<p>A little background info: I'm a HS Senior right now and I am going into chemical engineering next year. According to the "4 year plan" at my university, in the fall semester I would be taking Calc I, Physics I, Chem I, Freshman writing, and a 1 credit ChemEng seminar (optional but recommended). I took the Calculus AB and APLAC exams junior year and scored a 5 and 4, respectively. I'm taking the Physics and APLit exams this year and I'm guessing I'll get at least a 4 and 3 on those ones.</p>
<p>Now to my question... Is getting out of some of those first year classes really worth it? I've heard both sides, some say that classes like Physics and Calc I are "weed out" classes and can lower your GPA, but I don't get that because i think it would be harder to jump straight into Physics or Calc II instead of taking a class that is kind of review.</p>
<p>Right now, I'm leaning towards using my AP credits to get out of my freshman writing class but retaking Calc and Physics. If you're in college or have already graduated, I'd like to hear your opinions on this. (either side)</p>
<p>Calc 2 may be harder, but it is all about the curve. Calc 1 and 2 were weed out courses that I got out of. I took Physics though and did great. It all depends on the curve for that class.</p>
<p>Outside of your GPA though, using all of my AP credits allowed me to co-op one semester and still graduate in 4 years. Plus I’ve had a pretty chill senior year. That extra work experience is more than worth that extra 0.1 GPA I might have. </p>
<p>If you college will let you skip (for example) calculus 1 using your AP calculus AB credit, try to find the old final exams for the college’s calculus 1 course. Use them to check your knowledge. If you know the material well, skip calculus 1 and go on to calculus 2, which will give you more schedule flexibility and space for free electives later. If the old final exam problems are very difficult, you may want to retake calculus 1.</p>
<p>Of course, this only applies to courses which are important prerequisites for other courses. For example, if you have AP biology credit that the college allows you to substitute for biology 1 but do not intend to any other course for which biology 1 is a prerequisite, then you can skip it without problems. But if you do intend to take other courses for which biology 1 is a prerequisite, check the old final exams for biology 1 as described above.</p>
<p>I’m a 2nd year chemical engineering major, and I opted out of a few classes with AP credits. My school is the quarter system and the only credits that I got that exempted me from actual classes were AP Calc BC and AP Chem. It didn’t affect me much. In college, the pacing is much faster. With that said, AP Calc BC is a class taught in a year or more and in my college, all of the AP Calc BC material is taught in less than a school year (2 quarters). You won’t be at a disadvantage for math if you knew the material well. Overall, math was a useful AP credit, but since I skipped 1st quarter general chemistry from AP Chem, I didn’t know some of the material that was taught in that class. I still managed, though. It wasn’t too hard.</p>
<p>P.S. Just study hard for your AP classes like an actual college class (i.e. doing extra stuff like reading the textbook and utilizing all sources to fully understand material, and you will be fine). I got 5’s on those AP credits that I skipped from doing extra stuff like reading the textbook.</p>
<p>I would echo taking the credits for any course outside your major requirements, but would be wary of taking them for required courses about which you had any question. I had the option of skipping some calc courses, but decided to take them anyway when I discovered that the college courses covered some details that the AP courses had skipped. If you do take the credits, just be aware that there may be some things that you missed that you will need to come up to speed on later, quickly and on your own.</p>
<p>Given, my high school only offered AP Calculus AB, but I got a 5 on that exam and was eligible to skip Calculus 1 at my undergraduate university. I didn’t and instead took and accelerated/honors Calculus 1/2 course that covered the material much deeper and assumed basic prior calculus knowledge. That was one of the best decisions of my early university life. In no way did my high school class come anywhere close to what I learned in the college class even though I got a 5 on the exam.</p>
<p>That said, some high schools are better than others, so you may have a better base than others. I’d say that, in light of that possibility, if support ucbalumnus’ suggestion of trying to find an old final and seeing how comfortable you are with the material.</p>
<p>Obviously engineering is very dependent on calculus and physics, but you often hear people talk about how once you get out into the workplace, you rarely use it again. That’s true for some jobs, but if you ever decide you want to do graduate school or if you want some of the more coveted jobs in high tech companies, you better believe that having a grasp of the math will be helpful, so don’t blow it off.</p>
<p>My general advice is to take the credits if (1) you feel confident in the material and (2) you don’t need the courses for any professional or graduate school that might require prerequisites.</p>
<p>If you’re not very confident in the material, then retake the class. Since you’ve already had exposure to all of the material, you will likely to better in those classes, even if they are considered “weed out” classes at your school. If the class is curved, all you have to do is be better than your peers, and one of the reasons the curve can be challenging is because a large number of students come in with AP classes and have good preparation in the subject.</p>
<p>For what it’s worth, I took the credits for all of my AP classes, and I breezed through next level of classes. But only you can decide what’s best for you.</p>