<p>Hi, this is my first post on CC but I've found it to be quite helpful over the past year finding out information about college, and UT. I am going to be a freshman majoring in Aerospace Engineering. Anyways, I took Calculus AB during my senior year of high school and had a fantastic teacher. I got a five on the exam, but now have the dilemma of whether or not to take 408c. I was wondering if anyone had any insight from previous experience, etc. Right now I have signed up to take 408D but really do not want to make the wrong decision. I've never had any problems with math before and had a high A all of senior year, but have heard a few horror stories about similar decisions. Our advisors also seemed to have mixed feelings, some insisted we take 408c, while others just as adamantly insisted we claim credit. Thanks.</p>
<p>I’m right there with you. I’m a mechanical engineering major myself and I’m really curious to know if other people have to say about this. My academic adviser insisted I take the GE to go along with it, but as of right now I can’t fit it in. My wing adviser at orientation is in aerospace as well and he jumped to M408D. He said it jumps straight into sequences and series which was really hard. But he said if you take the GE you’re guaranteed at least an A minus, so that’s what I think I may do. Plus apparently it’s free homework time and it would be nice to not have to do it outside of class. I find I’m much more productive in the classroom when I’m focused.</p>
<p>If you’re unsure, take 408C just to be safe. If you’re awesome at it, then at least it’s an easy A. Also, since fall is coming up, doing 408C followed by 408D seems like a natural progression- no long summer break to get rusty.</p>
<p>yeah if i were you i would just do 408c because you will make an A in 408c if you know calculus well and you would rather be on the safe side then taking a risk with 408d</p>
<p>The answer to your question largely depends on how “good” you actually were in AB. If you went to a large and decent high school and maintained a high A in your calculus class then you should be prepared and smart enough to jump into 408D. Now if a quarter of your class had high A’s then don’t let the fact that you had an A fool you into over confidence. You should have a general grasp of how good your high school is. If you out-performed the majority of your peers then I’m sure that you’ll be fine in 408D.
If you decided to stay in 408D and find yourself struggling in the first week of class, then you can safely drop the class and pick up 408C without any formal consequences (the informal consequences being stuck with an unpopular professor because the favorites have already had their rosters filled). </p>
<p>Regardless of how good your Calc AB teacher was, there are still going to be gaps in your learning when you take 408D. Your curriculum may have been different but when I took AB in high school, I never learned about integration by parts or partial fractions. These will show up intermittently in 408D and you will have to teach it to yourself.</p>
<p>I, for one, was recommended by my adviser to re-take 408C despite telling my adviser that I felt very confident in Calc AB and missed a few questions at most on the AP test. After getting half way through the semester, I realized that I had made a mistake and that the course was nearly a complete review of my high school class. However, by excelling in the class I was able to develop a rapport with my professor that lasted through my second semester with him in 408D. In fact, I intend on asking him for letters of recommendation in the future.</p>
<p>In the long run, this decision isn’t that big of a deal. The worst case scenario is that you take 408D and collect a bad grade so that’s all you really need to avoid. If you feel u-substitution wasn’t a breeze then 408C is where you should be. While the acceleration you get from claiming the credit can be helpful, don’t feel obligated to claim the credit just because you have it. Take a look at your major’s degree plan. You may find that down the road you’ll get stuck on a biology pre-req, for example. This would effectively force you to stall your progression through the plan and take some elective while you “catch up” with your biology path.</p>