<p>I'm an incoming freshman for the College of Letters & Science for this fall 2006. My major is undeclared, but I am leaning most strongly towards either economics and/or history, english, or international relations.</p>
<p>I know that economics majors must take math, and I am confident I scored a 5 on the AP Calculus AB Exam (my school does not offer Calc BC). I do not consider math my strongest subject, nor do I consider myself a "natural" math person, but I can excel in math if I put some hard work into it.</p>
<p>So my question is, should I take Math 1A just to be safe, or go into Math 1B (since a 5 on the AB Exam satisfies 1A?). Or maybe I should do the 16 series first? Is 1A-1B really that hard? Thanks for any replies, I'm really not sure about what math to start off with.</p>
<p>You'd be good in Math 1B, a 5 on AP Calculus AB shows decent profiency, and honestly first semester calculus is not that difficult, so Math 1A under normal circumstances would be mostly review (I took first semester calculus at a community college, and would be of comparable difficult at Berkeley for the most part, not very hard stuff); since most of your major leans are social sciences, you don't even have to take a math if you declare early on. Unless you have a heavier slant for Economics, then you would definitely need to start at Math 1A. I'd recommend History however if that's your interest, Berkeley's History program is 2nd in the nation behind Yale. Math 16 I heard is mostly introductory calculus, very easy and taken solely for GPA padding, so don't consider it, or at least I wouldn't (since you're not pre-med, the only people who seriously consider the course for grade padding).</p>
<p>Thank you for your reply, most people only post a sentence or two, but yours was unusually in depth. And I am interested in history. I did not know Berkeley was ranked 2nd in it; I've heard great things about its economic department though. I think I'll try out 1B then...and drop down to 1A if it blows me away in the beginning. Thanks again!</p>
<p>strykur, do most pre-meds take math 16 series for grade padding?</p>
<p>A lot do, I've heard, yes.</p>
<p>so then would it be better to take math 1b or math 16 if you're a pre med in mcb. Or both?</p>
<p>Math 1A is fairly easy if you have taken calculus... though if u want to get done with math then take math 1b and skip math 1a.</p>
<p>hmm sounds good. alrite. i wanted to get math out of the way anyway. ill try 1B.</p>
<p>actually, if you're really that confident that you received a 5 on the AP calc exam, I would recommend for you to take Math 1A. Although it will be mostly review, it will also offer you the rare opportunity of receiving an "easy A" while doing minimal work...opportunities like this are few and far between at Berkeley, so whenever you encounter one you should definitely take advantage of it</p>
<p>hmm. ill consider that. yea. the only problem right now that i have is i cant really fit both econ 1 and math 1A (or math 1B) in the first semester together; i was thinking of taking econ 1 first semester, seeing if i want to keep going in econ, then if i do, taking math 1A (or 1B) 2nd semester...</p>
<p>in other words, does anyone think taking a semester off from doing math make it difficult to get back into the whole calculus mode? like would i get rusty..?</p>
<p>No. It will come back to you fairly quickly. Oh it sure will...</p>
<p>I took Calc BC as a junior and got a 5 but it took a lot of work (B first semester, wanted to drop to AB but teacher wouldn't let me .. A second semester). I'm pretty rusty with math as well since I took AP Stats this year. I signed up for 1A but I'm wondering how hard 1B is in comparison?</p>
<p>Very difficult... I didn't take BC in high school b/c of schedule conflicts, but apparently some material covered in 1B is not part of the BC cirriculum... so brace yourself...</p>
<p>The worst thing you can do to yourself is to think you will own the competition because you scored a 5 on the BC exam. Don't make yourself fall into this over confidence attitude and you should do OK.</p>