@colorado_mom, my son will be taking AP Calc AB in the fall. He will retake Calculus in college,
where ever he goes. I will do the due diligence on CC if we take that route.
RIT has an ‘engineering exploration’ designation students can apply for freshman year if they are not quite sure which field of engineering they are interested in. They spend time exploring the different majors offered, and are guaranteed admission to any engineering major, which they decide by end of freshman year. RIT requires co-ops (14 months for most engineering majors - typically accomplished with two semester+summer co-ops) so it is a 5-yr program.
It is similar in undergraduate size (fewer grad students), and program diversity to GT, with lower admission standards.
@HFAparent, I’m not a big fan of retaking classes if it isn’t necessary, but that’s a big caveat. You need to know if you’re ready. Not every AP Calc class is created equally. I’ll give you an example and then parrot @ucbalumnus and let you know how you can assess.
My son was placed into honors Calculus III his first quarter freshman year. In order to get in, students had to have a 5 on the BC AP exam. There were scores in the 30s on the first exam. 
So, the key is to go online or call the math department and get old exams and syllabi. If a student can understand all the material and doesn’t feel overwhelmed by the exam, then there’s no reason to repeat. It may even take a little boning up, but the advantages of being ahead are huge, especially for engineering which tends to be a bit longer of a curriculum in the first place.
@eyemgh…interestingly repeating Calculus as freshman was recommended by student guide on tour and host of the Engineering Info session at Georgia Tech.
What do you folks think about Penn State for Engineering?
Penn State has a good reputation. I’ll add Clarkson to the list.
Penn State is not direct admission from what I understand.
^ “Lastly, class size. For a major research university 200 is small for calculus.”
At Texas A&M, Calculus I classes are at 90-100 students. I did not know this is out of the norm.
Re #20 and retaking calculus
Better would be to try the college’s old final exams for the class that can be skipped with AP credit before making a placement decision. A student who knows the material well would just be wasting time and tuition retaking what s/he knows.
Of course, some students (particularly those who struggled to get a 3 on the AP test) may find that they need to retake.
One of my sons (who had 5’s on both AB and BC), was advised to start with Calculus II instead of III when he went to orientation. The advisor said it usually made the transition to college easier.
I can see why college advisors tend to default to recommending repeating AP credit:
a. Less chance of doing poorly in first semester, particularly for the less strong AP-bearing students (e.g. those who struggled to get a 3 on the AP test), so less chance of flunking out.
b. Less chance of graduating early or avoiding late graduation (though this is only advantageous from a revenue standpoint at private schools or out-of-state students at public schools – public schools have the opposite financial incentive with respect to their subsidized in-state students).
It is odd that relatively few colleges recommend the “try the old final exam” method.
Penn State, Drexel, and Auburn are worth looking at and they are in your son’s gpa and test score range.
We will be visiting Drexel. One factor for consideration is that my son would like a program with co-op.
Co-op programs are fairly common, though relatively few schools promote them for every student (Drexel, Northeastern, Cincinnati).
Even without a formalized co-op program, many schools have lenient withdrawal and readmission procedures that allow a student to do the equivalent of a co-op job (taking a quarter or semester off school) and then return to school.
I know a lot about the Northeastern co-op program. Everybody is required to do “experiential learning” (usually co-op, sometimes research or other). That’s nice because you can have two (or three) 5 month co-ops while still staying in step with classmates. You can continue to live on campus, participate in clubs etc. Boston is pricey, so housing will eat a good chunk of the wages. It’s still worthwhile. Some students opt to do co-op near home, in another city, or abroad.
Most engineering schools have career centers that provide a less structured ways to co-op/internship over the summer or sometimes during a fall or spring semester. That’s also a good way to get work experience. I recommend that all freshman attend the career fairs to get their feet wet, even though it is harder to get hired the first summer.