<p>Ooh and for premed:
1 AP credit in Math and 1 for Physics fulfill the premed requirements for many schools, but this policy is often school-specific. The thing is, med schools want to see your grade in those classes, so if you eventually show them that you can do fine in a higher level class in college, together with one AP credit, you should be okay. You still need to take physics lab though (heck!)</p>
<p>And for math, if you take a higher level calculus class and do well, i.e. take Calc 3 and get an A, you get retroactive credits (automatically granted credits for calc1 and calc 2 in this case).</p>
<p>will our performance on the placement exam translate into a certain grade, or are the placement exams essentially pass/fail?</p>
<p>also, how do we prepare for the placement exams in biology and chem? i'm planning on buying the textbooks used and then just doing practice problems according to the syllabus. is there any way we can get practice/old exams, handouts, problem sets etc? what is the format of the exams?</p>
<p>Have to say, very interesting and useful topic so far, for another pre-med looking freshman with (hopefully) AP credit.
Just to recap - if I am understanding right
Math 104, place out of if possible
Intro science classes - must take, taking lab component alone for full credit is not sufficient?</p>
<p>Would also like to echo abhims earlier questions about the performance/grading of placement exams.</p>
<p>reply to abhim -> No: AP credit does not affect your GPA. If you have it, it shows on your transcript, otherwise, it's just not there.</p>
<p>I had the book I used for my high school Bio and Chem (which might help because I was more familiar with the books). I also bought the current edition of the biol and chem book (which are 7th Ed. of Campbell and 5th Ed. of Zumdahl I suppose). </p>
<p>Campbell doesn't have much practice problems in the textbooks. You can get old exams from old exam file at the penntutoring center. </p>
<p>For chem: I think it's really important to actually have the Z. book, because exams really use questions of Z's style. Also, if you don't know "particle in a box" model for quantum mechanics, you should read that chapter in the Z. book.</p>
<p>I bought the book from the bookstore when I got to campus, used it to study for the test and returned it before the end of the add/drop period. I got full refund except for the tax. :)</p>
<p>For physics: you can convert AP credit for Physics C (Phys93 and 94) into full credit (150 or 151 respectively) by adding the lab component (either show them the lab waiver or taking the lab).
For Biol: you can use Biol91 (AP) + lab + (121 or 122). </p>
<p>Whatever, even if you place out of a whole lot before your first semester, I still recommend taking lower level classes your first semester or fulfilling your other requirements first. You're more likely to bust things up the first semester (believe me, people do), so plan accordingly.</p>
<p>even if u pass the exams, i still think you should take higher level courses in these areas if you want to use these credits for med schools. they probably want to see your grade as assessed by Penn.</p>
<p>"So - if i'm in the m&t program and bfs, there's really no sense in taking the ap lit exam because i will have to complete writing intensive classes anyways, and I will have more than enough credits to graduate, right?"</p>
<p>correct, except to start with 1 more credit so you can get into tbp(engineering honors society that requires junior standing) or something as a sophomore.</p>
<p>i think the Penn placement tests are definitely worth taking because it doesn't hurt. However, it might be tough to attempt to study over this summer and during NSO (I know, senioritis still lasts a lil bit). Especially, people tend to think that NSO is your last fun before school starts for them again, so the atmosphere is not favorable to study. If you need more time, you can take the exams at the beginning of next year or next semester (or at the beginning of any semester as long as you are still a Penn student), because most departments give exams both at the beginning of fall and spring semesters. I took a bunch of exams during NSO and some at later semester. Note that some departments will only allow you to take the exam once, and only when you haven't taken the course yet.</p>
<p>thanks valecollegorian! you've been VERY thorough and complete, more so than any of the current students i haved talked to.</p>
<p>few more questions:</p>
<p>do they expect that we complete the tests with near perfection (90+% correct) in order to get credit? or is there a curve of some type (for example, only the top 20% scorers or something)? also percentage-wise, approx how many incoming frosh can pass the test w/ just a high school AP background?</p>
<p>a current student told me that besides all the information in Campbell, the biology 121 placement test includes a few difficult genetics problems that are not in the text book. how do we prepare for those?</p>
<p>also, will skipping those classes necessarily hurt our chances for success in upper level courses. i'm going to be doing bioengineering (not premed), which requires a solid knowledge of bio, chem and physics. i was under the impression that college courses go into greater depth, and that i would be missing that depth by placing out of classes... any thoughts?</p>