DS is currently taking AP calculus AB. He was told to still take Math 125 by someone but he doesn’t remember who. If he scored well enough on the exam should he still take Math 125 or skip it?
What is his major? Is he a “math” kid? Does he really “know” it?
The reason to ask these questions is:
- To know what his math sequence will be.
If he has to continue with Calculus it may be important to establish a concrete foundation in Calc1. - Realize that Calc2 is no joke.
It has been said on these pages before, skipping to Calc2 is harder than skipping to Calc3? - Your son may want to relax his first semester and use Calc1 as a review as well as a GPA pad and not
stress over having to dive into harder material.
Only he will know, trust his gut. Good luck and Roll Tide!
He is a mechanical engineering major and would like to be part of the MDB. Thanks for the advice. .
At UA the Calc classes in general vary a lot by professor, so you might almost want to use that as a deciding factor.
@bandmomof3 Here is my advice…if your student has a 95%+ in AB calculus and scores a 5 on the AP test, then the concern of jumping into calc II is not as serious imo. However, if you or your child feel ANY anxiety about going to the next calculus level, then stick with calc I and reinforce it. The goal is to get the calc 1 foundation as concrete as possible. If they feel like they struggle on tests and can’t remember rules very easily, then taking calc 1 is beneficial as reinforcement and hopefully an easy grade to buffer calc II that people usually struggle with.
Let your son decide for himself if he feels CONFIDENCE in his calculus. If he doesn’t, don’t push it. Trust me.
I took Calc I, Calc II, Calc III, and DFQ in high school. I have seen my peers go to Calc II (BC Calc) and they flounder because they should’ve sticked with Calc I (AB Calculus) but pushed themselves too fast towards BC from peer pressure. Calc II is primarily difficult because there is more degree of memorization, especially with Taylor series. If memorization is a struggle in Calc I, take that into consideration.
Essentially since he is in AB Calculus and without more info, I would recommend going to Math 125. If he feels ambitious and confident, let him decide if Math 126 is right for him. 
He can either skip it, if he feels he’s strong enough…or choose to AUDIT the class as a refresher, but won’t have to worry about grade!
Why is he in AP Calc AB now and not BC?
Agree with atomicPacman above. I would not recommend auditing; either he knows the material well enough to skip the class or he needs to retake to get a stronger foundation. What level Physics does he plan to take?
@Class2012Mom His school did not offer BC this year. They did not have enough students sign up for it; as it is they only have 17 students in AB. He has an 94 A in the class and is actually the highest grade right now. I’m not sure what physics he is planning on taking I guess whatever the intro for engineering is.
Thanks everyone for the input and advice. He has to take the AP exam since the school board pays for it. I have told him not to report his score. If he doesn’t report the score will he have to take a math placement exam before Bama Bound.
Why would he not report his score? He can choose to take the class or not whether the score is reported or not. As for placement, the highest level a student is placed into is Math 121/125. The placement test will not tell him what level Calc to take.
If your son is confident he knows the concepts taught in AB, I’d tell him to move on. If he is the least bit unsure, I’d have him retake. Engineering is hard and not having the solid foundation in Calc will make it that much harder.
@Class2012Mom if he reports his score and does well, will they automatically audit his class? I like the idea of a GPA cushion.
@bandmomof3 No, if he reports the score he can still opt to retake Calc 125. The credits received from the test will then fall into an what for lack of a better term I’ll call an “Other” bucket in Degreeworks. They won’t satisfy any degree requirements but will give him an extra 6 hours which will count towards priority course registration and may or may not count towards away game or playoff game ticket hours, depending on how the hours are calculated for those games (it has varied over the past 4 years).
Unless a student is VERY strong in math, Engineering Advising recommends students start with CALC 1 because it’s the foundation for everything else they’ll be learning.
My son is a very strong math student (had two years of advanced calculus in HS), but his HS did away with APs years ago and he wasn’t willing to prep for the tests, so he had to retake at Bama. He took the honors version of the classes. Maybe that could be a nice compromise for your son? He’d get some honors credits that way too.
