I am sure a large number, if not most, of the students at Caltech have some previous undergraduate coursework completed by the time they matriculate at Caltech, whether through AP courses, dual enrollment, MOOC or even self-study. What is the process for testing out of particular classes that students feel they have really mastered already? What is the culture and attitude about pursuing it? How commonly do students pursue this?
Please, please, please do not crucify me. I understand that Caltech is chock full of really bright kids who were all at the top of the heap at home and that most are now simply surrounded by peers, but it still must, at least occasionally, be true that someone really has mastered X or Y and would be best served by moving ahead.
If Caltech is like most of the other top STEM schools, they will have their own (very difficult) tests to allow students to test out of some of their intro classes. AP, MOOC, self study won’t really be considered, it is all about whether you can pass any placement test they offer. Bottom line is that it is probably better for your kid to just take the classes they don’t place out of, as the pace is fantastically fast and the whole pool of students is very, very bright and very STEM oriented. As a parent, don’t count on paying for fewer semesters or anything like that based on work done prior to arrival as a freshman.
^^^^@intparent is absolutely right. Caltech accepted a little over 200 students in this year’s freshman class, and from what my son indicated, very few were able to “waive” a couple of the freshman classes. The freshman classes are on a Pass/Fail for the first two quarters, because the students must become accustomed to the level of instruction and intensity of the coursework. Most of the students have been anxious about the level of work as well as the quantity. (The math problems alone have caused extreme anxiety, why would you want to rush through?) The staff does not condone waiving those classes, and now I see why.
The information taught in those classes is crucial to their internships.
It’s not going to give your student an advantage. Why the rush? Was your child accepted to Caltech?)
Mudd is the same in this regard (also with 1st semester pass/fail). Assume MIT may be as well. Consider your kid lucky if they have had some of the material before; their transition may be a bit smoother.
Caltech is one school that essentially tells everyone that they expect people to show up with lots of APs and IBs in order to even fit in and none of those classes deserve credit. I see that as a big difference between MIT and Caltech where Caltech is essentially telling students AP is just another class in high school.
@gsckmom, the students at Caltech begin with a clean slate. I agree with all of the above; the AP classes were just fluff classes and none of the credits count towards anything.
At the parent information sessions, we were told to prepare our students for the use of tutors. Apparently, these students have all been tutors at one time but, at Caltech, they will not feel comfortable being tutored or being on the receiving end of help.
So, your son or daughter is not even accepted yet and you want him/her to skip classes? Wow, you’re really confident. We didn’t even know that our son had been accepted until we started hearing from his classmates’ parents. Cal tech is very quirky about how they admit students, its not just about high test scores and high GPA’s. The whole application has to fit what the school is trying to build in a freshman class.
One of my colleagues went to Caltech and when asked how it was, he responded “you find out when you get there that about a third of the students are true geniuses and for the rest of us, it is a soul crushing experience.” I thought it was funny but I’m don’t think he was kidding.
@bookworm They may have had additional descriptions somewhere else where they stated flatly there are no AP credits given. I had gone through a comparison when D was making decisions between Caltech, MIT and a few other schools and I figured Caltech pretty much didn’t care to give credit for anything.
Do they give actual credit hours when they take the placement test or are they justing letting them move ahead?
Just trying to find out the process and culture at some of the schools we are considering. My son is a sophomore in high school. He is also mostly self-taught (5’s on Calc BC AP and both Physics C’s at the end of 9th grade) but is taking some upper level math and physics courses at the local university for fun and even those are really not challenging him. I just want to make sure that wherever he goes, he will have the opportunity to actually figure out what he needs and doesn’t. Neither he nor I have any interest in skipping classes or getting credits just for the sake of doing it. None. This is really and truly not about confidence or pride or prestige. I just want him to find a place where he can do his thing with the proper support and guidance.
My son didn’t place out; I’m pretty sure he looked thru exams but knew he would do best taking the classes. He went to a large HS, nothing special with math or science. He took many classes at the local U. I think MIT did give some credits. I forget if just in humanities, which turned out to be good at Caltech. They had a favorite psychology teacher; I heard her students present projects, and I could see her enthusiasm.
On the opposite side, my son left HS as a junior. Be taking an English class at Caltech -within specifications- he was able to get a HS degree.
I just reviewed the two schools. Caltech requires students to take math and physics exams, the ones sent to them during summer, for placement purposes. You can place out of the intro course, but not get credit.
MIT has both credit and placement, but credits seem difficult. One cannot place out of humanities, but can skip intro English with 5 on AP. Too much to summarize, check out web.mit.edu credit for previous study
With all due respect to your local university, there are only a handful of schools out there which work like Caltech for science and math classes. It is quite possible that he may do 3 advanced level classes and find that it matches one quarter class at Caltech.
Since they are giving an opportunity to place out, you could look into that summer before starting, assuming he gets admitted which by no means is guaranteed.
OTOH, schools like MIT and Caltech seem to allow people to apply without having to graduate from high school. So he could always apply as a junior and see what happens.
I am sure the placement exams will give us the all the information we need if that is where he ends up. Thank you to everyone for their opinions and knowledge.
I’m a current Caltech student. Placing out of introductory courses is determined by doing sufficiently well on Caltech placement exams. Testing out of math (usually Ma1a, sometimes also Ma 1b/1c, and more rarely Ma 2/3) and physics (Ph 1a; physics olympiad veterans usually get out of 1b/1c too) is standard. The CS 1 placement exam is also not too difficult, so a fair number place out of that as well. In very rare cases, some pass out of the freshman chemistry course as well, but it’s much much harder to do so than in math/physics/CS.
If your son is taking university-level math/physics already, chances are he will be able to pass out of the freshman math and physics courses providing that he takes the corresponding courses at his local university.
