<p>I have friends who got out of Calc 1 and 2 through AP credit. They are engineering majors too! I, however, am taking Calculus 1 this semester. So they are a year ahead of me. I was wondering if they are at an advantage or I am despite the fact that I have to take it all again. Because AP classes dont really cover everything a college class does? Since I am starting from the beginning I get to learn everything from start that I can use for future classes. What do you think? </p>
<p>Honestly, if you treat your calculus classes the proper way then you will be at least equal to them if not advantaged. It depends on your professor somewhat, but I have not heard of an AP Calculus class yet that goes into quite the same detail as its college equivalent.</p>
<p>Depends on the school. There will be some variation between different schools’ calculus courses, though the differences usually are not huge. Those who got a 5 on AP calculus BC and thought it was easy can probably handle learning on their own whatever is different (and some such students go straight into the honors course at the next level and do well). Those who struggled to get a 3 on AP calculus are probably best off starting over.</p>
<p>The exception would be at some super-elite schools where a year of freshman calculus is compressed into a semester, and taught at what would be an honors level at any other school (lots of extra theory, proofs, and derivations). In that case, the difference between the school’s course and either another school’s course or an AP course is larger.</p>
<p>Students who do successfully start ahead in math effectively gain extra elective space later. They may also be able to start physics and other courses sooner, which may make scheduling later courses more flexible. But starting in first semester freshman calculus should not be considered a disadvantage in terms of normal progress toward the degree.</p>
<p>It completely depends on your high school. Calculus BC was the hardest class at my high school (there were only 30 kids in it, and roughly 50% went to Ivies or Stanford, and the less successful 50% went to Berkeley), and we even covered most of multivariable calculus that year (except for the theorems of Green, Gauss, and Stokes). Kids that got a C in the class got an easy 5 on the AP test.</p>
<p>Anyways, I found college multivariable calculus, linear algebra, and differential equations to be a step DOWN in difficulty from my high school calc class (I know you can argue that multivar, linear alg., and diff eq. are easier than introductory calculus courses in college, but still).</p>
<p>Do you think if people got out of Calc 1 and 2 through AP credit, they will possibly be disadvantaged in Calc 3 and Differential Equations classes?</p>
<p>Okay I understand but some said that the test was hard and still made a 4 or a 5.
I am asking because since I didnt get a chance to take it AP, may be my sibling will be able to - only if its a good idea.</p>