question, what classes should I choose for my senior year if I want to major in engineering. Preferably mechanical engineering. My school offers no physics C mechanics or optics. im showing my math and science classes, because I’ve completed enough AP and dual credit to cover my English history and other classes when I get to college. About 42 hours were from Gen EDS. what would you guys recommend for my senior year of high School? should I increase my course load, or should I just have a more fun senior year.? I don’t mind either choice right now.
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Senior year Stem
-Computer science 2 IB HL or Statstics (AP)(I’m currently in Computer Sci 1)
Chemistry 2 or Physics 2 ( Both AP. Im currently enrolled in Physics 1 but enjoy chemistry)
Calculus AB (AP ) or PreCalculus ( DC ) (I am currently in PreCal, but not dual credit just honors, and I like my teacher. Any harmin a 2nd year of PreCalculus)
Engineering Design and Presentation or 3rd Science? (Both regulars. Engineering design is a class for fun. Should i take it or keep applying pressure and do another Science)
Sure there’s harm in a second year of precalculus: you won’t be learning anything new. Don’t waste your time. There really isn’t even a question here: take calculus.
The normal math progression after completing precalculus is to move on to calculus 1 (which high school calculus AB approximates).
Given that, why not include the following:
Calculus (AP credit may be useful, but try the college’s old calculus 1 final exams to see if you should skip it with AP credit)
Chemistry 2 (AP credit may be useful, since chemistry is less central to MechE)
Physics 2 (AP credit will not be useful since MechE requires calculus-based physics, but a strong high school physics background will help when you take calculus-based physics in college)
At my school we can only take one AP science class for every 2 honors math class we have.with comp sci and calculus, I can’t take both AP Physics and Chemisrtry. But I can take one at the regulars level as a 3rd science, but I wouldn’t be allowed to AP test For it. Which would you reccomend I test for in AP Science? Chem or Physics, since the other would be regulars.
Definitely take Calc AB, if you get a 5 (or a 4 and feel strong), skip Calc 1. Otherwise, at least you can co-register for physics while knowing what the heck a differential or integral is so you can solve more problems. No question here, at all. Repeat Calc 1 if you don’t get it in HS, but it won’t shock you.
I would take AP Chem it is very similar to college chem and should get you either credit or an easy A in one freshman course.
How can your school keep you from self-studying and taking AP ? Taking AP Physics 2 is a waste of a Saturday and $80, you will never get credit for it.
Engineering design, is it a real class or fluff ? Physics 2 might be OK, especially if concepts in physics puzzle you a bit, but it isn’t directly useful for calc-based physics, different problems and solutions.
Econ is a good AP class since it will let you skip into interesting upper-level econ classes (you don;t need easy humanities classes coming in with lots of AP credits). For an engineering loading up on more gen ed APs is only useful if you particular college actually lets you place out of all those classes and honestly, I really enjoyed college level humanities classes and even writing classes … but that may just be me. Full professors, smallish classes, interesting subjects … but maybe you can P/F these and not sweat the grades.
Take chemistry as the AP course, since AP credit for chemistry may be usable to fulfill a peripheral requirement in college for a mechanical engineering major, depending on the college (and having a free elective instead of a huge general chemistry class full of grade-grubbing pre-meds may be nice). Non-calculus-based physics AP credit will be useless. As long as you have a decent high school physics course, you should be prepared for physics in college (which will also require calculus).
It is not that likely that IB HL credit for CS or AP credit for statistics will fulfill any requirements for a mechanical engineering major. Mechanical engineering majors likely need a computing for engineering course, commonly using MATLAB (the IB and AP CS courses are more closely aligned with some courses for CS majors, although many schools do not consider them complete replacements for their own CS courses). If any statistics course is required or allowed as a technical elective, it will probably be a calculus-based statistics course. Take whichever interests you more.
Note that some schools do not allow AP credit to fulfill all of the humanities and social studies requirements, or require some of those courses to be more advanced level courses (that AP credit and frosh-level college courses cannot fulfill). So you may want to include the introductory level courses in those subjects you would be interested in taking more advanced courses in (e.g. introductory economics if you are interested in taking more advanced economics courses, or introductory psychology if you are interested in taking more advanced psychology courses).
Its listed as a requiement for the prerquiste. My schools average AP score in science and math is a 4.6 so they do What they can to maintain that.
