So son admitted, VT was high on his list, but the more we read about this math emporium being used to teach business cal… reconsidering… has anyone had a positive experience? We are OOS, and just wondering about the quality of these classes. He has not had pre- calc in high school.
I think the math empo is universally despised by the students, regardless of what class(es) they have to take there. Good news for CoB students is it’s now just that single 4 credit course, whereas in the past it was 2 semesters. It’s a grind.
But don’t let one obnoxious class deter him from what otherwise will probably the best years of his life.
Just wanted to throw this out there- I don’t have a child at VT but my close friend’s son is a student at VT. Instead of taking his math classes at the Math Emporium, he took them at community college in the summer and then transferred them to VT. It worked out very well for him.
Unfortunately in @hiker12345 's situation I don’t think that will work. MATH 1524 is a 4 credit business calculus course now (whereas it used to be 1525 and 1526 I believe). Last year there was no course equivalent to 1524 on the VCCS transfer table.
Realized the OP was out of state so above post doesn’t apply. VCCS database still doesn’t show a straight 4/4 credit transfer.
I’ve heard of some incoming freshmen taking a pre-calc course over the summer at a CC and treating it as prep for college level calculus, and apparently it helped smooth the transition. No transfer credit though.
ShenVal18 - did you childn take the new Business 1524 class (how was it?). Looks like it is only 1 hour lecture a week and the other 3 hours a week they do on their own).
@cbl1 Yes, he took 1524. The course description was a little misleading… it is only 1 hour of lecture each week, but certain tests and quizzes had to be taken at the Empo so some weeks they were over there more often than others. The most common complaint he and his other CoB friends had was that it was sort of a “teach yourself” class. Well, that and having to ride the bus to the Empo. It sounded like it could be tough for students who didn’t have prior pre-Calc or AP Calc coursework in HS.
My son had AP callc last year in high school and didn’t enjoy it at all (he did get A though). but I imagine the business call should be fairly easy after the full year in high school.
So looks like my son is going to commit to VT… he will aslo be a cadet. I think he is going to try to take a pre-calc or calc class over the summer to try to help prepare for it. He had a chance to talk to a bunch of current cadets about it… and they all recommended trying to find a good tutor from the start… and/or go to the group tutoring offered thru the tutoring center (seperate from math emporium?) I believe something like the student success center or something like that…
@hiker12345 The student success center at VT is an excellent resource. Taking a pre-calc or calc class at community college could be the best couple hundred $ you spend. My son and his group of CoB friends/peers were all pretty much “A” calc students in HS (several took AP Calc as did S). Their 1524 grades ranged from high C to mid B. It mostly has to do with the way the material is presented, and again that you are somewhat teaching yourself. Cadet discipline should help with the study habits!
If I had any other recommendation it would be for incoming students to take a 100% online course over the summer if they haven’t done that already as dual enrollment or separate course work at a CC. Several of the core first year CoB courses are hybrid, so some familiarity with how to manage an online course re: time management can be of real benefit.
Feel free to PM me if you’re a CoB parent. I’m happy to share add’l info offline.
sounds like a fairly tough class
@ShenVal18 actually I don’t think I can PM until I hit 15 messages 
. He is really torn about VT as really worried about this class as didn’t take precalc yet. He is still waffling on what college to accept, trying to commit somewhere by this Friday - he is going back and forth,. I did book my hotel for the new cadet parade weekend as know how hard it can be to get hotel rooms?. Otherwise, he really loves the school.
Message #14 ?
I guess one strategy was discussing with my son was whether could take a lighter schedule to be able to focus more on the business Calc class. He will becoming in with some gen ed AP and dual enrollment credit so wondering if he could potentially go with 4 classes plus his rotc class/labs for the first semester as dealing with adjusting to corps plus this calculus class
I don’t think it’s so much of a matter of 1524 being a difficult class in terms of subject matter, as much as it’s “different”. The pre-calc prep (even if it was just via Khan Academy) would be something I think any student could benefit from if they hadn’t had it in HS, even if they weren’t taking 1524.
I’m not familiar with how the cadet class/labs work. But if it were structured like an LLC with a 3 credit fall course requirement, then he’s likely going to be plugged into 4 classes by advising and the remaining class could be his rotc class - total of 16 credit hours. I’m 100% certain that VT staff would be able to answer that for you if you call them. We probably called 5 times before orientation to get clarity on some questions we had.
Fact is, every student is likely to struggle in at least one if not several courses in college. So many of them were high achievers in HS. When you go to orientation, one of the sessions is all about managing grade expectations - parents and students. If he loves the school, and is willing to take on the rigors of cadet life then he will do fine.
Thanks for the info, really appreciate it. I wouldn’t say my son was an overly high achiever in high school, but he is committed to going active duty after college. So it is hard to gage how he will feel about these college courses, given he isn’t coming in with a high school 4.0 or a ton of AP experience. I told him all he can do is give it his best effort. He is still waffling on which school to accept. I just want him to pick a place that will be a good fit, so guess I will know by May 1st what he decides?. To your point, I think his choice will drive his own self motivation.