<p>The school I talked about doesn’t have placement exams (I found that strange, but well). (Also, it’s not Op’s school :p, so I was just presenting another case similar to OP’s, with “calc I” really being for kids who have already taken Calculus in HS).
UCBAlum, I defer to your knowledge of math curricula in HS and college. This is the info I have for the college I’m talking about, you may be able to analyze that better than my previous description.
Either they haven’t had Calc AB and they take 100 or they have and place into 110 (but can take 100 if they wish or try to take 120 if they absolutely insist they’re math geniuses, although advisers are adamant it should be reserved for Calc BC 5 students :p) 100 seems to have half precalc half intro to calc at a slower pace, with sequences, series, analytical geometry, and limits, leading into Calc 110.
This will probably give you more usable info for a comparison: The textbooks are Stewart’s (<em>Precalculus: math for calculus</em> for 100; <em>Calculus, early Transcendentals</em> for 110 and 120.) After 120 the math class is Differential Equations.</p>
<p>@OP: just curious, can your friends indicate what textbooks are used in the “lower level” class and in the class he’s currently taking?</p>
<p>Sikorsky, I would have to search for them. I remember seeing them, but do not have a ready link to them. I am not sure OP is that interested, but you can probably find them if you look. I think Princeton’s Math department and TX A&M’s has such charts. As I recall 750 SAT Math and 5 on Calc BC was a threshold for proof based Calculus.</p>
<p>My first college had only 1 intro calc class for everybody. At least half the class had done AB calc the previous year. I got F’s in my last 5 semesters of HS math and then worked for two years, so I hadn’t passed a math class in almost 5 years when I started college calculus with all these veterans. Yet I did very well in the class. </p>
<p>Now, this kid isn’t me, but I’m not a math major. Call me harsh, but I think if you can’t keep up in that situation, you just aren’t a math major. (Or a physics major unless the physics department is pretty Mickey Mouse.) I’d bet a lot of money that there are kids in this class who didn’t have AP Calc and are making it work. A math major shouldn’t be “struggling.” Maybe he doesn’t get an A, but the professor doesn’t single him out as a better fit for the easier course.</p>
<p>He needs to move to the lower level class. Math is one of those things that if you miss any single part along the way, you are hopelessly lost. </p>
<p>You might try a tutor first, but if he is struggling a lot in September, I’d drop and move down.</p>
<p>Math 1A, 1B, 53 = calculus 1, 2, 3, using Stewart’s Calculus Early Transcendentals
Math H1B, H53 = honors versions of 1B, 53
Math 16A, 16B = easier version of 1A, 1B for business and social studies majors
Math 32 = remedial precalculus course to prepare for 1A or 16A</p>
<p>Note that the outline indicates that 1B fall semester students are typically those who have had high school calculus and skipped 1A with advanced placement, while 1B spring semester students are typically those who took 1A the previous fall:</p>
<p>The nice thing is that these are not weighted vs un-weighted courses as they are in high school that wreck GPAs and track kids for alternative schooling etc. The student may benefit from taking a lite calculus course, that moves at a slower pace. It will give him a chance to review some old concepts and prove himself . Then, if he gets an A grade in lite calculus he catches up with the rest of the class by taking courses over the summer. It is far better than falling behind in class and getting demoralized because it is barreling ahead, then ending up with a C or worse because he was in with kids who took AP Calculus and that had higher SAT Math scores than him.</p>
<p>However, be aware that summer classes mean paying additional tuition and missing out on money earning work opportunities.</p>
<p>Perhaps this is one thing for high school seniors and their parents to consider – even though most posting here are very confident in graduation in 8 semesters (without summers) or less, actual graduation in 8 semesters (without summers) is much less common, except at the most selective colleges. So budgets for college for a student who is not at the level of having a realistic chance of admission to the most selective colleges should account for the possibility of needing extra semesters or summers.</p>
<p>Thanks UCBAlumnus.
Apparently 100 is not seen as “remedial” but the normal 1st year class. 110 assumes 4-5 on AP exam (AB) apparently, although officially it’s not necessary to have it to register. (There’s only one student in that case, who got a 27% on her test.)
5 on BC places students in 120 but there’s only one section of it in the Fall.
I would assume 1A 1B 53 are more rigorous than 110-120 though. Unless they’re run like de facto Honors sections in the Fall and “regular” in the Spring. Don’t know. 100 looks very similar to 16A. The next class after 120 is Differential Equations with the Blanchard/Devaney/Hall text, so half of 54. Multivariable is included in 120.
The 100-110-120 arrangement does look strange compared to the UCB sequence.
Thanks for responding in any case.
Not that my question helps OP, except to see how different math curricula can be from school to school.
Curious to know whether OP’s student will keep up and stay in calc I or move down one level.
OP: is the instructor new? Perhaps fresh out of a PHD program? Or is the professor a seasoned instructor in that college’s department?</p>
<p>OP here. This is certainly a cautionary tale regarding small LACs. The class in question is the 1st quarter of a mandatory 3-quarter series of “freshman calculus”. There’s no alternate “calculus” series at this CTCL. The student had a strong ACT score, attended an elite college prep, aced precalculus, etc. Professor encouraged him to switch out before class started, then ignored him when he remained enrolled for that first week. Student checked w/HS; they’ve never heard of an X grad being disqualified for freshman calculus. The point is he was advised to drop 1st-term calculus class simply because he had no HS CALCULUS CLASS. Precalculus expertise was insufficient for the professor. His parents contacted advisor and professor too. It’s a close friend’s son; there’s no nuance missing and I’m upset for them too. After one week, the student dropped the class and enrolled in the nonqualifying applied math class. Sounds like he’s stuck, and yes, possibly facing delayed graduation if he stays w/math-science major intent, though parents were advised “not to worry; it’ll be ok”.</p>
<p>Actually, it is a cautionary tale about this particular school, if the actual course offerings, prerequisites, enrollment policies, and/or placement policies differ from what is publicly stated on the web site (i.e. the school is misleading and/or lying to students).</p>
<p>Naming the school may help other students avoid it in the future.</p>
<p>Of course, then there is the fourth (and very typical) option:</p>
<ul>
<li>Premeds attend said college after having already aced AP Calc (AB and/or BC), but repeat Calc 1 (or 101) in college for the “easy” A. Since a large chunk of matriculating Frosh are pre-health, a large chunk of Calc 1 students are on this math plan.</li>
</ul>
<p>The two 1st-term calc sections contain only 15% of total freshman population, which likely same upper 15th percentile of those freshmen, which probably approximates number of students who’re thinking “premed”, I think bluebayou might be right about this situation.</p>
<p>Ucbalum: I don’t want to out my friend’s son.</p>