<p>I'll be an incoming freshman, and I have AP credit for the following classes: Bio, Chem, Calculus BC, English Language, Literature, US History, and US Govt. I'm pretty sure I'll claim credit for all the English and history related courses since they have nothing to do with my intended major. But I'm wondering if I should retake Bio, Chem, and Calculus again, mainly because I need a solid foundation on those topics for my major (biochem/pharmacy), and because they might act as GPA-boosters. But if those classes are hard to make A's in and will instead hurt my GPA, then I won't take them. Can any previous students give me any advice based on your experience?</p>
<p>If you really want to retake some classes to make sure you understand the material, I recommend you take CH 302 and/or BIO 311D (both second-semester classes). I think you’ll find that you’ll learn a lot of stuff you never learned in high school, and it also won’t be too difficult for you. I’d skip calculus entirely, though (unless you don’t feel fully confident). You probably won’t learn anything new.</p>
<p>My adviser told me not to take credit for M408C, and I practically pleaded with her to let me go straight to M408D. But now she wants me to do a GE supplement to M408D, which is absurd because I can hardly fit anything else into my schedule. As it is I’m at ~14 hours for the first semester. I think you ought to take the calculus credit and move on, I don’t know what else there is to learn if you did well in BC calculus.</p>
<p>Well I heard college Calculus is often much more in depth than AP Calc in high school, and some kids who get 5’s on the AP Calc Exam find out that their high school teachers oversimplified or looked past quite a lot of info.</p>
<p>I claimed credit for all the calc and jumped into diff eq. I’m sure the 408 series was much more rigorous than my high school preparation. It didn’t really matter; I had a solid enough understanding to make an A in 427K. If you really want to learn the subject in more depth, you should take it. Otherwise, if you just need it to move on with your degree while retaining enough of the concepts to succeed in subsequent classes, claim the credit.</p>
<p>Calculus was a breeze for me, there’s no way I’m taking it again. I’m taking a GE alongside 408D just in case it ends up being more than I can manage.</p>
<p>@kkwa – Which high school exam gave you credit for 408D? I didn’t know that was possible.</p>
<p>I went to high school in College Station. I claimed credit for K&L and took the equivalent of 408M at Texas A&M.</p>
<p>I can’t give you any advice on the BIO and CHEM classes but I will tell you that I also got credit for M 408C from an AP exam and I went straight into M 408L, (which is easier than M 408D and half of the ideas taught in M 408C). THAT WAS A HUGE MISTAKE! The class was so difficult, I got an F in the class. Remember this was my very first semester @ UT… it dropped my gpa from a 4.0 to a 2.0. I’m about to go into my 3rd year and I still don’t have a 3.0. I’m at a 2.9, luckily. I highly recommend you retake M 408C, if you want to take M 408D. None of the advisors told me to retake it, and I have a special dark place for them in my heart 
I recommend go to myedu.com to read professor reviews.</p>
<p>M 408K and M 408L are the biggest WEED OUT classes. Beware. I got an A but for most people it is very difficult, not that calculus is hard, but because the department makes the tests harder than they should be.</p>
<p>My recommendation is try to skip the calculus sequence(s). The MOST “calculus” you use at upper math/chem/engineer levels require only to take a simple integral or derivative.</p>
<p>@Ace6904 – That’s not entirely true. We use a lot of differential equations in upper division chemical engineering courses.</p>
<p>What’s the difference between M 408C, M 408D, M 408K, M 408 L, and all these classes? Are they all basically Calc 1 & 2, just at different paces or levels of difficulty?</p>
<p>There are two sequences – C/D and K/L/M. Both sequences cover differential/integral calculus, sequences/series, and multivariable. Obviously, the latter sequence is longer and therefore a little slower.</p>
<p>@Ace6904 Thats good to know about M408K and L, what about claiming credit from BC and starting in M? is that a weedout as well? thanks</p>