I'm going to TAMU's class of 2015-2016 undergrad with an honors engineering schedule in mind. After talking to some current and former aggies I got the feeling Calc 151(derivative) was a lot easier of a class compared to Calc152(integral) which is a very hard weed out . Taking Calc ab in high school I was wondering if I should take it again at TAMU as calc 151 or skip straight into Calc 2, would it be too overwhelming to take Calc 152 at the start of freshman undergrad? Also could I have priority registration for Calc 152 second semester as an honors engineer student?

Any thoughts or opinions are welcome.

I would recommend taking calc 151 for a few reasons:

-calc 151 is definitely easier than 152 but it allows you to get acquainted to the college style math class (nothing like high school) before you take the harder 152.
-most incoming freshman will start with 151 and it's nice to be in a class with other students that are in your same boat. I'm still friends with some of the people I took 151 with almost 10 years ago.
-I know a few people that started with 152 and they struggled mightily; some had to Q drop and then started with 151 the following semester

Just my 2 cents. Good luck!

Highly recommend taking 151. Hockey gives a lot of good points that I agree with. Also, you use Matlab in 151 and 152 so if you do not already know how to use it, you will be behind in lab.

Since you've only taken Calc AB, I'd recommend re-taking it as most people that take Math 152 actually took BC in high school. Even then they still don't do well.

Also, why do you want to do honors? I never saw the advantage of doing honors because eventually you'll be taking all the same classes as everybody else in junior and senior year. And to continue in honors, you'd have to find a random honors class. Engineering is already hard...no need for the honors. In the long run, you'll be fine.

Even if 151 still comes easy to you, you'll have a nice A to give you a GPA boost and give you some time to concentrate on Physics 218.

The next semester...yikes Phys 208 and Math 152. At that point, I had to go the Cs get degrees route.

If you are smart you should just go straight into Calc 2. Freshman year is a breeze, the rest of your schedule will be fluff except maybe chemistry if you have that your first semester.

I took BC in high school , got scores of 5 and 4 on the AP, then in college I retook Calc 2 and it was a breeze. If I could do it all over again I would go straight to Calc 3.

Freshman year of college was so easy, there isn't anything to worry about. Take Calc 2 while the rest of your classes are the easy freshman fluff.

If you can't pass Calc 2 your first semester there is no way you are making it through the rest of the degree. Better to get that out of the way sooner.

If you retake calc 1 it may be an easy A, but passing Calc 1 twice also won't help you learn Calc 2. It will be a waste of time in my experience.

taking a prerequisite twice may be helpful if you barely passed it the first time, but if you got an A or B in your Calc class and a 4 or better on the AP then just go straight to Calc 2.

Math is math, I doesn't change because it's taught in college now, rules and equations are all the same.

May want to contact your potential academic advisor as I've heard some students in Engineering are required to take 151 even if they have AP credit.

Appreciate all the thoughts and ideas.

I think the plus of being in honors engineering is that you have priority registration on courses, but I heard priority reg is only applied starting second semester of freshman year, I'll ask around to find info that can substantiate on those claims.

As for other courses in the semester I will most likely take science courses after phy 208 and 218 as I'm taking the physics C exam this may. I may run into trouble with having to take chem 107 along with calc 152 as I've never been good at chemistry.

All in all I'm probably gonna just take Calc 151 again, hopefully do well, and familiarize my self with TAMU math courses.


Oh, one thing I forgot to ask anyone want to share their experience on Calc 152? Just how time consuming and difficult was the class for most students?

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If you are smart you should just go straight into Calc 2. Freshman year is a breeze, the rest of your schedule will be fluff except maybe chemistry if you have that your first semester.

I took BC in high school , got scores of 5 and 4 on the AP, then in college I retook Calc 2 and it was a breeze. If I could do it all over again I would go straight to Calc 3.

Freshman year of college was so easy, there isn't anything to worry about. Take Calc 2 while the rest of your classes are the easy freshman fluff.

If you can't pass Calc 2 your first semester there is no way you are making it through the rest of the degree. Better to get that out of the way sooner.

If you retake calc 1 it may be an easy A, but passing Calc 1 twice also won't help you learn Calc 2. It will be a waste of time in my experience.

taking a prerequisite twice may be helpful if you barely passed it the first time, but if you got an A or B in your Calc class and a 4 or better on the AP then just go straight to Calc 2.

Math is math, I doesn't change because it's taught in college now, rules and equations are all the same.

