I hear that nowadays at Vandy intro Calc 155a and 155b are brutal - “weed out” courses as described by a family friend who is a freshman at Vandy now.
If one could place out of those with AP BC calculus credit into Math 175, would it be beneficial? I.e. Does the grade deflation/weed out phenomenon ease up in upper level math courses like calc 175?
I hate when universities make intro courses unnecessarily hard to deflate GPA, so if it less of a grind to place into Math 175, I would love to know if it is worthwhile.
Thanks in advance for any opinions on this.
I’m interested in your question because I have been under the opinion that these courses should be easier as of the last 2-3 years because exams are now prepared by the individual instructors instead of being departmentalized. I hope that one of the current students will weigh in on this.
I should let younger students weigh in but my opinion has always been that it’s best to place out and go to 175 – if not for grading standards, then just because the calculus is (IMO) easier in Math 175.
My info is dated, but years ago I placed out of calc I and II with calc BC credit (this was in the eighties). Back then, multi variable calc was a class called Math 222 - I had a grad student named Dr Fryd as an instructor who was splendid. I had no trouble holding my own with the engineers, but Vanderbilt is very different now with much smarter kids than us old dinosaurs.
Smarter kids now = tougher competition = tougher to beat the curve = bad for premeds
How’s that for an equation? B-)
I’m in 150b but a lot of my friends are in 155a and 155b and it is not a cakewalk. Of course, everyone’s mathematical abilities are different, but these are generally considered weed out classes. Many of my friends did AP Calculus BC and they got credit for 155b so they went straight to 175. My advice would be to talk to your pre-major adviser and then figure out what would suit you best. You may also want to have a look at this.
http://as.vanderbilt.edu/math/undergraduate/placement_policy/
I think every situation is unique, but my freshman, who placed out of 155a and b, and was originally enrolled in 155b, was advised to switch to 175 by the adviser.
You can only place out if you have AP or IB credit, right?
My engineering son also used his AP credit to skip Math 155A and B and went straight to Math 175. He received te recommendation from his advisor. In the first two weeks of class you are allowed to move back to the 155 series if you do not think that you are prepared for Math 175. With that option, it seemed like there was minimal risk moving to Math 175 with the upside of capturing 8 units of AP credit.
He received a B in Math 175, but an A in the next semester math class. I think the B was more about learning how to be sucessful in a college course.
I never understood the ongoing debate of 155A/B. I thought the sequence was a lot easier than some of the other freshman level classes. That being said, 175 is a lot easier than either one.
Thanks! That is helpful.
My son’s advisor suggested not taking 155b if he didn’t have to. I was concerned because his high school only offered Calc AB, so only knew the BC content from self-teaching. He went ahead and started in 175 and did fine.
After taking AP Calc AB (and getting a 3 on the exam), my D took 155a and loved it. It was one of her easiest As over the last four years.
S2 is an engineering student and came in with AP BC Credit. He took 175 and 196 freshman year with no issues.
^ good to know - thanks!