<p>No - the only conflict showing on the schedule is the MA-121 Recitation. MA-122 is not listed at all. I just have lost faith in the scheduling system - so I’m worried to not see MA-122 also listed on his schedule.</p>
<p>As of a half hour ago, his schedule was still not fixed. He finally had some open time and went to the Undergraduate Academic office, only to find that they were closed for lunch. He has another class to go to and will try again later this afternoon.</p>
<p>He has a list of all the sections of the course that will fit his schedule, so hopefully someone there can help him.</p>
<p>I just looked at my son’s schedule and it shows his math 123 but his math 124 (second half of semester) shows at the bottom as ‘course with time conflicts’. It’s all the way at the bottom.</p>
<p>Sorry he is still having to sort it out. They should fix it when he gets there today. </p>
<p>It appears that SOMETHING is going on with the schedules, because his schedule has been modified in the last hour or so They still haven’t fixed the conflicting MA121 Recitation, but they did change MA121 on his schedule to reflect that the class ends in mid-October. (It was previously shown as lasting the full semester.) I’m assuming (hoping) this means they will eventually add MA122 to his schedule for the remainder of the semester.</p>
<p>I just wish someone was communicating with him so he knew what he should be doing. I’m still going to suggest he head back over to the Undergraduate Academics office when his next class ends to find out what is going on.</p>
<p>I just looked and saw the same thing. I think the way they are scheduling the math classes is new this year (the half semester thing). Maybe that is why they are having problems. </p>
<p>They are probably just really busy today getting everything straightened out. I would tell him to keep checking his schedule. If he has time to stop by today fine, but if not, tomorrow will be fine too. This usually doesn’t happen!</p>
<p>MA122 will probably be added once they have straightened out the recitation for MA121. They will follow the same time slots. </p>
<p>Wasted several hours waiting in line to talk to someone and still no resolution! I guess he will try again tomorrow…</p>
<p>Now that MA121 (Lecture & Recitation) is showing up on a separate schedule since it only meets from 8/25/2014 to 10/17/2014, it no longer flags his Recitation as a conflict, even though it still conflicts with his Engineering lab that is listed on another schedule of classes that meet the full semester.</p>
<p>I really hope that this is an anomoly…If this is “normal” then I’m worried we made a mistake. I understand that there will be glitches, but I don’t understand the lack of communication. </p>
<p>Maybe it’s time for you to call. My student waiting in line for several hours, with no resolution, would not be acceptable to me. </p>
<p>Did you try speaking to Jannine? 201 216 8376 She works in the registrar’s office and she would be able to tell you what to do, or at least probably knows what’s going on. </p>
<p>Was he able to speak to someone himself? What was their response? </p>
<p>Thanks - it’s not acceptable to me either. I am giving it until early afternoon to get resolved, or I will call the Registar’s office myself later today. I’m just reluctant to call them because last week I made several calls and they refused to talk to me. They kept telling me to wait until he met with his Advisor on Friday afternoon. </p>
<p>My son was never able to speak to anyone yesterday. He has a very full schedule on Mondays and the first time he went over, there was a long line, then they took a 1 hour lunch break and he had to leave for his next class before they were back. When he went over later in the afternoon, he waited again but had to leave for a meeting before anyone could help him.</p>
<p>He has a 4 hour open block of time in his schedule today, so hopefully that will be enough time to be seen by someone who can help him. (And hopefully he doesn’t get the same person who changed his schedule on Friday afternoon and created the conflict :)</p>
<p>Luckily, everything else is fine! I just know he will be more able to focus on his school work when this is taken care of.</p>
<p>Thanks again for all the advice - it is much appreciated! </p>
<p>Rualum, while AP courses on paper are purported to be the equivalent of college level courses, they really aren’t in my opinion. At the very least, when you imply that a typical high school teacher is the equivalent of a Stevens professor, consider that a typical high school teacher has an education-oriented bachelor’s degree and possibly a master’s degree, usually in “education”, not in mathematics or the specific subject. Stevens professors all have Ph.D.s in mathematics, have done extensive research in the field, are consultants to industry and government, and have extensive lists of publications in major scholarly mathematics journals. Many are renowned experts in their specific areas of mathematics and are sought after as speakers, consultants, and collaborators by other academic researchers and institutions. Surely you don’t believe that the average high school teacher can equal that quality. Additionally, while the official Stevens policy is to accept AP credits if the student achieves a sufficiently high score on the AP exam, the rigor of Stevens’ mathematics curriculum and all the other subjects that depend on math as a foundation (that is to say, practically all of the courses) is far and away what a typical AP high school course contains. The students, even though they may pass the AP exam, should consider taking the Stevens math curriculum (perhaps they can start with more advanced math courses than the first semester Calculus 1), but they shouldn’t forego the same just because they have taken the AP courses in high school. My remarks regarding the rigor and quality of the professors applies to all the core courses such as physics and chemistry as well. My best wishes for success to your son at Stevens. He is getting the best education possible.
