Using AP Credit

Colleges and Universities A-Z Vanderbilt University
1

<p>So I tried to find this on the Vandy website, but I'm not having any luck. I have a 5 on APUSH, and I'm expecting scores for Psych, BC Calc, and Chem to come in next month. I want to know - if you score well enough to place out of the class but decide to take it anyway (i.e. I get a 5 on Psych but decide to take Psych 101), do you forfeit the credit? So if you want your AP credit, do you have to avoid that class? (Since no matter what I'm forfeiting Chem, I would like to keep Calc, Psych, and APUSH)</p>

<p>Also, I'm planning on pre-med and currently enrolled in Math 150A. I really can't stand calculus, so if I do okay on the AP exam I would like to get some credit out of it while still meeting pre-med requirements and trying to do as little calculus in college as possible. Could I take Math 150B in the fall and then a statistics course in the spring? I probably wouldn't take any math courses beyond that. Is that sufficient for pre-med?</p>

<p>Thanks!</p>

2

<p>I would recommend calling either the admissions counselor for your area to ask this question, or the dean’s office for the school you’re interested in (Arts & Sciences, is it called?).</p>

<p>The assistant dean of the school my son is interested in just recently went over a bunch of those types of AP credit questions with him. That dean knew AP credit stuff inside and out.</p>

3

<p>Yes, you do forfeit the credit if you take the class. D decided to preserve her 3 hours of credit for each of her scores of 5 in Calculus,APUSH,AP European History, and one other-can’t remember. You max out at 12 hours regardless of how many AP tests you took,so use them wisely! I highly recommend that if you made a 5 in AP Calculus, DO NOT take Calculus 150 A or B. Take 155 instead. You will be thankful that you did. Many kids who took 150 and had made a 5 in AP Calculus wound up with a C or worse in that class. The tests in 150 are not made up by the professor teaching the course, they are departmental tests. Supposedly the tests in 155 are made up by the professor. Regardless, this is one class you don’t want to skip…ever.</p>

4

<p>you may also want to direct some questions to silversparkles on the Vandy boards who completed premed at Vanderbilt. There is also a premed advisor on campus who can help you in person by appointment.</p>

5

<p>I’m in the same position as you. I got a 5 on chem and a 5 on US gov. Waiting on AB calc and Physics B.</p>

<p>I opted out of taking gen chem, so I have to take O Chem as a freshman (yeah I know, it sucks)</p>

<p>I don’t want to say i for sure got a 5 on calc, but I’d be surprised if I didn’t. However, I decided to take math 155a instead of 155b because college calc is a lot harder than AP.</p>

<p>If I get a 5 on my AP physics, this is my plan (as a pre med student).</p>

<p>O chem freshman year
Bio Sophomore
Study for MCAT summer after sophomore and take it
Opt out of gen chem and physics.</p>

<p>What does everyone think of this plan?</p>

6

<p>Many med schools require you to take 2 years of chemistry. If you skip Gen Chem you would have to take a more advanced chem course to fulfill those requirements. Also, you will need to take 2 semesters of physics for most med schools, and it will also be very helpful for the MCAT. </p>

<p>To the OP: DO NOT take 150! I know the “advanced” or whatever sounds scary, but it is a much better course.</p>

7

<p>When I spoke with my adviser, she scared me away from 155 by saying that it is not suggested for premeds and that absolutely no calculators are allowed. I’m not expecting a 5 on BC Calc, possibly a 4 or a 3 with a 5 subscore. Basically, I was comfortable with the AB but not the BC material. Also, registration for freshmen is now over, and all of the 155 classes are full. Should I stick with 150a or waitlist myself for 155a? Are people definitely not recommending skipping the first semester class?</p>

8

<p>Many years ago, I decided to take Organic Chemistry as a freshman. Back then, I was the only person that year who made that not-too-wise decision. I scraped by with a B and a C. To put this in perspective, I made a total of 2 other B’s (and the rest A’s) throughout my four years at Vanderbilt, as a BME major. Organic Chemistry is very difficult. Good luck.</p>

