<p>Should these be studied for or at least reviewed? I took Calc BC as a sophomore and diffeq as a junior. To say the least I feel rusty and uneasy about taking a test of the two with no refresher. How do the placement exams compare to the calc bc, chem, and bio ap exams? Also, does it set you back at all if you don't test into the higher classes?</p>
<p>If you do really poorly on the math placement exam, you get put in "Math 0.9", which means you basically take a different course instead of Math 1a, and then have to take math 1d second term. I don't remember the math exam being that hard- I would look over some integrals, but that's about it. You don't need to spend tons of time reviewing for it.</p>
<p>The other placement exams just put you in introductory sections if you don't do very well. I wouldn't bother studying for them at all- you can't really use them to "test into the higher classes". If you really want to test out of parts of core, that's a different story, but the large majority of people don't end up testing out of anything.</p>
<p>Jabosh, I took AP Calc BC, DiffEQ, AP Bio, and AP Chem, and didn't place out of anything on those exams. Virtually no one does. You'll find there is a lot of material above and beyond the typical AP Calc BC/DiffEQ in the equivalent courses at Caltech.</p>
<p>P.S. - the math placement exam doesn't cover DiffEQ, I don't think. If you do very well on the math placement exam that they send to everyone (which only covers Math1a, I think), they give you exams for the other courses.</p>
<p>Ph 1a is the only core class you'll likely be able to place out of if you've only taken up to the AP level in everything. If you're a competent programmer, passing out of CS 1 and CS 2 should be doable too.</p>
<p>so if you've gotten 5's on all the ap science and math tests, are you pretty much on the same page as everyone else?</p>
<p>Yeah, basically. You might be able to pass out of Ph 1a, which is for nearly everyone the easiest class in Core.</p>
<p>Does Caltech offer a sepearte placement exam for things such as diff eqn and linear algebra, or is all just one exam?</p>
<p>One test for each of the core math classes (Ma 1abc, Ma 2ab), so 5 in total.</p>