Cheers, Michael, Ph.D., P.E., Consulting Engineer, Stevens '80.</p>
<p>When a student has passed the AP Calc BC, the option is to take Calc 2. You’re not skipping the entire math program. Weirdly enough, if you pass the AP Comp Sci exam, they put you in an honors Comp Sci class. Shouldn’t they advise you to take their computer classes first? </p>
<p>As I said, different students have different motivations and abilities. I objected to the statement by a poster that the deans advised taking all core/major courses regardless of AP score. It’s more than that. </p>
<p>Thank you for your good wishes. My son is doing very well and he has met some wonderful professors, as well as a couple of duds. In any group, there are those that rise to the top and those that fall to the bottom. It’s no different for college instructors. This applies to administrators, as well.</p>
<p>Being a better teacher is not always dependent on credentials.</p>
<p>In a research university such as Stevens, the “duds” - at least most of the time - will be weeded out before they get awarded tenure. I am kind of surprised the dean would (I guess off the record) say that the AP credits shouldn’t count, considering that Stevens’ policy is to accept them given adequate AP exam scores. Calculus at Stevens or most other technological research universities isn’t like that in liberal arts colleges, the big difference is that the calculus (and physics, chemistry, et al) are actually used to solve real problems in more than just a theoretical sense. In my opinion, the average high school teacher isn’t capable of imparting that level of knowledge to the the students, even though the AP calculus syllabus on paper may resemble that of Stevens. If it were up to me Stevens would not accept AP credits, but I guess to be competitive in the high achieving high school student population from which Stevens recruits it has to accept them. There are a few colleges that don’t accept AP credits, and even a few that don’t accept transfer credits (Webb Institute of Naval Architecture in Glen Cove, NY for example), giving the reason that their curriculum is much more extensive and rigorous than the majority of AP and transfer credits. In the case of AP credits, I believe this to be the case at Stevens. I still would rather learn the subject from a renowned, credentialed researcher in the field than from a typical high school teacher who has more credentials in “education” (which aren’t anywhere near the rigor of a doctorate in math) than they do in the subject (The New Jersey Dept. of Education for example only requires 30 subject-specific credits to sit for the Praxis (teacher certification exam) in most subjects - even “hard” sciences. So, it is quite possible that even the AP math teacher in high school has taken only 30 credits of “hard” mathematics. Do you think that that constitutes sufficient credentials to teach calculus - especially compared with the Ph.D. holder whose great bulk of college and graduate school work was high level mathematics and research in the same?</p>
<p>Stevens sends out a mailing in the summer to students with AP credits advising them to retake classes (rather than use AP credit) for courses in their major. While it may be advisable for some students, it doesn’t apply to all. (And all students do not enter Stevens with AP credits. Some have none, for whatever reason.)</p>
<p>I personally spoke to a dean in regards to this a couple of years ago. He assured me that my son would be fine in Calc 2. And he was. This dean may have given different advice to another student. My son’s high school teacher loved calculus, and he loved teaching it. He also teaches it at the college level. I think my son learned a lot in his class. Certainly, he was ready for college level Calc 2. </p>
<p>My son credits his HS AP Calculus teacher with his perfect math scores on the SAT and ACT. He also scored a 5 on the AP AB exam. His teacher has the highest percentage of students who score a 5 in the state. If my son chooses Stevens I think he will start in Calc 2. Rualum, I am sure I will be asking you for lots of advice.</p>