinite series and Calculus 4 is 3-D.</p>
<p>I received AP math credit and started in Calculus 3. I thought in my head about starting in Calculus 1. Well, Calc 3 was the hardest thing for me. It was the quintessential math course: professor would lecture and I would have no idea what was going on. Some of my friends started in Calc 1, despite having credit, and found themselves with a much better understanding of calc and found less issues in the future. Mind you, I have never been too skilled at math (As I joke with my physics friends: You guys do math, we get tables). And, yes, the introduction courses do intend to get you use to college.</p>
<p>My advice for you would be to opt out of courses that you feel that you can rock. If you can, e-mail a professor and ask for a syllabus. There might not be as much of an overlap as you think. If you feel you know everything about calculus, skip it. Are you a bit hesitant? Take the course: worse come to worse, you learn something new and boost your GPA. Weight your selections, but remember that these two or so classes really are not really going to impact the time of your degree. I think most schools expect you to come in with no credit. As an engineer, don’t try to pass over the introduction courses or it will bite you in the ass at some point.</p>
<p>Cheers.</p>