Recently I took placement testing and my results for math are as follows:
Algebra Placement: 640.00
Math Basics: 640.00
Trigonometry Placement: 500.00
Math 113 or Math 210 or Math 211 or Math 114 or Math 171-217 sequence (Math 171-217 is a year long course. Must take both courses to get the equivalent of Math 114 and Math 221) (QR-A Satisfied)
Being a biochem major i would really like to take math 221 but my trig score of 500 is really pulling me down. Is there any chance my advisor would allow me to take 221, or is it just impossible and i would have to take 171-217. I will be attending SOAR very soon, so there is not enough time for me to retake the math section. Also i got a 29 in math on the ACT if that makes a difference.
@Madison85 Yes, I understood that I needed 565 in trig to be placed into math 221 but i thought the placement test wasn’t the only tool advisors used to determine what math class the student should take. My question is, if it is possible for my advisor to allow me to take a higher math course than what I placed into when taking into account other factors, or is math placement determined 100% by placement score ( and AP Calc credits)?
What other tools or factors would there be? The only one I can think of that would overrule that is if you took AP Calc, but you took statistics your senior year.
The SOAR advisors are college students who follow specific guidance and don’t have the authority to overrule placement test results, although there are adults to supervise them during the advising process.
You could call the placement testing office to ask your question. See below (and let us know what they say):
The University of Wisconsin-Madison Office of Testing and Evaluation Services (T&E) is an instructional support unit located at 373 Educational Sciences Building, 1025 West Johnson Street, Madison, Wisconsin 53706. Telephone: (608) 262-5863.
Schedule of Placement Testing for UW-Madison Students
There is no advance registration for these test sessions. Students merely need to show up at the appropriate time and location to test. You should also bring a government-issued photo ID, a couple of #2 pencils and a non-graphing calculator if you wish to use this on the mathematics placement test.
Please Note: Retesting in math requires permission from the math department. We do not offer retesting services to students from any campus other than UW-Madison without advance permission from the campus you are attending. You will not be allowed to take a retest without this advance permission.
I took math 113 because I also just missed the cut-off for calc 221. It was a good class. It wasn’t hard and it was an easy A. Remember that many people in calc 221 took AP calc in high school and either didn’t take the AP exam or didn’t score high enough to test out. They have already been exposed to this and it will be a review for them. If you’ve never taken true calculus before (pre-calc doesn’t count as true calculus), you need to make sure you have a solid foundation in algebra and trig to compete with people seeing the material for a second time.
If you are majoring in biochem then you only need 2 semesters of calc anyway . . . it’s not like you’re going to be setting yourself back by taking trig first semester freshman year. Assuming you pass all three classes (trig, 221, 222) you’ll be done with traditional math midway through your sophomore year. This gives you plenty of time to take any classes that have the complete calc sequence as a pre-req.