<p>Getting a copy of the final exam for Calc I is a great idea.</p>
<p>I spoke with my S and the he says that the problem with the Calc and AP Chem/Bio classes is that a lot of the students aren’t motivated or aren’t that strong academically and it slows the classes down.</p>
<p>Sent from my SCH-R760 using CC</p>
<p>In regards to motivation, about 30% of Calc AB test takers fail the test (that is, get a “1”). This is about twice the rate of 10 years ago. Meanwhile, about twice as many people take Calc AB as 10 years ago. (Yes, that’s 4 times the number of people getting 1’s compared to 10 years ago.)</p>
<p>So, either many more unqualified people are taking Calc AB, or many more people are taking the course but have no desire or need to do well on the test. Or both.</p>
<p>[2012</a> AP Exam Score Distributions](<a href=“2012 AP Exam Score Distributions”>2012 AP Exam Score Distributions)</p>
<p>Technically one needs a 3 to consider a pass on an AP exam. So more than 40% are flunking this exam.</p>
<p>The US News rankings for high schools gives a high rating based mostly upon the number of students taking AP classes. So, many schools “make” students take AP classes whether they are prepared or not. I taught at such a school. Their excuse was that it is important not to discriminate when providing opportunities for students. So, yes, plenty of unqualified students are taking AP classes, all over the country. They have no desire or need to pass the exam. And, they ruin the class for the qualified students. But the students have “equal opportunity.”</p>
<p>I get a kick out of the posts here where kids say they are going to self-study for an AP exam the night before and expect to get a 5. </p>
<p>Why are 30% of the kids who get 1’s allowed to take test in the first place</p>
<p>Sent from my SCH-R760 using CC</p>
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<p>They may be doing that with one of the newer “AP lite” ones like human geography. AP human geography appears to be often offered as a high school freshman level course. Looking at released tests, it does not seem to be too difficult to do well on if one has some knowledge of events and history around the world and learns the definitions of some geography jargon – someone who has the former knowledge (from recreational reading or whatever) can probably learn the latter in a few hours or days of self-study and do well on the AP test.</p>
<p>Based on your other posts, your son may be attending University of Alabama.</p>
<p>One of the faculty who taught MA 125 (calculus 1) there last fall has some course materials on his personal web page.</p>
<p>[Math</a> 125 Tests, Fall 2012](<a href=“http://bama.ua.edu/~mdixon/math125/math125tst.html]Math”>http://bama.ua.edu/~mdixon/math125/math125tst.html)</p>
<p>Some of the tests are missing, but the final exam review problems are still there.</p>
<p>There are also some test banks that some student groups (e.g. AIAA, NSBE) have, but none are publicly accessible.</p>
<p>Thanks!</p>
<p>Sent from my SCH-R760 using CC</p>
<p>A strong “exam-crammer” can do well on AP test, even if they’ve not mastered the material per se.</p>
<p>Advantage of AP classes is that it offers college/university admissions a consistent curriculum to compare a broad spectrum of students, and the AP test grade offers some benchmark of students’ competency. However, it appears that actual AP classes at individual HSs do vary, often based upon relative competency of teacher as well as his/her students, even if curriculum itself is supposedly well-defined.</p>
<p>It’s worth noting that AP credit itself is probably most helpful at state schools for winnowing out freshmen-level classes, and least helpful at private more competitive universities and colleges.</p>
<p>There are no zeroes in AP so anyone showing up for the exam and taking a nap will get a 1. However, both 1 and 2 are considered a fail.</p>
<p>Depending on the school - some accept CLEP credit - that might be another option for a non-STEM major.</p>
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<p>That is highly dependent upon the college and major. If he is going to major in a non STEM field at a mid-level college, then, assuming he passes the AP Calc BC with a 5 (and maybe a 4), then he will know soon enough with the next calc class whether he knows enough or not. If he doesn’t, then he can probably drop to the 1st term calc, and be just fine.</p>
<p>However, if he is going into a STEM field at a top tier college, the rigor of the class is important. It sets the foundation for his entire career. Maybe try the same tact: Take Calc II, but decide quickly if he wants to drop into Calc I.</p>