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This is terrible advice for an incoming freshman.

Agree with Natasha. What some may view as a "breeze" may be a bit more difficult to others. I know a few friends of mine in engineering who had to scratch and claw for every point. it didn't come "easy" to them and their road to graduation definitely wasn't breezy.

A new-to-college student's ability to pass a 2nd semester course should not determine whether they can succeed in a major or not. Half the battle of college is figuring out how to learn and study without someone holding your hand. If you're lucky, you don't have to do much learning in that department.

That said, if you've never been exposed to anything in your first semester of college courses, you will most likely struggle even if you're gifted. I took Calculus AB in high school, took Math 151, and passed it just fine. I don't think I would have done the same if I started in Math 152 since I had never seen Calculus BC. Would I have passed it? I dunno, probably, especially if I was lucky to get a good professor, but it would have been a much rougher first semester when it was already hard enough.

Transitioning to college is hard on almost everyone, and I bet most students who are taking totally foreign-to-them courses that very first semester struggle the most.

There is a reason engineering students don't take actual major-courses (not intro ones) until junior year.

It entirely depends on the student. I personally was a student who got 5 on the BC but retook 151 and 152 due to miscommunication with an academic adviser. I was completely and utterly bored my freshman year in math and acing everything. If I could do it all over again, I would have jumped straight to Calc3 - hindsight tells me I could have made that jump.

With that said, I would take caution and consult an academic adviser. They will probably tell you what I was told - take 151/152 if you have any doubts.

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It entirely depends on the student. I personally was a student who got 5 on the BC but retook 151 and 152 due to miscommunication with an academic adviser. I was completely and utterly bored my freshman year in math and acing everything. If I could do it all over again, I would have jumped straight to Calc3 - hindsight tells me I could have made that jump.

With that said, I would take caution and consult an academic adviser. They will probably tell you what I was told - take 151/152 if you have any doubts.

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Agreed. Especially with that last part. If you start with 151, worst case you are bored for a semester. If you start with 152, and aren't ready for it, you could wind up burning a Q-drop, taking a poor grade, etc.

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I would recommend taking calc 151 for a few reasons:

-calc 151 is definitely easier than 152 but it allows you to get acquainted to the college style math class (nothing like high school) before you take the harder 152.
-most incoming freshman will start with 151 and it's nice to be in a class with other students that are in your same boat. I'm still friends with some of the people I took 151 with almost 10 years ago.
-I know a few people that started with 152 and they struggled mightily; some had to Q drop and then started with 151 the following semester

Just my 2 cents. Good luck!

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In my opinion, 151's exams were harder than the AP exam. Also, 151 starts in vectors, which is not covered in the AP Calc curriculum. So you'll be missing how to do vectors. Granted, vectors aren't that hard, but it is something to think about. Also, the lab sections of 151 and 152 use MATLAB, so starting in 152 you'll have less experience in the programming.

Source: I took AP calc AB and BC, earned a 5 each time; also I'm a former graduate teaching assistant at A&M for 151, 152 and 251.

That's a good point about vectors. I forgot about that.

Which disproves what was said about bmks earlier.

Yeah, I'd be real hesitant to just offer "skip it" advice like it's nothing. Math 151 and 152 are MUCH harder than high school AP curriculum. This is a big decision. Both are equally hard "weed-out" classes for sure. As a graduate student, some of the answers to the exam questions in both 151 and 152 weren't that obvious to me.

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If you are smart you should just go straight into Calc 2. Freshman year is a breeze, the rest of your schedule will be fluff except maybe chemistry if you have that your first semester.

I took BC in high school , got scores of 5 and 4 on the AP, then in college I retook Calc 2 and it was a breeze. If I could do it all over again I would go straight to Calc 3.

Freshman year of college was so easy, there isn't anything to worry about. Take Calc 2 while the rest of your classes are the easy freshman fluff.

If you can't pass Calc 2 your first semester there is no way you are making it through the rest of the degree. Better to get that out of the way sooner.

If you retake calc 1 it may be an easy A, but passing Calc 1 twice also won't help you learn Calc 2. It will be a waste of time in my experience.

taking a prerequisite twice may be helpful if you barely passed it the first time, but if you got an A or B in your Calc class and a 4 or better on the AP then just go straight to Calc 2.

Math is math, I doesn't change because it's taught in college now, rules and equations are all the same.

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This is some of the worst advice I've ever heard for engineering (I hope you were kidding bmks).

