<p>By the time I graduate I will have taken Calc BC, and I want to major in computer engineering. Is it wise to restart all the way back to the beginning and take Calc 1? Placing out of Calc 1 and 2 via AP exams can get me up to 8 credits, which is pretty tempting.</p>
<p>Depends completely on how good your BC/Calc 2 class is. If you understand a lot of it go on to Calc 3. If not retake Calc 2. You should not start from Calc 1. If you want to go into engineering Calc 1 should be a breeze.</p>
<p>I wouldn’t take calc 1 again unless you really feel weak in the fundamentals. If you’re testing out of 2 I think you definitely have a strong enough basis in calculs that 1 would just be a boring waste of time.</p>
<p>2 is up to you though. If you don’t think you’re solid enough in it to keep up then sure.</p>
<p>I wouldn’t. I took Calculus 1 and 2 at community college. I also took the AP Calculus BC exam and I’m pretty sure I got a 5 on it. I’m prepared for Calculus 3. </p>
<p>I agree with chuy and sciencenerd: you have see where you are. Go to MIT opencourseware and check out <em>Multivariable</em> Calculus. Watch some videos, if you understand what is being discussed in the lecture, then you are ready to go on Calculus 3. </p>
<p>Or if you feel a little bit shaky, then Calculus 2 would be your safety.</p>
<p>Ok thanks, that sounds like good advice. I’ve heard plenty of stories about kids who placed out of Calc 1 and 2 with flying colors, and then when they took the more difficult courses as a freshman, they really struggled.</p>
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<p>That stuff happens a lot, and it is largely due to the huge disparity in the quality of AP courses from school to school. You definitely shouldn’t need to take Calc 1 again unless you just want to. Calc 2, as other have said, will largely depend on how well your particular AP class taught you. If you at all feel uncomfortable with it, I would advise just taking it. It is better to be safe than sorry.</p>
<p>If you got a 5 on BC, you’re probably strong enough to skip it and start out with calc 3. If you got a 4, you should consider retaking calc 2. </p>
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<p>Calc 3 won’t necessarily be harder than calc 2. Calc 1 and 2 are notorious weed-out classes at many schools. If you’re not prepared, then obviously taking calc 3 your first semester may be rough. Otherwise, you might be better off getting ahead and also learning something new instead of just reviewing material and being bored.</p>
<p>Sorry to hijack your thread, but I have basically the same question.
I took AP Calc AB, and I’m confident I got at least a 4. I’m not sure if it’d be better to take the 4 credits for Calc I and jump into Calc II, or to start off easy and start with Calc I. I had a horrible teacher, but I am dedicated enough now to study and learn on my own.</p>
<p>I guess it depends on how well you think you know it. You probably ought to retake it again if you are at the average level as someone who got a 4 on it, but then again, maybe you aren’t. It just depends on how comfortable you are. Could you go back and get at least a 4 on it again if you were to take it right now? In August?</p>
<p>I would recommend against it, like mentioned above the first couple calculus classes are weed out classes especially Calc 2 (series and sequences, ect). If you can get out of both those classes you will thank yourself in the long run.</p>
<p>Yo, do we even need to know series and sequences if we aren’t math majors?</p>
<p>I got a 5 on Calc BC and was fine going directly into Multivariable Calculus. My teacher went a little bit beyond what we had to know for the AP exam. Although I did have a high school math program that won many awards, so I may have had an atypical hs math experience.</p>
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<p>Yes. Of course your mileage may vary depending on your major and concentration within your major, but series can be a very important part of any engineering field. This is particularly true of Fourier series and Taylor series.</p>
<p>Hey OP, I guess I have a different opinion on this than maybe many. I graduated HS with many transferred credits from the IB program I was in during High School. I came in to college with something like 30 credit hrs applied to my degree. There are a few things that you must understand before making this decision - much of the info will need to come from an advisor at the university.</p>
<p>(1) Does the university still force you to make up the credits? </p>
<p>At some schools they say you must complete, for example, 30 credits of college level mathematics for engineering majors. So, even though you get credit for Calc 1, 2 etc. you still need to make up those empty credits with more advanced courses. This specifically happened to my brother. He got credit for Calc 1 and 2 (I believe 10 cr/hrs) but had to take 2 additional math courses because the university states that you have to fill the X number of credit hrs for this major.</p>
