Math 1A or 16A?

<p>I'm going to be a freshman in L&S heading towards business admin. I'm also interested in CS which I hear requires lots of math. I took Calc AB my junior year and got a 5 on the AP test. This year, I'm taking AP Stats... which has made me forget essentially anything calc-related. So should I take 1A or 16A? I hear 1A is harder and more theory-oriented whereas 16A is taught at a slower pace. However, I am certain that I will take 1B after whatever class I decide to choose. Is 16A to 1B too much of a jump? Should I take 1A even though my AP test exempts me from it?</p>

<p>Why not just take 1B if you already AP’d out of differential calc?</p>

<p>As a side note, 1B “requires” 1A, and even though the department doesn’t really check and you can definitely enroll in it after 16a, you may be behind on some of the topics. It shouldn’t really be much of a jump if your motivated and understand the material well enough, but if such were the case, why not just skip and go to 1B right away?</p>

<p>I’d either take 16A then 16B or 1A then 1B if you are intent on retaking the first half of the 1/16 series. I’d keep in mind that, generally speaking, the 1 series is harder to do well in, and it’s really important for Haas to keep your GPA high. However, if your back-up (or double) major is CS, then you have to do what is necessary to declare. I believe you could start with 1B and then take 54, both of which are pre-requisites for CS and SHOULD satisfy the two-semester calculus requirement for Haas (though you’d want to double check).</p>

<p>The CS major requires Math 1A, 1B, and 54, and allows use of AP credit on 1A and 1B (probably based on the Math Department’s recommendation). Math 54 will fulfill the math requirement for the business major, so you can ignore the special business major rules regarding AP credit if you will take 54 (but if you do not take 53 or 54, you need to take two semesters of calculus even if you have AP calculus AB credit).</p>

<p>You probably want to read the <a href=“http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/university-california-berkeley/1305840-freshman-math-faq.html[/url]”>http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/university-california-berkeley/1305840-freshman-math-faq.html&lt;/a&gt; , which has pointers to various resources (including old Math 1A final exams) to help you choose your first math course. If you are going to take 1B and 54, then your main decision is to figure out whether you known the 1A material well enough from your AP credit to skip 1A. If you retake it, take 1A, not 16A.</p>

<p>I did the same thing in high school. Took AP Calc AB my junior year and then AP Stats my senior year. I was too scared to skip out on Math1A because I knew that Math1B was notorious for its failing rate. I ended up taking Math1A and THEN Math1B, which really helped a lot because 1A helped refresh my calculus and I ended up getting an A- in 1B. I took Math54 the following semester. But if you plan on double majoring, you might want to consider skipping out of math1A if you’re confident with your math skills because there’ll be a lot of classes you’ll have to take.</p>

<p>I took Math 1A after getting a 5 in AP Stats and a 4 in AP Calc BC. Got an A- without much studying plus 1A helps you prepare for Math 1B. I would recommend taking 1A.</p>