I would not go in to 152 straight away, especially now that you'll have to do the general engineering route (as far as I understand). Your core curriculum GPA will be far more important, now that it is actually used for being admitted into the engineering program you want.

Freshman year is not a breeze at all. It is a very time consuming year, and tends to not mix well with students who are adjusting to college. Chem 107 isn't difficult, but it's not totally easy. 151 isn't terrible, but it is easy to make a B in. Phys 218 is not terrible, but tends to be time consuming. Phys 208 is one of the hardest courses I've taken (senior MEEN major), and it also takes a lot of time. ENGR 111 and 112 are painful due to work loads, and because they really aren't very fun classes. Math 152 is also difficult and time consuming, but I thought it was easier than 208. If you don't pass 152 the first time, don't stop. Cal 3 actually is easy compared to 1 and 2, so if you can make it through Cal 2 (even if it is the 2nd time you take it), you're probably ok.

I don't see any reason to do honors. I was in honors my freshman year and gave it up due to the extra requirements. No employers asked anything about it when I was in it, and none have asked why I'm not in it now. I would be in an organization or two and be active to pursue leadership later on over being in the honors program. Early registration is helpful until you are a 2nd semester sophomore, though.

Finally, you could have a look at the past 151 exams/solutions to get an idea of what you're getting into with 151. I'm going to try and link for the first time... here. 152 also has exams posted here.

Why not retake algebra as well? Retaking a class if you have already mastered it because you are scared of the next one is silly.

I am saying skip retaking it only if you did well.

Freshman year should be the easiest year for an engineering major. It only gets harder.

Retake the course and get an easy A in a 4 hour class. It's easier to build a solid GPA foundation than it is to try and recover from failing a class you might be prepared for.

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Why not retake algebra as well? Retaking a class if you have already mastered it because you are scared of the next one is silly.

I am saying skip retaking it only if you did well.

Freshman year should be the easiest year for an engineering major. It only gets harder.

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I agree that freshman year is the easiest, but it is not "easy". Having ENGR 111, chem 107/117, and phys 218 as your courses does not qualify your schedule as full of "fluff" courses. Saying there is nothing to worry about because freshman year of engineering is so easy is also not true for 99% of students. There are a very few that don't have a difficult time in engineering, but for most everyone, that is not true.

Rereading your original post, I can agree with the idea that if you make a 5 on the AP tests and have an easy A or doing well in AB that your time may be better spent trying 152 first. But my point is that "doing well" is also a relative term, especially when it comes to a high school class. I highly doubt anyone who got a B in high school AB calculus will be prepared for 152 their first semester of college.

And it is not necessarily smart to start in 152 immediately; in most cases, it is not the right choice. Again, 152 is the much harder class, and for me, would have been a train wreck had I taken it along with chem 107, phys 218, engr 111, etc. I do agree that 152, along with phys 208 and engr 112, is an equally difficult semester. But the difference of having 251 instead of 152 in the second semester, and 152 instead of 151 and a first semester college experience is a large difference. I strongly believe most students would do better with a semester under their belt before attempting 152.

Good info as I have a hs jr. daughter who wants to major in engineering at A&M and will be taking Cal BC her senior year.

You should learn how to spell calculus

Well.... thanks, I just did.

I placed out of 151 and did not take it. I went straight to 152. It was hard, but it would be hard regardless when you took it. I got a B.

It did prevent me from failing 151. My brother placed out of 151 equivalent at t.u., but took it as a refresher and easy A. He got a D.

I wouldn't retake it and risk a loss when you can just take the hours.

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My brother placed out of 151 equivalent at t.u., but took it as a refresher and easy A. He got a D.

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Probably would have ended up with a D in the 152 equivalent if he took the credit.

You can only say that you "should have" jumped to a more difficult class in hindsight. Everyone has different aptitudes for different classes and a different learning curve for how to handle college vs high school.

Skip a class:
upside: get three hours ahead
downside: fail/q-drop and/or do poorly on all classes because you devoted too much time to a class that you could have waited on

Don't skip:
upside: get a reasonable grade on two courses that are difficult for you
downside: didn't get three hours ahead, but still got an easy A and extra time to devote to other classes


I hadn't been introduced to calculus before college, so 151 was rough and 152 was brutal. 251 was super easy though. Looking back, even if 151 would have been a waste of my time I would still take it.

I'm looking for someone in Bryan/ Colleg Station to tutor me in calculus 2.