<p>I am an incoming freshman and I am trying to choose my fall semester classes for the School of Engineering. I took the AP Calc BC test and won't know my scores until July. However, if I assume that I got a 4 or a 5, I am allowed to begin with Multivariable Calculus. At first I thought I was going to just start with Accelerated Single Variable Calculus II so I could review a bit in the first semester, but a lot of people on Facebook are saying that Multivariable Calculus doesn't require that much BC knowledge. However, in the school of engineering, even if Multivariable Calculus isn't too bad, will it hurt me later on by starting with this class and not reviewing some of the Single Variable stuff first?</p>
<p>You have to be pretty comfortable with advanced integration techniques to do well in multivariable. 155a/b are a waste of your time/GPA if you feel you’re ready to move on.</p>
<p>I would probably take 175 as long as you can differentiate and integrate very well. As long as you can do these two things, you should be ready for 175. If you have problems with either, take 155B. (You spend a lot of time differentiating/integrating functions of several variables in multivariate, so you have to understand single variable differentiation/integration)</p>
<p>S2 in Engineering with Calc BC (5) took 175 in fall and 196 in Spring of Freshman year without any issues. Also declared Math as second major as there is a special track for engineering students.</p>
<p>Math/CS major here. First of all, you should know that as an engineer, the Math 155B/175 classes that you take will be the some ones everyone else takes. You’ll likely end up in a class with a hodgepodge of different majors. For me, it was that way until after Math 175. </p>
<p>Most of the advanced integration you learn in 155B (Accelerated Single Variable Calculus II) is not necessary for 175. (Good) math teachers will typically be more interested in seeing you apply the new theorems you’re learning in 175 and not try to trip you up with overly complicated integration.</p>
<p>I personally found 155B to be the harder of the two. A lot more memorization and ingenuity was necessary to get good grades on my tests in 155B than 175. However, these experiences will vary greatly depending on what student you ask and what teacher they had.</p>
<p>Either class will probably be very difficult simply because it will be your first college math class. I never took an AP math class in high school, but everyone who I have ever known who took AP Calculus said every math test at Vanderbilt was harder than the AP Calculus tests. This is because you are expected to have a different level of mathematical reasoning in college than you had in high school. It will take some time to develop that reasoning. If you are used to doing formal proofs, you will be much better prepared for college level math. Your professors will be expecting you to justify your answers. It is not uncommon for a student to get little to no credit for solving a problem correctly with no justification for their solution.</p>
<p>The primary benefit you’ll gain from taking 155B first is that you will be familiar with the material, so you can focus more on adjusting to your college life. Taking 175 first, you will be learning new material, but if you do very poorly in the class, you’ll have an extra semester to retake the class and improve your grade. As Pancaked said, 155B will probably just be a waste of your time and GPA.</p>
<p>In my experience, people tend to overstate the difficulty of getting a good grade in Vanderbilt’s math classes. I got an A- in 155B and an A+ in 175, and I only had a survey of calculus during high school. You can get a good grade if you put a lot of work into it, and you will be much better prepared than I was when I was a freshman. That being said, I know several people who did well in BC calculus and struggled to get a C+/B- level grade in 155A and 155B; incidentally, those students tended to be the same students who rarely showed up for class and never did their homework.</p>
<p>Just do your best and don’t give up if you mess up your first few tests. You never know how the grades will turn out in the end. In 155A, my first semester of college math, my professor swore that he would never curve any grades. However, toward the end of the semester, he curved one of our tests. Then, he curved the final grades up slightly. I was expecting to get a B in that class and came out with an A-.</p>
<p>Never give up, learn the material as thoroughly as you can, and always, always, always go to class.</p>