9

<p>Everyone I know who took the Freshman Orgo class said it wasn’t too bad. It’s a much smaller class and you get to know the professor better. Plus I was told it is structured differently than regular Orgo. As far as Calculus is concerned, I still can’t really figure out what the big fuss is about the 155 sequence. I made a 3 with a 3 subscore on my AP test and I thought both 155a and 155b were two of the easier courses I took at Vandy. I got an A in 155a and a B+ in 155b. If you made a 5 on the AP Calculus test, I don’t think you should be worried about it.</p>

10

<p>Not from Vandy (Emory), but freshmen orgo. is amazing, though difficult. I took it 2 years ago, and due to the size, was able to establish a very close connection to the professor. As for the different structure thing, I don’t know how it works at Vandy, but no sections of organic are even close to the same as the profs. can teach exactly how and what they want. All I can say is that the freshmen orgo. section is about the 1st or 2nd hardest out of 5-6 available sections. The book doesn’t help with exams at all, and you have to be extremely creative to successfully do the more difficult problems. And the final exams are meant to be true tests. Though they were not cumulative, he essentially made it 5x harder than the midterms which were difficult enough. This is just an indicator that it is difficult. However, it’s worth it. I did well, and I now lead problem discussion sessions for the course (our prof. is like some academic heretic and decided not to affiliate with the Supplemental Instruction Department lol).</p>

<p>As for Calc., I’m very surprised that a department Vandy standardizes any class. Aren’t y’all smaller than us by a few students (perhaps 50-100 or so)? However, given that, maybe there is a prof. that preps. students best for those tests. Perhaps find out who it is, and choose them. Do y’all have a class comments discussion board or anything? If so, I would use it. </p>

<p>I’m gonna guess that 155 is similar to our 112Z (slight review of calc. 1, accelerated calc. 2 w/some calc. 3). Apparently that class was actually tough. And the bio-calc. series is tough here too (more like Tech calc. or something with freaking biological applications) , but they are all doable. So I would imagine they are doable there. </p>

<p>My recommendation is just don’t fret. If you made it this far, you can pull it off. Be careful w/orgo. Find an effective way to study, don’t just merely study a lot and expect a good grade. If you do not study efficiently, the class can burn you out, and again, your grade will not show the amount of time you studied as it would in other courses. Also, if Vandy has SI for orgo, do the problems before hand (this is very important) and go!!!To be blunt, about 15-20 people dropped freshmen orgo. by end of second second semester, thus only 50-55 out of 70 were left. Their study skills just could not beat the tests apparently. Many would not do the problems until they got to the session, and still only read the book in prep. for the final even though they had done poorly on the previous tests using the same strategy. Essentially, you may have a learning curve for the course, but make sure you let the exam format guide you in future study habits. If you do poorly, don’t simply say to yourself, “I need to study more”.Oh, and you may need to actually do more than just memorize which is different from what some would tell you. Good Luck!!</p>

<p>Just some advice from a fellow “Magnolia League” member ;)</p>

11

<p>I had chemistry credit (5 on the AP) coming in, and I opted to sit out a year of chemistry before taking orgo sophomore year. Looking back, I don’t think I would have been able to handle the OChem class I took if I had taken it freshman year. I think one of the main reasons I didn’t take the freshman orgo class was because it was offered only at 8am. But if you have a chance to take that freshman class, I think it would be well worth it compared to the regular orgo class.</p>

<p>I also had AP Calc BC credit coming in. I took 175 as a freshman and didn’t think it was too bad – definitely easier taken immediately after calculus. I don’t know anything about 150/155, but don’t let the “no calculators” thing scare you away from anything. It’s calculus - no calculators should even be necessary.</p>

<p>Can’t answer any questions about AP restrictions because I was an engineer, and we were allowed to use all of our credits.</p>

12

<p>I didn’t read the whole thread, but I want to echo.</p>

<p>DO NOT TAKE math 150. Take math 155, there are no departmental tests, and it will be much more reminiscent of Calc AP.</p>

<p>Can I sticky this comment? Silversparkles and I have been saying this forever lol.</p>

13

<p>Please do yourself a favor and do not take orgo as a freshman. I can’t speak for next year’s time slots, but if it’s at 8 am again, you’ll want to kill yourself a week in. Take bio freshman year then organic sophmore. The professor for freshman orgo isnt exactly easy either.</p>