Hi can someone help with this…Child is majoring in HOD and possibly double majoring in ECON
She got a 5 on AP Calc AB- what math should she take (currently signed up for Math 1200 but credit is good for this math)? Should she retake or take something else??
Also, should she take ECON 1010 and ECON 1020? Got 5’s on both AP Micro/Macro. Should she retake or is it as possible as they say and take something else?
Thanks
I would leverage the advisor on this one. There are a lot of math sequences and the differences are not always clear.
It depends on what she is planning to do. If she just wants 1 semester of math to fill her axle requirement, 1200 is a good choice. If she is wants a math major/minor, she might consider using the AP credit to place out of 1300 and start with 1301. This is because you have to take one less class. (If you take the 1200 sequence, you go 1200, 1201, whatever replaced 170, then linear algebra. 1300 sequence goes 1300, 1301, linear algebra.)
It also depends on how high she wants her GPA to be. The 1300 sequence is a notoriously difficult weed out class for freshmen pre-meds, and 1200 is significantly easier. It might not be worth getting out of an extra class, like I mention above, if it hurts your GPA to do so. The extra class is not really much of a roadblock to a math major either; I know Econ/Math double majors who started with 1200. The same understanding applies to the econ AP credit as well. Intermediate macro/micro are known to be the hardest classes in the Econ major. General macro/micro are not bad.
My advice would be to take 1200 for math. For econ, it depends on how difficult she wants her courses to be. She could start with 1010, and would probably get relatively easy A’s for freshman year, and save the hard intermediate classes for sophomore year. Or, she could start with 1020 to ease into college, and take intermediate second semester. I wouldn’t recommend skipping both semesters though.
In my experience, retaking classes that you took in high school is an excellent practice for freshman year of college in order to keep a high GPA. Most Vanderbilt students have always found classes to be overly easy rather than overly difficult for their entire lives, so they often bite off more than they can chew freshman year. Even though you are retaking the subject material, it is presented with a novel intensity, depth, pace, and structure which can often be very challenging. Retaking allows younger students to adjust to these aspects of collegiate academics more easily, since the actual content is familiar.