Engineering design is similar(and modeled After) to Texas A&Ms foundation of engineering (but on 4 foucuses instead of 10+ engineering discipines ) But I guess its a fluff since its not a science
what AP exams with a 4 on it… Spanish language culture, economics macro and micro, psychology, ArtUS history 1 + 10, intro to comp and composition of rhetoric. so I pretty much have all my gen eds done not counting the Electives. since my dream school is Texas A&M there’s not too many core curriculum requirements for the engineers
So right now the classes I have decidEdon Calculus AB AP, comp sci, and AP chem
question, so I can go into called based physics calculator with only one year of physics background? From junior year?
is there any point in taking the regular science, orshOuld I take the engineering elective?
You’ll be fine starting in physics at the uni level with the background you’ll have. As for the rest, take what interests you. I for one think the engineering class sounds kind of cool. No it won’t be a “real” science or engineering course, but who cares, it sounds fun and the practical experience will actually be useful. Good luck.
Would you say 3 math and science classes and one engineering elective will be a decent course work for pre engineering? Becuase im told from A&M engineering students I should take math and Science as many as possible. Is that enough?
Also at I’m told even if I have AP calcAB and AP Chem I am "strongly advised " to retake Calc 1 or Chem . should I take Calc 1’s AP exam if that’s the case?
You should take the AP exam. If you get a high enough score to skip calculus 1 at your college, try the college’s old calculus 1 final exams to check how well you know the material from the college’s point of view. Then you can make a more informed decision whether to take calculus 1 or calculus 2.
Note that college math will be faster paced than high school calculus AB.
You don’t want to take classes “just because.” You want to take classes that help the cause and/or that you enjoy. Ideally, both. You’re already signed up for AP Calc AB, AP Chem, and Comp Sci. What other science options do you have and why would it be better than the engineering class?
As for AP, always take the tests. Why not? If you don’t use it, you don’t use it. I don’t think you can AP out of Chem 107/117 at A&M anyway, but you may not end up at A&M.
Now for always retaking Calc, I strongly disagree. For some it’s a waste of time and money. For some, it’s necessary. Using a method proposed by @ucbalumnus, you can know for sure. Once you know where you’re going, get the syllabus and old tests online (or from the department if you can’t find them online) and see if you understand the material that you’re testing out of. If it’s easy or you just need a little brushing up, move on and don’t look back. If it seems hard or over your head, repeat it. Many test right into Calc III though and do fine.
Don’t overthink it. Many purport to “know” what you should do, but success is fostered by doing what speaks to you as opposed to trudging through classes because someone told you it would be “better.” Don’t get me wrong. Sometimes there’s no other way. You simply have to have a course, like it or not. When you have options though, take the courses that you are interested in.
4 on Calculus AB = Math 151
3 on Chemistry = Chem 101/111
4 on Chemistry = Chem 101/111, 102/112
For IB HL:
4 on CS = CPSC 111
Math 151 is part of the ME curriculum. Chem 107/117 is the chemistry course specified for ME, though you should ask if Chem 101/111 or AP credit can substitute (Chem 101/111 and more advanced courses are specified for chemical engineering).
Ap or Dc English Literature / Britsh Composition an Rhetoric ( I've completed Comp 1-2)
DC US government / Academic Decathlon (2nd semester)
AP Calculus AB
AP Chemistry 2
IB Computer Science
R Color Guard / DC Movement kinesiology and physics
IB Film 4
R Engineering Design And presentation
Yeah in high school for the first two years, I took two years worth of gen eds and made sure they would all transfer to Texas A&M.
Looking at the syllabus, it pretty much only covers the basics of chemistry, so if I take chemistry too, it should be an easy class, I might be able to placement test out of it at the start of the year.
And as far as AP exam credit goes, isn’t their a new law coming out in texas that says all AP scores 3+ at public universities must accept and grant college credit, provided they receive any funding from the state? For the class of 2017?
They may give you credit hours for a 3 or higher, but if they do not give you useful subject credit, then it may not be of any use, unless you want to graduate early from a major with fewer subject requirements than most engineering majors.
In Texas public universities, excess credit hours, including those in excess of 9 credit hours from AP scores, that do not fulfill subject requirements can make it more difficult to claim the $1,000 rebate for graduating within your major’s credit hours plus 3 (since ME requires 128 credit hours, you can claim the rebate by graduating in 128-131 credit hours). See http://www.collegeforalltexans.com/apps/financialaid/tofa2.cfm?ID=447 .
Ohh now that I read it, it’s much more understandable. Even if I did get a three on chemistry, they have to give me one class, but that one class could just be some random elective space they wanted to.
I guess we won’t know until after fall semester for college. If anyone knows how Texas A&M and Texas Tech take AP Chemistry, Calculus, and IB Comp Sci and IB Visual Arts ( film) ?