<p>(2) What are your priorities - getting out of college early OR getting really good grades?</p>
<p>From my experience as an engineering student and practicing engineer is that these are the requirements to get a good job in work that is interesting to you (this is a generalization, obviously there are other factors but this is my observation): </p>
<p>a) Most large major global companies (OEMs for example) will not look at graduating students who have <3.0 GPA. At the company I work at, the less than 3.0 GPA applicants get tossed immediately. The goal is to maintain at least a 3.0. If you can obtain a 3.2 or above your chances of landing good jobs goes up. </p>
<p>b) Internship/Co-op Experience while in school: You must have this if you are going to land a premier position post graduation. Plus, it allows you to connect the dots in your head of how to apply what you are learning in school to the real world</p>
<p>c) Have some meaningful contributions to organizations on campus. Get involved in a group or organization that you are really interested in and contribute - hold a position, lead the team, be a known voice in the group. Regardless of the organization is religious, political, volunteer based, engineering based doesn’t matter.</p>
<p>My suggestion to you is this: Re-take the courses that you are getting credit for. Saying I have 30 transfer cr/hrs is just a bragging point. Ensure that in your entry level freshman courses (generic type courses - Calc 1-3, physics, chemistry, programming, writing, speach, etc) you get excellent grades. If you retake some of the courses you are getting credit for, you will already have a good grasp on the material going in to the class. Make sure you still work hard, do the studying and work, and land an A. Also, if you get thrown in to a Calc 3 course that has sophomores etc. they have already figured out how to study and the professors generally have a higer expecatation from the students. That goes towards your GPA. Getting high grades your first 2 yrs of engineering school are important because the last 2-3 yrs (depending on your program track) are tough. Upper level engineering courses are extremely challenging and time consuming. The key in college, especially engineering, is to not set yourself up for failure.</p>
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- As of right now, my number one choice is University of Maryland, College Park. I want to major in computer engineering, and this was one their website:
“This area comprises 31 credits*. These courses stress the mathematical techniques and scientific principles upon which engineering is based. These courses are required and include the following:
MATH140: Calculus I (4 credits)
MATH141: Calculus II (4 credits)
MATH246: Differential Equations for Scientists & Engineers (3 credits)
CMSC250: Discrete Structures ( 4 credits)
PHYS161: General Physics, Mechanics and Particles Dynamics (3 credits)
PHYS260/261: General Physics, Vibrations, Waves, Heat, and E/M (4 credits)
CHEM135: General Chemistry for Engineers (3 credits)
*A minimum of six additional credits must be completed from the approved Mathematics and Basics Sciences electives list. (6 credits)”
I’m not sure if that means I need to get additional hours in for that?</p>
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<li>Priorities…Well I know that good grades are infinitesimally more preferable to getting out of college early. But, I also may want to get a co-op after freshman year, which would mean that I would end up being in school for a while… So, if I can muster 30 credits exempted, I could graduate a lot earlier than if not. Probably looking at a difference of 4-5 years vs. 6-7 years maybe. I don’t know honestly, its still pretty far away, and there are so many option out there still. I know at the very least, I will take credits that are not specific to my major, such as english and social studies credits. The whole point of those AP tests were to get out of the expensive college courses, and if I don’t take them, my parents will have wasted $86 per exam, which is a lot of money…</li>
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<p>As for clubs and such, I was thinking it would be more beneficial to join like a robotics club or something along the lines of being similar to my major. I thought about something like the triathlon club, but in the end, it just wouldn’t help as much as a related club.</p>
<p>I know I have a habit of trying to bite off more than I can chew, as I have experienced in high school thus far. My GPA has suffered because of it, though not too badly I guess (3.77 UW, 4.36 W). I really feel that I will be overwhelmed freshman year if I take courses that are too hard, but I have a habit of not heeding those types of warnings because of the promise of potential for success at the higher levels of difficulty. I just don’t know… Something that I really want to do is get an internship/co-op after freshman year, specifically for the really hard to get in areas (NSA maybe?). So I don’t know what course of action would be wiser. This will be a good conversation to have with my college advisor when the time comes in a year.</p>