<p>Note: At some schools, like MIT, Calc I is all of single variable calculus, and Calc II is Multivariable Calculus. Some schools Multivariable is not taught until Calc III. At those schools, I would be even more concerned about whether the kid learned enough to skip Calc I.</p>
<p>He’s going to be studying CS at Alabama, but he was thinking about double majoring in math. I’ve heard that Calc II there is pretty difficult. I’m going to try to get my hands on some final exams.</p>
<p>Sent from my SCH-R760 using CC</p>
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<p>Such schools that compress what is usually three semesters of calculus into two semesters are extremely unusual. MIT itself does allow AP calculus for subject credit – 4 on AB allows taking a special version of its calculus 1 that assumes AB knowledge, while 4 on BC allows taking its calculus 2: [MIT</a> Class of 2017: Advising and Academics - College Board Advanced Placement Credit](<a href=“http://mit.edu/firstyear/2017/subjects/incomingcredit/ap.html#math]MIT”>http://mit.edu/firstyear/2017/subjects/incomingcredit/ap.html#math) .</p>
<p>It’s not just Calculus that may cause trouble. </p>
<p>Humanities and social science courses at good colleges require lots of writing with complex and nuanced arguments. I know that writing for the AP exam follows the very simple minded, 5 paragraph theme, mass scored formula. My kid had to be retrained to write for them. She had some trouble believing that the scorers didn’t want a nuance, elegant essay. . . </p>
<p>AP placement in some subjects by-passes the courses that teach college writing.</p>
<p>Many schools have more than one calculus series. For example they will have calculus series for business majors, a different series for science majors and then a proof based series for math majors. </p>
<p>My oldest son is at a university with a very strong engineering program. He got a 5 on the AP AB test and started with calc. 2. He survived but he regretted the decision and he told anyone who would listen that they should “back up one”, i.e., if their test score on the AP AB allowed them to take calc. 2 take calc. 1 and if test score on AP BC allowed them to take calc. 3, take calc. 2. He strongly felt that the AP curriculum didn’t match the rigor of the college courses and he would have been much better off taking the whole college series as a STEM major. </p>
<p>My youngest son got a 5 on the AP BC test and he is taking a proof based series. He says that the proof series is nothing like the calculus he had in high school. In his case the university won’t allow students to use AP to advance in that series - they are required to start with calc.1. </p>
<p>I know the mantra at our local high school is … never substitute an AP class for a class that is required by your major. I think that’s pretty good advice.</p>
<p>^^^ I tend to agree, especially since there is no good way to measure how the Calc was taught at HS in 42 min periods and how it is done when taken 2 - 3x a week with recitations. My son also took BC in HS, got a great score on the AP exam but redid Calc 2 because his advisor said that Engineering students really needed be very solid in Calc 2. </p>
<p>He did do well in the class but I asked him if it felt like he knew the math they were teaching. He said he knew the math but the problem sets were much harder than the ones he had done in HS. I’m glad the advisor had him stay with Calc 2 to start.</p>
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<p>That is why having the student try the old final exams of the courses that may be skipped would be a good idea. That way, the student can skip the courses that s/he already knows (avoiding wasting time and tuition on them) while not going too far ahead beyond his/her knowledge.</p>
<p>Here is an example advising web page for new frosh in engineering. Note that it contains links to several sample final exams for students with AP credit to check their knowledge on:
[Choosing</a> an Appropriate First Math Course ? UC Berkeley College of Engineering](<a href=“http://coe.berkeley.edu/students/current-undergraduates/new-students/choosing-an-appropriate-first-math-course.html]Choosing”>http://coe.berkeley.edu/students/current-undergraduates/new-students/choosing-an-appropriate-first-math-course.html)</p>
<p>You did see that I quoted you in a previous post in this thread ucbalumnus :)</p>
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<p>“Never” would likely result in the best students wasting their time and tuition repeating what they already know.</p>