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He should complete Calculus while in HS. If he doesn't, then he will need to start from the beginning again. Why? Because every school stops at different places and covers different material in each semester. As to his minor, it should be Applied Math or Statistics. This way he would have the backup skills to work as an actuary.
The person he spoke with told him that they are very careful about giving credit for AP classes and that students should take advantage of the AP credits they earn.
This is excellent advice. Have him take Calculus 2. I suggest reviewing the basics of Calculus 1 before classes start. I also suggest that he preview Calc. 2 so it will be easy for him when he gets to college. There are lots of learning resources available to math students these days. There is no reason to sit through a class he has already passed out of. In the old days students only had the professor's lectures,the textbook and Schaum's Calculus. Now there are many ways to learn like youtube, calculus dvds at the library & a near infinite amount of free material on the internet.
I am 26 right now, so not TOO far out of school. I was in the same boat as him...I took AP Calc in 11th grade and tested out of it. I decided to re-take calc 1 and to be honest it was a waste of time (and I only got a 4 on the test!). You have to know calc 1 to take calc 2 anyway, so I would recommend he sign up for calc 2 and just go over the material from AP calc on his own before starting the class. No need to waste a class taking something that he doesn't have to.
My son called the school and spoke with someone from the economics department (the math classes are required). The person he spoke with told him that they are very careful about giving credit for AP classes and that students should take advantage of the AP credits they earn. She also told him that he would know right away if he was in over his head in Calc 2 and that he could change during the drop/add period with no penalty.
I think that since it is his first semester in college and he will be playing football that he should retake Calc 1 because it should be easy for him. He wants to move ahead to Calc 2 because he says it will be boring to retake a class he already took and passed. Ultimately it will be up to him.
Edited to add: The school does have a math placement exam but since he scored a 5 on the AP exam he does not have to take the math placement exam.
Looks like he made his decision. And it's a good one. Why throwaway the opportunity to take Calc 2 if he has the ability to drop/add if it's too much?
Another thing to think about in college is that you want to protect your GPA, especially in your major courses. That doesn't mean that you shouldn't challenge yourself but just be aware that GPA is everything in college, especially if you want to go on to grad school. They don't look at your transcript like they do for undergrad.
Another thing to think about in college is that you want to protect your GPA, especially in your major courses. That doesn't mean that you shouldn't challenge yourself but just be aware that GPA is everything in college, especially if you want to go on to grad school. They don't look at your transcript like they do for undergrad.
Yeah, padding the GPA is very important. Employers don't care if you skipped calc 1, but they do care at the difference of a letter grade. When in doubt, play it safe and go for the class that will get you the higher grade. 2
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