<p>I would, for the simple reason that just because you pass a class (even with an A) does not mean you fully understand the material. Even better, I’d take the classes just because I know I’ll pass them with flying colors and would serve to pad my GPA (unless I perform poorly, in which case my first point is proven).</p>
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<li>*A minimum of six additional credits must be completed from the approved Mathematics and Basics Sciences </li>
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<p>This is probably referring to the fact taht you must take an additional “elective” courses from the approved math list. Often linear algebra and other advanced math courses are what people take in those extra 6 cr hrs.</p>
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<li>So, if I can muster 30 credits exempted, I could graduate a lot earlier than if not. Probably looking at a difference of 4-5 years vs. 6-7 years maybe. The whole point of those AP tests were to get out of the expensive college courses, and if I don’t take them, my parents will have wasted $86 per exam, which is a lot of money…</li>
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<p>There is no reason it should take you 6-7 yrs to grad w. your BS only even with hefty amount of co-op rotations. I transferred universities, switched majors, had 2 yrs (6 rotations at ~ 4 months each) worth of co-op experience and it still didn’t take me that long. Given that your university does semesters you should be able to do 5 co-op rotations every other semester and graduate in 5 years.<br>
On the topic of your parents “wasting” money…I don’t think it’s a waste if you don’t take the credits. Thing of it from this perspective - given that you have taken the AP courses and exams and you are well prepared for the courses, if you take them and translate them to A’s which contribute to your overall GPA, it will do you a world of benefit. So it wasn’t a waste in the end. I’ve seen people I know, very smart people, who come in with lots of credits, get put in all these upper level courses with upper level students and do poorly. Not because they aren’t smart, but because they aren’t used to the way things work. It is difficult to jump straight into an advanced level math class (say calc 3) as a first semester freshman. Give this some more thought.</p>
<p>Robotics club is great and awesome - I was in one as an undegrad. Learned alot about leadership, engineering, manufacturing, and hard work. It’s a good thing to be a part of. </p>
<p>But, it’s sometimes a nice personal outlet to be involved in a non-major-related club or activity. Gives you an opportunity to do something relaxing that you enjoy or are interested in and lets you meet people outside of your engineering folks.</p>
<p>There are certainly opportunities for internships/co-ops for freshman. Get on the band wagon early. Go talk to career services at your school or the engineering department about how their co-op system works. Start applying immediately after your first semester, given that you have nice and high grades. On most university campus’ there are career fairs in the fall and winter. For sure attend the fall career fair, even though you’re a 1st semester freshman with no gpa and no real experience - it’ll give you a good way to talk to companies, get a feel for interviewing, and get an opportunity to put yourself out there. Who knows, it may even lead to an opportunity for the summer. Many companies may even interview you and then wait around for your 1st semester or first 2 semester’s grades before extending an offer for a co-op. </p>
<p>One thing with regards to your advisor - don’t get your hopes up! Most advisors are not really any good, all they want to do is tell you what the next course in the sequence is taht you should take, which anyone can do upon examining their degree’s flowchart. I hope that you have a better advisor, but the reality is at big schools you may have 5 advisors and theyre responsible forhundreds of students. My big university experience was: Advisor 1: Students last name A-F, Advisor 2: G-L, Advisor 3: M-R, Advisor 4: S-Z. It’s hard to get real worthwhile info from them. The best is, find a professor or 2 you can get to know well, talk to them, get feedback from them, bounce ideas off of them, and get their feedback. This will also help in the long run when you need a recommendation.</p>
<p>Sry for the length, hope this is helpful.</p>
<p>If the school will give you credit for them I WOULDNT retake them… Idk about your school but im assuming most engineering schools are similar and its EASY to get behind and end up graduating late… your ahead now use it to your advantage!!</p>