Skipping Calc 21A and 21B/Physics series?

<p>I’m an incoming freshman who’s gonna major in Electrical Engineering. I took the AP Calc BC exam this May, and I was wondering if (assuming I get a 5 on the BC exam and I pass the placement exam) if I can skip out of 21A and 21B. I mean, I really don’t want to do stuff that I’ve covered already, it’d be kind of redundant…</p>

<p>Also, I took the AP Physics C exams (both Mech. and E&M), and I was wondering if it would be possible to skip out of some of the Physics series as well, assuming I get 5s on both of those too.</p>

<p>Thanks for your help!</p>

<p>Here is a link showing the AP equivalents: [UC</a> Davis : Advanced Placement](<a href=“http://admissions.ucdavis.edu/admissions/fr_ap.cfm]UC”>Undergraduate Admissions)</p>

<p>It looks to me like you can go right into Calc 21C, but the Physics AP only gets
you out of Physics 1A. For EE, you would be taking the Physics 9 series. Your
counselor at orientation will sort through all this with you (and I understand they
will probably try to talk you into not skipping the Calc).</p>

<p>I am an EE major finishing up my freshmen year at Davis. I skipped into 21B at the start of the year and am currently taking Mat 21D, 22A, and Phy 9A in the spring. You definitely do not want to skip physics (you also cannot skip for EE), but you certainly can skip right into 21C .
Good Luck!</p>

<p>Do you think skipping was a good idea? I’m not sure if I want to skip. I took the BC Exam and got a 4 but would it be better to start from the beginning?</p>

<p>i’m not an engineering major but a lot of my friends are. if you don’t feel comfortable with skipping to C then you should skip to B. especially if you’re planning on graduating in four years, because engineering majors are really big unit wise and skipping might help</p>

<p>^So you’re saying that for engineering, it’d be better to skip straight into 21C if you’re comfortable with it?</p>

<p>If you are comfortable with it, I would go ahead and skip. But I had to start at 21A and I don’t foresee any problems with completing my lower division requirements on time because of it. For what its worth - I didn’t take calc in high school and I didn’t have any problems with 21A - it was mostly stuff we had covered in pre-calc. 21B was a lot harder. (I got 800 on my math SAT and 790 on SAT IIs if you want to try and compare). So, if you took
AP Calc and did well at it and are generally a good math student - definitely skip 21A and perhaps 21B.</p>

<p>I wasn’t planning to skip to C. I’m just debating whether I should skip into B. What topics are covered in A and which are covered in B? The problem is I haven’t done calc in about one year so I’m a bit rusty on some of the things. Also any information on 21AH? Is it even worth taking honors courses? I talked to some of my friends who go to different university and they all said just stay away from honors, its not worth it.</p>

<p>^Yeah, I had the same question about honors courses as he has… any answers? lol</p>

<p>I took AB and BC in high school with a 5 and a 4, and quite happily skipped to 21B as a mech/aero engineer. I have heard from my friends who started at 21A with the same credentials that 21A wasn’t fun since there were a lot of proofs apparently (proofs in calc A wth?). 21B was a breeze, and it was nice to have an easy A. Same with Physics 9A (took Physics C in hs too, soo much easier the second time).</p>

<p>I don’t know of any incentive to do honors courses if you aren’t an honors student? I wouldn’t suggest it for 21D and up (or wherever your hs education ended), 21D and up is really odd/new territory. Especially if you have a crazy/bad prof…</p>

<p>The 21 and 22 series is broken down into:
21A: Derivatives
21B: Integrals
21C: Series
21D: Multivariable (Triple Integrals, etc.)
22A: Linear Algebra
22B: Differential Equations</p>

<p>I would say, don’t skip to C. Why not get an “easy” A in 21B? If you’re planning to go to grad school, that’ll help.</p>

<p>How much do the orientation leaders try to “coax” (more like force from what I’ve heard) you into starting at Calc 21A?</p>

<p>that would depend on the orientation leader. they are told to get you into those classes so depending on how firm they are and how convincing you are you might be able to convince them. even if you don’t you can probably change it later</p>