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You can pretty much enter as a sophomore if you take chem, physics, calc, english, and language APs. Those will be the worst classes anyway, due to the intense competition for the As. If you waive out of these - or at least after you're done with them - Cal ME upper div is a lot easier.
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<p>The above quote refers specifically to mechanical engineering at UC Berkeley, but I am wondering if it generally makes sense to opt out of as many classes as possible. English and language classes certainly make sense to me, but what about calc, in particular? Does it make sense as an engineering major to...say...fulfill calc 1 and 2 requirements with AP or transferred college credit? Should one worry about missing engineering-specific problems or something (asked as a clueless mom)?</p>
<p>the majority of my suitemates are engineers. what they did with their calc exam was to skip 20A and 20B for example and go directley to 20C. They recieve credit for those two classes though.</p>
<p>As far as english goes, it won’t get out of our writing classes. You get credit for it but it won’t count for any class. You won’t have to take the writing test though, you can directley enroll in a writing class without it so that’s nice.</p>
<p>I’m an engineering undergrad. Skip 20A/20B if you have a solid background (4 or 5 on ap test qualifies). Some of the things from 20A/20B will come back but if you have a decent understanding of them you can just review quickly to pick it up.</p>
<p>Schmoomcgoo, I wouldn’t worry about missing any “engineering-specific” problems with those particular courses. If the student has passed the AP exam with a 5, the level of knowledge should be sufficient to move on to the next course. My son was an engineering major and was so far ahead with APs that he could have easily graduated early. He deliberately saved one engineering requirement for the last quarter so that he could stay enrolled and continue taking more engineering classes. He wanted to graduate with his friends. Grad schools do look at the breadth of classes taken and he certainly had more than usual.</p>
<p>i found that my AP calc class covered way more than the UCSD class equivalents. this may be partially because everyone already enrolled in AP calc is smart and competitive (my hs used a screening process for AP classes, they weren’t open to everyone) and in college,the student population is fairly heterogeneous = not a collection of brainy clones :)</p>