Math and English Placement

<p>So - have you been on the freshman course registration site yet? Seen your math/English placement? I was a little surprised to see my son recommended for Math 121 - Calculus or Math 212 - Statistics in Application. Calculus I get - he has it now. But he has not had statistics since middle school. If he wanted to take statistics - I would think he would be better off with the lower class - Math 112 - General Statistics.</p>

<p>Any current Elon students/parents have thoughts on the math question? I am going to have him email the math dept chair to discuss further - but I would appreciate any advice from those familiar with these courses and their level of difficulty. Thanks.</p>

<p>I don’t know - 2 years ago the kids took a language placement test, but I don’t remember a math or english placement recommendation. D just signed up for the one that seemed most appropriate for her based on the description (she took General Statistics, I think, and whatever the regular freshman writing course was). I didn’t get very involved with her course selections - but I know they didn’t happen until May or June.</p>

<p>Hi - when they log in to the freshman course registration site - they will see their placement for math and English - it is done based on the hs grades and test scores. I’m just noy sure about the math placement - I don’t want him to be over his head first semester of freshman year.</p>

<p>A couple of things…</p>

<p>Statistics or calculus are first year core requirements; each student can let their Elon 101 advisors know, through that online registration process:</p>

<p>1) what their intended major is…I.e. most comm/ business students can and should take stats. Pre-med/dental etc should have calculus., etc…you do have a choice; it is not automatic as long as you let your prospective advisor know. The first year core math is any of the following: 112, 121, or 212…my daughter, who is not the greatest math student on the planet, is in Statistics (not applied) and doing fine…if you look at the course descriptions online, Statistics w applications is designed for certain majors ( not sure which ones off the top of my head)…no idea if this stats is necessarily more difficult than the 112</p>

<p>2) you do not HAVE to take all 4 freshman core classes first semester; by design they are split between fall and spring…you can write to your prospective advisor, also online in that form, that you would prefer math/ writing fall, global/ wellness spring…or however you would prefer them split…</p>

<p>Sounds good! What is confusing to me is that if you take AP Stats in hs - you get credit for Math 112 - General Statistics. So - it would seem to name - that a kid who has not taken stats since middle school should not be skipping math 112 and going on to math 212 - Statistics with Applications. But - I think you are right - he will discuss some of this with his advisor - as far as which math class he wants to take and how to split up the required courses between the fall and spring.</p>

<p>Depends on your AP Stats exam score, I think. My daughter took AP Stats in high school but didn’t get the 4 Elon requires on the exam. She took Math 110 (General Stats) and didn’t find it to be totally review or a waste of her time at all. I think she ended up with a B+ in it.</p>

<p>Don’t worry about how to split up the required courses between fall and spring. Elon does that for you. He will get 2 of them in the fall, and he’ll sign up for the other 2 when they do spring course registration.</p>

<p>Basically, the incoming freshmen choose 8 - 10 courses that they want/need, including the 4 frosh courses. Then Elon assigns them 4 classes for the fall, including 2 of the frosh core courses. The kids sign up for the other 2 core classes when they sign up for their spring courses. Their Elon 101 advisor will help them to register for their spring classes.</p>

<p>At least that’s how it worked for D, 2 years ago.</p>

<p>Thanks. What I am finding a little frustrating is that they did not go over or explain any of this to the parents at spring orientation last weekend. My son did attend a one hour session on academic advising - where he received the link to the website and his password to use - but if they explained much more of the process to him - it did not stick! I actually think the website is easy to navigate - if you understand the overall scheme of things. If you’re not sure what to pick or when to take what - not as clear. So - thanks for the input.</p>

<p>

Rockville, from here on out there’s a lot of things that won’t get explained to the parents, because its no longer our responsibility to carry them out. Its up to the kids to do the actual registering for classes, although they can always discuss their choices with us. </p>

<p>When there are things that cost different amounts of money, like dorm and dining plan options, they will give the information to the parents. But for the rest of it, they give the information to the students.</p>

<p>My daughter was a bit confused at first too, but so was my son at his LAC. They very quickly figured it out, with the help of their advisors, professors, RAs and upperclassmen they met freshmen year.</p>

<p>I think if you and your son read the course descriptions for Math 110 and Math 210 he can figure out which one seems right for him. I doubt anyone would force him to take the more advanced class if he hasn’t had AP Stats. The “recommendation” is probably based on GPA and test scores, and is there as a guideline only. That’s my reading, anyway.</p>

<p>I just need to “helicopter” a bit - at least for his first semester. After that - I will land my hovercraft. It may be hard to tell - but I am actually more relaxed doing this stuff with S2!</p>

<p>rVM: just asked my daughter; it was explained to them during orientation during that meeting you mentioned…they were even given a green explanation sheet I recall that she referred to when she went online to do all this in June…</p>

<p>Hmmmm…I will ask him again. I did not see a green sheet in the folder. We can figure most of it out - the website is actually quite well-designed - there’s just a few spots where I have questions - but we will carry on.</p>

<p>I just want to share a few things I have learned this month:</p>

<p>when your student logs into the freshman registration site - they will see their placement for math and English. They don’t have any selecting to do. They have an opportunity to indicate a potential major and to write a letter to their future academic advisor - where they can discuss any issues they have with their placement results.</p>

<p>This is a quote I received from Elon on math placement:</p>

<p>

</p>

<p>The initial math class satisfies the freshman core requirement - it does not count towards the 8 hours required under the Science heading.</p>

<p>AP Classes can be used to fulfill requirements under the General Studies categories - if you have a high enough score on the AP exam.</p>

<p>I wish they had gone over some of this with the parents at spring orientation - but I will say that I have received very quick responses from the various Elon faculty and academic advising staff that I have consulted this past week - especially since it was spring break! I don’t think I am excessively micro-managing - I just want to have a basic understanding of the academic requirements at Elon.</p>

<p>If your child passes the AP stat exam, does that exempt that from any additional math requirements at Elon? If you know the answer, please let me know.</p>

<p>Thanks.</p>

<p>I do know that biz stude.ts are required to take stats and another math.</p>