<p>So I'm taking my writing exam placement test tomorrow. Does anybody knows when and where we are suppose to take the math placement test?</p>
<p>I looked the information myself and “The Mathematics Department administers the CSU/UC Mathematics Diagnostic Testing Project exam at the beginning of each quarter and in the sixth or seventh week of each quarter.”</p>
<p>[UCSC</a> Mathematics Placement Exam Info](<a href=“http://www.math.ucsc.edu/placement/index.html]UCSC”>http://www.math.ucsc.edu/placement/index.html)</p>
<p>Found the dates here.</p>
<p>[UCSC</a> Mathematics Placement Exam - Upcoming Exam Dates](<a href=“http://www.math.ucsc.edu/placement/dates.html]UCSC”>http://www.math.ucsc.edu/placement/dates.html)</p>
<p>I received a letter for the writing test but not the math test. Does that mean I don’t have to take the math test?</p>
<p>Taking the math placement test is up to you. You only need it if you’re going to take math classes, and you haven’t taken the AP Calc test (which may place you out of classes).</p>
<p>since they said no pre registration does that mean we can just show up to santa cruz and take it? Or do we have to notify them 2 weeks in advance?</p>
<p>You just show up and take it.</p>
<p>Oh, I’m a Comp Sci major so looks like I’ll be taking the test.</p>
<p>Yup. Some of the very early comp sci classes require enrollment or “ability to enroll” in Math 19A, calc for engineers.</p>
<p>is calculus the basic math to start with? Do we still get GE credits if we take trigonometry, college algebra, or statistics?</p>
<p>do incoming transfers have to take the placement tests?</p>
<p>@Leuzinger2010: No, some people start as low as college algebra. But most students start out at either trig or calc. You definitely get GE credits even if the course is not explicitly listed as a requirement for the major.</p>
<p>@Jserrano298: Only if you need to do math and you haven’t done any college math before.</p>
<p>Sweet, thanks Liesel</p>
<p>My son had pre-calc in hs and did ok. Which math class should he start that will be counted toward GE and satisfies the prereq. for Calculus later? Or is it too much to
handle Calculus in his first or second quarter? And what are the prereq. for math 19a?</p>
<p>Thanks</p>
<p>@schooldad: The prereq for Math 19A is one of any of the following: A passing grade in Math 3(general pre-calc), a passing grade in AMS 3(pre-calc for engineers), a grade of 40 or above on the placement exam, or a score of 3 or higher on the Calc AB exam.</p>
<p>I never took Math 3 or AMS 3 (Applied Math and Statistics) myself, but some of my friends have taken both courses. They recommend AMS 3. Math 3 is notoriously harder due to the annoying online system it uses. If you put in a wrong answer to a problem, you’re forced to do many other problems before you can move on. One of my friend described it it as trudging uphill in a snowstorm.</p>
<p>It depends on how “okay” your son did. C? B? What? Either way you sound uncertain, and that in itself makes me recommend he not go straight into Calc his first quarter.</p>
<p>Yes, as you suspected I didn’t feel that he could handle calculus at UC level starting out. He got B- for his pre-calc in HS, and is probably taking pre-cal again at JC this summer. If his class at JC is transferable, I think he will be ready to go to the next math level or torward calculus soon. What about computer languages, like maybe a course in Java or intro to computer, will there be math prereq?</p>
<p>That sounds like a good plan. Credits should definitely transfer. :)</p>
<p>The only prereq ANY of the early comp sci classes have is “ability to enroll in Math 19A”. So as long as your son has passed Pre-Calc or gets a good placement test score, he’ll be fine.</p>