Placement Results Are Up!

The heading says it all.

link?

No link as they are in each Class of '23 student’s portal. These are the results of Math, Chem, Physics, and foreign language placement tests. The incoming students will be registering beginning next week.

Has anyone got Chemistry - my daughter got Math and language but not Chemistry and she took both tests in Chemistry

@bam777 My daughter also received her Math and Language placements yesterday, but not Sciences. She said that the sciences should be posted today (Aug. 1st).

Is everyone happy with their Math placement?

My daughter seems content with her math placement. Her highest math in HS was Cal AB. UChicago has her placed in Cal 2. She is happy not to have Honors Cal as she is afraid that would be a little too much for her.

She is still awaiting a Physics placement though. Did anyone get placed in a Physics or Chemistry class yet?

@lilchaz - exact same for my kid! Glad to know there are at least a couple in that boat. He reached out to his advisor just to make sure it wasn’t too aggressive (not planning a STEM major at this time). Passing Calc 2 gets the Math Core out of the way, at a minimum, so there’s a nice upside potential. He just wants to make sure he’s not underwater in his first quarter.

@JBStillFlying @lilchaz
When you say Calc 2, do you mean 15200? Thanks!

@PepperJo - sorry, yes! Should have been more clear. There are actually three Calc 2’s: 13200, 15200, 16200. Dropping the zero’s, initial placement according to the Math Placement video seems to be restricted to 131, 151, 152, and 161. So the only “Calc 2” that kids are placed into for fall is 152.

If you haven’t watched all of them already, this is a good place to start about registration and placement:

https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PL_s9funj0EJIfUiS6AVLk4TqvzBlE3aC7

I don’t know how much things have changed, but back in the day (i.e., when my children started, a bit more than a decade ago) anyone placed into 152 could get into Honors Calculus (161) essentially by asking politely. Traditionally, the Honors sequence reflected the best thinking in the Chicago Math Department about what people should learn and how they should learn it, and they more or less wished everyone would take it.

The Honors sequence requires starting with the first quarter, however; no one ever starts with 162. And almost everyone who takes Honors Calculus takes the third quarter, 163, as well, which satisfies the basic prerequisite for most higher-level math courses.

^ Honors Calc. (Calc 160’s) is still considered prestigious and the Math dept. strongly encourages students to consider it if invited. They’ve changed the math accreditation a tad since my daughter started a couple of years ago. I believe you can’t just take the accreditation exam and get out of math at UChicago anymore; however, you can place into higher math and you’ll get the credit for fulfilling the Math Core. Here is the explanation (scroll down to middle of page): http://collegecatalog.uchicago.edu/thecollege/examinationcreditandtransfercredit/

What’s notably different this year is lack of option to switch down if you place higher than you “want”. My son was planning to take 151 so wasn’t worried so much about his exact placement, but he hasn’t been given that option. His advisor told him to start in 152 and then if he felt overwhelmed he could discuss switching with the math people at the time. I’m glad they are more strict because my D was in 130’s with all these curve-busters who clearly placed in 150’s but decided to do 130’s instead and get an easy A. They seem to have close up that loophole.

Nice to hear they are cracking down on the Math placements. It would really frustrate my daughter if there were a ton of curve-busters in her class trying to get an easy A.

She is still waiting on her Physics placement though. I’m not entirely sure, but I don’t think she took a Physics placement test (not sure that there is one). I thought she said they will place her based on her AP Physics and AP Calculus results.

^ That’s correct. The physics placement is based on your math placement and your AP scores, according to the new student advising FAQ’s.

D placed into 151 (only took up to regular Calc in HS). She asked her advisor a few days ago if she could take 131 since it reviews precalc also. He said 130s and 150s get you to the same exact place at the end of the series. The only difference is that the 130s requires a few mandatory extra hours a week of class to make sure content is accessible and understood. D is not thrilled about the extra hours of class each week. Her advisor told her to talk to the math department during O-week to help her decide. She will not need Calc core for her most likely major, but wants to explore all options on the table.

^ The extra hours aren’t really class - more like mandatory TA sessions for the weekly quiz and problem set help. My daughter’s TA was cool with her just turning in her psets and leaving if she didn’t have any questions that week. Doubt that these kids spent more time than the 150’s or 160’s kids on calculus over the course of the week.

One really cool thing about being in calculus at UChicago is that almost everyone else is in the same boat. Beginning next week, the College will open up over 1600 calculus spots! 131 and 151 each have over 400 available and, for 152, a little more than 580! That’s assuming that they don’t raise capacity (currently capped at 27 per section). 161 will have a “modest” 210 students. Anyway, divide those numbers by 39 houses, and it’s easy to see that you are bound to know other first years in your house who are taking the same sequence, even if they are not in the same exact section.

Physics and chemistry placements are up. Oddly my daughter didnt take a physics placement test but still got a placement. Any idea how that happened ?

@bam777 The regulars can correct me if I’m wrong, but I believe first years get placed regardless of taking a placement test. There was no placement test offered for Physics, but they will place students into a Physics class based on AP scores and the math placement test. As for Chemistry, there is a placement test, but if the student doesn’t take the test, they are still placed in a Chemistry. My daughter didn’t take the Chemistry placement, but her portal still placed her in a class.

I guess this is for students who want to take a Physics or Chemistry, or need to for their major.

@lilchaz and @bam777 - same here. Son received physics and chem placements. Physics was to be expected because it sounded like everyone got that. But the chem placement was a surprise because he didn’t take the placement test.