<p>i took Ap calc AB during my senior year, but i took AP calc BC exam.
and to be honest (and not being modest) I did not selfstudy AT ALL.
i merely relied on my luck and guessing ability.
and fortunately and ironically and whatever it seems like i passed that exam.
(my college's registration page shows me that)</p>
<p>now.. here's a dilemma. Should I skip Calc II and continue in Calc III (multivariable)???
as an engineering major i do have to take more adavnaced math classes, and i wonder and worry if my understanding of calculus is too weak to continue(i seriously do not understand BC topics. i mean i dont even know what's in BC sections). and .. i often hear calc I and II are usually weeder classes. and some ppl told me to avoid weeder classes nomatter what :p</p>
<p>so.. tell me what do you think. give me your 2 cents. thank in advance</p>
<p>If you don't understand it I wouldn't skip it. You're really going to need to know the material as an engineer. Calc is a pretty important topic to know for a lot of majors, I definitely wouldn't skip it.</p>
<p>Are you choosing classes now? Some schools give recommendations as far as class levels, especially for math. You will probably be ahead of the suggested curriculum already if you start in Calc 2. (I did this) Then, you have time to adjust to college-level calculus and have a good understanding. If the school is already giving you credit for 1 and 2, and you feel you understand it, then it's a personal decision to move onto the 3rd semester. Some material may overlap. I found my AP class did not cover some of the material in Calc 2, and I had already covered some topics in Calc 3 in high school as well.</p>
<p>Hmm, duh, your post is making me reconsider my decision. I got a 5 in BC Calc this year, and my counselor signed me up for Calc 3. I'm not sure if my calc class covered everything in calc 2, not to mention I will forget some of the stuff I learned since its summer time. I'm not a genius at math or anything, I study a lot. Any input from people that skipped calc2?</p>
<p>follow the recommendations of your college advisor. They have the most experience placing students into their own courses based on AP scores. Thta's more helpful than your assessment of the high school coverage you had.</p>
<p>Obviously you should take it if you are in engineering. Engineering is based on a lot of principles that you will learn in Calc II (a lot of integration). If you don't know this then how could someone expect you to be a good engineer? Not knowing Calc II is like an Economics major not knowing Macroeconomics.</p>
<p>I'd say look into the details of Calc 2 that you college offers(and maybe even contact the head of the dept to get samples & such)... if what's outlined there is similar to what you did, then don't retake it. If you decide to retake, you'll probably have an easy time and will get a much better understanding(different teachers reveal different aspects of material)</p>
<p>I have a similar question... I'm taking Calc 2 this summer(after taking AP Calc AB during the year) and will probably end up with a B in the class(3/4 tests completed, entire grade consists of 4 tests). My university said they'd accept anything over a C- for transfer but are now giving me crap about signing up for Calc 3 with my prospective B. I am doing engineering as well and understand the need to a good base and all that but my B that they're giving me trouble about could have been an A had I worked harder and had a whole semester to do it. I've been working full time over the summer and taking this class and haven't put in that much time(just enough to get by... I have a busy life!) Thoughts? Fight for Calc 3? I kind of feel like I will have wasted my time and money(nearly $2000) to take this class if I don't get some credit. The grade doesn't transfer so from the start I wasn't concerned with an A, just passing... I know a bad mindset, but it's true.</p>
<p>I took calc AB in high school and passed the AP exam but because I was going into engineering, I wanted to retake it in college. BIG mistake. Even the people who knew it very well got B- and C+ grades. Calculus 1 and 2 are weeder classes. I advise that you self-study calc 2 over the summer and take calc 3 in college.</p>
<p>Where are you going to school? At public universities, they may very well be weeder classes, but it's less likely that they will be at selective private schools that are satisfied they already have top students in their engineering program.</p>
<p>oh.. i just read that Calc 3 mutivariable doesnt have much of Calc 2 stuffs (AP BC topics) .. just intergration, dervative and stuffs like that baisc.</p>
<p>I would recommend taking calc 2 beacuse later on in your engineering classes and in Diff Eq you WILL use a lot of calc 2 and if you don't understand it you will possibly fall behind. There is a good amount of Calc 2 in Calc 3.</p>
<p>Calc III doesn't use much Calc II...except integration? haha. That's pretty much what Calc II consists of! Except for infinite series and a few other things. Calc III uses a good bit of integration, and if you have to solve it intuitively without the use of a graphing calculator then you'll be sorry. I doubt you could think of stuff like trignomic substituion off the top of your head. Just take Calc II or else you'll be back here later asking us to help you with your Calc III homework.</p>
<p>I agree with uc_benz. Calc II is pretty much all integration, and Calc III is also a lot of integration, just with multiple integrals and vector functions. The techniques of integration that you learn in Calc II are extremely important in Calc III. The other stuff I suppose you could learn as you go in Calc III, such as vectors, polar coordinates, cylindrical coordinates, spherical coordinates, and parametric equations. If you really are afraid of Calc II being a weeder class, then you should self study. Calculus is too important a subject to skip.</p>
<p>What did you get on your AP exam? If it's a 3, then I would definitely recommend self studying or taking Calc II, but if it's a 4 or 5, then I don't really think it was just luck. You may know more than you think.</p>
<p>Sorry for this stupid question, but what are "weeder classes", and how could a student possibly have taken AP calc in high school and done well on the AP exam, and still get a B or C in the college version of the same calc?</p>
<p>Also, do two years of AP calc in high school equal two years or two semesters of college calc? (son's classes were called AB and BC). Thanks!</p>
<p>"weeder classes" are most common in engineering majors, I think, and are intended to get students who aren't committed/talented enough to make it through the whole program out before they've invested alot of time. Lots of people fail those classes; some professors are notorious for declaring that if you pass the class, the people on your left and right probably won't.</p>
<p>It's possible to get a B or C in the same version of calc because students may get lazy because "they've already done this before," forgotten it, or the course has a different emphasis. I think that college calculus has more of an emphasis on the theoretical side and why things work, whereas AP calculus just wants you to be able to figure out the answer.</p>
<p>Your son's two years of calculus will probably equal two semesters, but it is possible that in addition to AP scores, the college will want a supplemental placement test or also use SAT II math scores.</p>
<p>Thanks KrazyKow. He got 98% in HS, did take a placement test (score unknown) and he got a 770 on the SATII, I think. He was thinking of retaking calc for an easy A, and to be sure he got all of the necessary info, but maybe that's a bad idea?</p>
<p>No problem. I'm still deciding what calculus class I want to take. I know that I'll skip the first semester, but I'm not sure about the second. I don't want to get in over my head when I'm still adjusting in the fall, so I'm going to work my schedule so that the two calc classes I'm considering are at the same time and I can easily switch. Where is your son going to school?</p>