<p>I'm gonna be taking AP physics c;mechanics and AP calculus BC tests soon.
But I don't know if I should skip the freshman classes with AP credit. I know some people having really hard time because they skipped the basic physics and calculus classes and took the harder classes in their freshman year, and they couldn't catch up the harder classes. I think I can get 5 easily on calculus and barely on physics. Should I skip the classes? Please give me some advice.</p>
<p>Hi Kogs, Facing that same situation with my son, who will be a freshman going to Clemson as an engineering major. I will tell you what I was told by the Clemson Engineering department chair, that it is not a good idea and that students who do this end up struggling more than others who take the lower level classes at the school. Maybe email the department chairperson of your major and ask them, before you pick your freshman classes.</p>
<p>Good luck!</p>
<p>Assuming you are in Engineering</p>
<p>If you get a 4-5 on the Calc BC then you get credit for Calc I and II and could jump to Calc III (multivariable) at VT. I think that would be okay.</p>
<p>For Physics the best you can hope for is to get credit for 2305 Physics. You need to take two science courses in sequence (either Chem, Bio or Physics). If you decide that you want to take two Physics in sequence then accepting the AP credit for the first course might make Physics II more difficult. </p>
<p>I’m just guessing though -</p>
<p>I’m also wondering this. I’m basically set to get a really high 5 on the BC Calculus exam, and want to take Calc III first-semester.</p>
<p>But, I’m wondering about my AP Chemistry credits. I got a 4 on it, and so I get something like 4 credits (?). But, my major is Computer Science, and I don’t ever really need to take Chemistry other than freshman science. </p>
<p>What should I do?</p>
<p>As a CS major you need one semester of Chemistry + Lab, one semester of Physics + Lab AND two science courses in sequence, e.g., a second semester of Chemistry or a second semester of Physics or two semesters of Biology. If you’ve already had as much Chemistry as you care to know then take the AP credit for Chemistry and go for two semesters of Physics or two semesters of Biology.</p>
<p>You will have a lot of space in your schedule for the first semester. Calc III (3), Linear Algebra (2), Engineering Exploration (2), and English (3). You could move your required Physics I up from second semester. Or, take two electives. Do you have AP credit for the intro CS class as well? If so, are you going to try to start with CS2104 in the Fall?</p>
<p>Actually, you can’t just jump to calc III. Vector Geometry is a prerequisite for that course, so you’ll likely be taking Vector Geometry and Linear Algebra your first semester, and then Multivariable Calculus (and perhaps Differential Equations) your second semester.</p>
<p>It’s possible to get credit-by-exam for Vector and Linear (I did credit-by-exam for Linear), so you can get the prerequisite out of the way at the beginning of the semester and jump into Multi (and/or Diffeq) your first semester. These classes are a joke, so if you have time, go to the online websites for those courses and study up.</p>
<p>If you have a 4 on the AP Chemistry exam, you skip out of both semesters of Chemistry! For CS majors, this means you only need to take the first semester of Physics, so you don’t need to bother taking second-semester Physics or Chemistry, which is pretty damn nice, if you ask me. Also, CS majors don’t really use chemistry in their careers, unless they go into scientific computing.</p>
<p>If you have AP CS credit, you can jump right into CS 2114 your first semester. Most of the students taking CS 2114 in the fall will be sophomores.</p>
<p>My personal experience: I had 38 AP credits coming in (sounds ridiculous to most people, but probably not to us CC nerds), and I accepted all of them. I had no issues keeping up in the higher-level courses. If you’re smart enough to get a 4 or a 5 on your AP exams, then you should understand the prerequisite material well enough to do well in upper-level courses.</p>
<p>I’ll echo everything dfmlege said. I had 40 and accepted everything I could as a computer+electrical engineering student.</p>
<p>Skip. every. single. class. you. can. The only thing I’d say is that if you can somehow start with multivariable calc, MAYBE consider taking calc 2 again (1206) just to get ready for how things are graded in college. It’s rather difficult to recover from a bombed exam (since tests will be 20-30% of your grade instead of 10% like high school) and having one college semester will be good. But, as dfm said, if you’re smart enough to get 4s and 5s (which actually amount to a ~70% on the AP test…haha) you can skip stuff.</p>