<p>I passed AP Calc BC my junior year with a 4, with an AB subscore of 4. I took AP Stats my senior year, and I'm positive that I got a 5 on the exam. I'm trying to decide whether I should take Math 1A or 1B this fall. People have been telling me to just go straight into 1B, but I'm scared that I forgot everything after taking a year of Stats. I'm planning to major in bio, if that helps. Any advice? Thanks so much in advance.</p>
<p>Are you pre-med? If so, retake Math 1A.</p>
<p>^</p>
<p>Since GPA is so crucial to med school admission and Calc is one of the ‘science’ courses that forms the special subset GPA that is even more critical, a great grade is really important. If you qualify for the Math 16A route instead, strongly consider that option. Some bio majors require 16A (but certainly 1A is acceptable), but others want only 1A or ‘higher’ courses. </p>
<p>You won’t need the stats for Math 1A or Math 1B, only thing that matters is your skills in Calculus and your ability to deal with thorny complex problems.</p>
<p>[Math</a> department recommendation](<a href=“http://math.berkeley.edu/courses_AP.html]Math”>http://math.berkeley.edu/courses_AP.html)</p>
<p>[College</a> of Engineering recommendation](<a href=“http://coe.berkeley.edu/students/current-undergraduates/new-students/choosing-an-appropriate-first-math-course.html]College”>http://coe.berkeley.edu/students/current-undergraduates/new-students/choosing-an-appropriate-first-math-course.html) – includes sample Math 1A and 1B final exams so that you can test your knowledge</p>
<p>The biology majors’ math requirements differ:</p>
<p>Molecular and Cell Biology: 1B
Integrative Biology: 16A or 1A
Chemical Biology: 53 and 54 (1B is a prerequisite to these courses)</p>
<p>Because many biology (and medical, if you go in that direction) research papers use statistics, you may want to consider taking a more advanced statistics course than AP Statistics at some point in time during your undergraduate years.</p>