<p>Hi guys, this is my very first thread! I got a 4 on the AP Calculus BC exam with a 5 for the AB subscore. After hearing about all the bad reviews about Math 1B, I feel really nervous about taking that class. </p>
<p>In my undergraduate handbook, it says:
Mathematics AP (BC Exam)
SCORE: 5 (less than 5, see below)
UC BERKELEY UNITS: 5.3 units
UC BERKELEY COURSE SATISFACTION: Math 1A and Math 1B will be satisfied with a perfect score of 5. It
is recommended that students with a score of 3 or 4 contact a non-major advisor in the Math Department (642-
4024), or consider taking Math 1B.</p>
<p>What does that mean exactly? Has anyone successfully skipped Math 1B with only a 4 on the AP test?</p>
<p>I am so sorry to say this but no. Its like trying to skip of of chemistry 1a with a 2 when the mark you need is a 3. The thing is that college math, especially in Berkeley, is not the same as HS calc. You should consider taking Math 1A if you want an easy A. Or you have to take Math1B. I am so sorry to tell you this but ya… The thing is that many students think Math 53 is easier than 1B but the advisers say that the failure rate in 53 is a bit higher than 1B. Check campusbuddy. I dont remember but ya… I took AB and passed but I am still gonna take Math 1A because I want to do it safe. I want to learn it in a way that wasn’t superficial like the AP test.</p>
<p>I am sorry and good luck… Take 1A or 1B. Ask yourself, what’s the rush?</p>
<p>I have heard the same as MechRocket. Well, to put it this way – 1A and 1B cover less complex material without a question, so if you’re not very good at thinking actively about the ideas, 53/54 will be harder, but if you’re good at that stuff, and just don’t want to be competing against premeds for grades, you’ll probably enjoy 53/54 better. </p>
<p>If you feel the 4 truly reflects your level of mastery, I would be worried, and would probably do some self-study and review of your weaknesses before taking any further classes.</p>
<p>tThanks to all of you that replied. I took two years of calculus and feel that I know the subject really well. I want to take math 53 but don’t know if that’s possible. Has anyone talked to a non-major advisor and got out of taking 1B?</p>
<p>i think it’s really silly that you’re so adamant about jumping to math 53. you got a 4 on the BC exam, which clearly indicates that while you may be proficient with most of the material, you still have holes that need patching up before going to the next level. i’m sorry to say this, but if you look on collegeboard, about 40 percent of BC kids get a 5. transpose that to real college math, and if you got a 4, you could face a lot of challenges in the next level.</p>
<p>math is a subject that relies HEAVILY on a good foundation. you should make sure that you have a solid foundation in the first year calculus material before moving on to other topics.</p>
<p>i’m guessing that you’ve taken AB and BC calculus? so what you feel you know really well is most likely calculus A and B–limits, derivatives, integrals, and their applications (hence the 5 on the AB subscore). but what about the other problems and the series/convergence stuff (calculus C)? those are just as important.</p>
<p>so what if you’ve heard math 1b is hard? yes, it might knock down your gpa a little, but probably it’s hard so that you learn along the way too. at least you’ll patch up the holes in your calculus that are indicated by your AP score. on the other hand, if you jump straight to math 53/54 and keep those holes in your foundation, despite what people say about how math 53 is easier, you risk finding that it’s harder for you.</p>
<p>i think that if you still choose to try to get into math 53, you’ll have to talk to a math advisor, and probably take a placement exam to see what level you’re at.</p>
<p>The series and convergence material, in my own opinion, doesn’t matter enough for 53 that there should be worries about that class. However, it is important to master this material for its own sake, unless you’re utterly sure you don’t need it for the future. If you feel the 4 is really just because of the C topics being weaker for you, you could choose to do some self-study and solve lots of problems on that material to get it down. </p>
<p>If you feel you are actually deficient on a number of topics, I’d take 1B, and believe me it’s not that bad. Paul Vojta’s class should be challenging, but he’s generally very fair and impartial. It’s not going to be impossible, unless you’re really deficient in the material, in which case you have other issues.</p>
<p>I’d skip 1B only if you feel that your calculus is very strong, except for a few gaps that would best be filled by concentrated efforts on your own. But if that’s the case, I’d say to go ahead and take 53, but resolve to review what you’re not strong at.</p>
<p>Officially, you need a 5 on the AP Calculus BC test to pass out of Math 1B. Unofficially, if you “talk” to your counselor, you can probably waive out of Math 1B.</p>
<p>If you’re required to take the 53/54 series, then I would suggest waiving out of Math 1A/1B. They’re major weeder classes, and otherwise detrimental to your GPA (unless you get an A).</p>
<p>If you’re not required to take the 53/54 series, I would suggest taking Math 1A/1B. They’re leagues above the cakewalk math you took in highschool, and overall a good review of the math that you’ll use throughout life.</p>
<p>Even Math 1A/1B are not easy. This is because the overwhelming majority of the students have already taken calc before, usually either calc ab or bc. There are quite a few kids who get 5’s on Calc BC and still take 1A.</p>
<p>When I was in high school and took the BC exam, I only got a 3 (on BC). I retook the class at community college and got an A. Despite taking the equivalent of 1B twice, I still had a somewhat rough transition getting used to Math 53 at Cal. If you think that you somehow luckily got a 4 on the BC exam I might reconsider retaking 1B just to get used to Berkeley math. However, AP scores aren’t exactly a good indicator of how well you’ll do in Berkeley math. I had a friend who got a 5 on the BC exam and ended up with a D in Math 53. I ended up with an okay grade (B), but I’d talk to (or email) your adviser as to what to do.</p>
<p>Apparently, Math 1B introduces ODEs, which you’ll cover in more depth in 54, but it’s basic stuff you’ll be able to catch up on quickly if you skipped out of 1B. You’ll also do a bit of Fourier series stuff toward the end of the course, but in my class, this was mostly just plug-and-chug. The professor and GSIs were pretty lenient about the whole reindexing series part, and the section about using Fourier series to solve PDEs was sort of optional. I was terrible at series in high school and I got through 54 just fine…</p>
<p>I know of someone who is currently taking both 1B and 53 in summer school. Personally I don’t think this is a very smart thing to do, but the lesson to take from this is example is that you don’t really need the material from 1B to take 53. Yes, 1B is a really important course but for 53 all you really need to know from Math 1A and 1B is how to integrate and differentiate. If you know all the necessary differentiation techniques and can integrate and differentiate sufficiently, then you necessarily need to go through 1B again. </p>
<p>The hard thing about 53 (I’m taking it right now), I feel is not necessarily the computational part, but being able to see things in a higher dimension and getting a feel for what’s going on despite only having a fuzzy definition of vectors and other things.</p>
<p>In any case, I don’t think that even Math 1A or 1B will just be a “refresher course” if you do decide to take them. Yeah, its the same stuff from high school calc but most professors and gsis from my experience have chosen to teach it to me from a new more theoretical angle. Personally, I really enjoy it but most of my classmates seemed to dislike it.</p>
<p>In any case, I do remember my 1B professor telling us during lecture one time that everything in 1B is pretty much useless once you learn how to do Gaussian intergrals.</p>