I’m an incoming freshman trying to figure out what classes to take through the online engineering student orientation (Civil Engineering major).
I got a 4 on the AP Calc AB exam last year and I’m guessing I got a 3 or 4 on this year’s Calc BC exam (but I didn’t feel great about the FRQs). Therefore, I know that I can at least skip Math 1A. However, one of the student orientation pages has 1A exams and says “if you can’t solve some of these problems or if you have only a basic understanding of how to complete the questions, you should take Math 1A.” I understood a decent amount of the problems but definitely wasn’t sure how to solve some of them. I would like to skip it, but I’m worried if it would be a bad idea. I’ve read a few things talking about how Math 1B is one of Berkeley’s hardest classes and has a brutal grading curve. Also, if I get a 4 on the BC exam should I skip 1B?
I’m not exactly sure how to go about this. I’ve always felt great about my math skills and I’ve ended with a 94-95% the past three semesters of calculus in high school, but I understand that college math is completely different, especially at Berkeley. Should I skip 1A and/or 1B (if able to) to get ahead or take them both to be safe?
Well, since you couldn’t solve some of the problems, it sounds like the school is saying you should take 1A. Back in the dark ages, a college math professor recommended that I take both semesters of calculus at UT-Austin even though I’d gotten a 4 on the AP exam. I was also a civil (structural) engineering major. I was glad I did - the professor was excellent and retaking the class really solidified my understanding of the subject. The engineering classes you will be taking are tough - you want to have a good foundation in calculus. Good luck! It’s an excellent field. 
My kid’s precalc teacher from his 10th grade, who is a Cal Math grad, strongly recommended my kid to retake 1A and 1B even though he got a 5 on BC and thus can skip both 1A and 1B. AP BC was taken a year ago though. He most likely will compromise and start with 1B. So no shame in starting from 1A.
Now if you were a L&S CS intent major, it might make a difference where you start, as there is a sequence of 5 math/Engineering/CS classes that you need to take that more or less follows one after another - Math 1A, Math 1B, EE16A/Math 54, EE16B, and CS 70. They discourage you from doubling up on these classes. (Of course, a lot of students ignore this advice). Being able to skip the first and/or the second class in the sequence would be very helpful scheduling-wise. You theoretically have until the end of your sophomore year to finish your lower division requirements and declare, so by starting with 1A, you’d have to either take a summer class or double up 2 math classes. EECS follows the same sequence, but since they are direct admit I don’t think there’s the same urgency.
Where is the link for the 1A exams? Now you got me a bit worried…
If you want more Math 1A and 1B exams to try, here they are:
https://tbp.berkeley.edu/courses/math/