Great idea @LucieTheLakie on honors version.
The honors version will have the advantage of having half the class size (about 36 students vs 75 or 95), but it uses the same awful Calculus textbook, Stewart’s Essential Calculus: Early Transcendentals, which may or may not be used by the professor (students have to get the book anyway but also pay for a Webassign code to submit work.)
As challenging as AP classes may be, very rarely will a high school AP Calc class come close to the experience of an actual college Calc class. And my son’s many Honors engineering friends who have all come in with AP Calc experience, and who are certified math brains, yet struggle mightily with Calc 125/145 have proven this over and over again. Many Honors students do not perceive themselves as needing to go to tutoring - they have been the tutors themselves - but help your Honors student to change this paradigm and get over any sense that he/she never needs help. Many Honors students need help with this class, and free tutoring is available.
I would recommend taking Calc 125 or 145 (the honors.) Order a copy of Stewart’s Early Transcendentals to look at over the summer. You can rent it from Amazon for less than $20 per semester. I would recommend continuing to rent this textbook, because it is not worth keeping on your bookshelf (I have a collection of excellent Calculus textbooks, but Stewart’s won’t be joining it.)
Wanted to quickly add that, if at all possible, consider taking an intensive summer Calc 1 class at a local community college rather than taking Calc 125/145 at Alabama. At our local college, the equivalent first semester course is called Calc 1 with Analytic Geometry (equivalent to Calc125/145.) I regret not having my son do this - he would have enjoyed a class taught by a full math professor who enjoys teaching the first year Calc class (rather than the one he had at Alabama who was not very happy about having to teach the lower division course) and it would have saved him a lot of time and frustration that first semester.
@chesterton My son’s high school Calc class was equal to the Calc 125/126 at UA. He did retake 126 because of teh warnings from other parents but in his case it was not necessary. I know several students who forged ahead with Calc III and were perfectly fine.
And for the Calc textbooks, my son was not required to purchase the book (only the code) for Calc II or III (mine skipped Calc I). Because my son had purchased the code, the text material was available online if needed.
Students who are going to take more than one semester of Calc at UA should purchase the multi-term code from the publisher. Much cheaper that way than buying one code per semester.
Glad to hear your son’s class was acceptable. Each student should evaluate based on his/her own personal experience, and should make decisions based on that experience, of course. Every student is unique - some do well, others do not.
I agree that buying the multi-semester code is the way to go for those who know they are taking the series of Calc classes.
@Class2012Mom @chesterton I totally agree with you. Everyone is different. Some find calc to be easy as cake and others need all the foundation they can get. It all depends on how confident the student is. However, calculus is one of those things that just needs to be considered heavily for engineers because it’s a foundation for everything. Better to feel confident each step of the way instead of getting whiplashed unexpectedly by the difficulty of the material next level up
@atomicPACMAN07 Calc may be the foundation of everything while you are in school, depending on major. I know as a Materials Engineering Major that my Calc was never used after Physics. The Calc used in Physics is mostly derivatives (from what I remember).
I can honestly say that I do not remember ever doing a Calc problem after graduation 33 years ago.
To me, Calc is a weed out course in the engineering curriculum. I know many who got out of engineering due to the Calc series. Right behind Calc are Physics, Chem.
@CyclonesGrad very true your point. That is why I say let the student go for it if they feel absolutely comfortable with calculus. When I was told at prospective schools that I would have to take Calc I again even after getting a 5 on BC calc and scoring an A on both Calc III/DFQ at the local college, my jaw dropped and I asked why. They said “Our calculus is better” . Forgive me when I say that kinds of statements are total BS to me. Sure you can make a course more difficult for the problems given but math is math, imo. That conversation left a sour taste in my mouth since this school I was considering was in-state and known for gouging all transfer credit in order to make students take over courses for the sake of charging very overinflated tuition rates with very little merit aid…ANYWAYS rant over haha. If your son is on scholarship it gives him more flexibility to take the course over again if he wishes. If you’re going to have to pay tuition for it and he feels confident in Calculus I, then I would probably take the bullet and go to Calc II.