A question....

I wrote on a different thread that my son was taking math 151 this year during his first semester at A&M despite already having credit for it through a dual credit class from his high school. The thought was that he would need the "A&M" 151 to be more prepared for the "A&M" 152 and 251 later on in his degree plan. I have read a lot of replies that this might not be such a good idea and that since he already has credit for 151 that he would be better off going straight into 152. Some others have even recommended that he take all of the math he can away from A&M. He is hoping to be a computer science major, (he's general studies now). Should he take the math class at A&M? How mportant is it for him to take these classes at A&M versus at a community college in the summer?

152 is a beetch.

he should take 152 now b/c there's a decent chance that it'll take 2 tries.

He needs at least a 2.75 to even be considered for transfer into the computer science program. He'll be able to request that transfer for the first time in either January or February. Should he not even take a math the first semester in order to try and get the best GPA he can?

Well in order to transfer he will need to have that 2.75 in CBK courses which include, MATH 151, 152, Chem 107, Phys 208, 218 and Engl 104.

Just make sure he doesnt come into 151 with a big head thinking he already knows all the Cal 1 there is to know.

This is how the transfer process works for most engineering programs. Every student begins in lower level and once they finish their CBK courses with the required GPR they are allowed into upper level. In upperlevel is where they begin to take major specific courses.


So it really doesn't help much to transfer into computer science until you are ready to transfer into straight into upperlevel. Because if your student transfers into computer science without having finished his CBK courses, he will be placed into lower level computer science.

Take 151 at A&M. High school & community college calculus is a cakewalk compared to 151 and 152.

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I've heard this before, but is it better for someone to take 151 at A&M? Would it help them with 152 at A&M? Is 152 a continuation of 151?

Yes, taking them at A&M should help. While both of these courses are hard, engineering gets progressively harder.

As long as he understands that the classes are going to be harder at tamu then at another school, he won't miss out on much education, expecially if he took Cal 1 in HS. 152 might be different, but if he can get a grasp on Maple and Matlab before diff. eq. he'll be ok.

Don't take a semester off of math. That would be a very very bad idea. If you're going to take the credit for 151, take 152 in the fall instead of waiting.

151 is a solid prep for 152, and NO high school class or series of classes is a good prep for 152. NONE.

The failure rate in both classes is high. Whatever he does, he needs to take those classes very seriously.

I would take 151, or even 150 (depending on his SAT). Bottom line, he needs good grades in math (and science). So - the question to ask is, how is this best achieved for me personally?

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NO high school class or series of classes is a good prep for 152. NONE.

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I beg to differ. Taking IB HL level mathematics makes 152 incredibly easy. I pretty much slept through that class and got an easy A. Also, anyone with a good AP BC teacher should have no problems with 152.

I had very solid AP BC Cal instruction. I was in the same position as your son going into A&M 4 years ago. I started with 151 "just to be sure" because I wanted to keep an even playing field with everyone else and make sure that I learned everything that A&M wanted me to learn for engineering. I got an A in 151 (it was a little harder than I expected just because they forced the grading to be a little harder so that not everyone would get an A) and then got an A in 152 the following semester- still graduated in 4 years and don't have any regrets. I recommend starting off with 151 anyway.

[This message has been edited by MechE Ag (edited 8/7/2007 12:25a).]

Congratualtations on doing well.

But that has absoutely no bearing whatsoever on the majority and the average. Go to sga.tamu.edu and check out the grades.

152 straight in could be the biggest mistake of his lower levels.

- Do not take any math/physics classes anywhere but A&M. He'll regret it later on.

- Start with 151. Absolutely.

- Avoid off-campus tutoring places such as A+ if at all possible. They're great for teaching to the test for stuff like 151 and lower level physics, but it can become a crutch and he could be in big trouble when he gets into upper level CompSci.

I went straight to 152 Honors out of high school and got an A. I'd go straight to 152, but don't take honors.

What high school did your son go to? That plays a big factor.

I would still take all three classes at A&M if I was doing it all over again.

For 151 I had some assistant prof that was new to A&M and I pulled an A just fine. Just make sure to go to the help sessions and ask questions.

I had Amy Austin for 152 and that class was definitely the toughest of the three, but she was a good teacher and I got an A with a little hard work. Series was the hardest thing about that class. I think I only used series once for an ELEN class.

I really liked 251. I had Mila Mogilevsky, and she was the best math prof I've had. I got 100's on all three exams and got an A.

I never went to A+ or any of those other lame tutoring services for anything. Just rely on the class help sessions and go to office hours for questions. There is no need to waste your money, unless your prof really sucks and you have no other option.

251 was the easiest hands down. 152 I q dropped and took at community college. 308 is pretty easy as well.

He just graduated from Humble High school.

Great responses...thanks everyone.

He needs to take all his math at one place in order for it to count. He could easily take cal 2 and 3 at blinn and transfer the courses to tamu. he wont have to deal with the bs math at tamu.

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this is the worst suggestion in the thread.

If he wants to have a chance to succeed in CompSci, he needs to take all of the math at A&M. Blinn Calculus will not cut it.

Bigsteve,

I graduated from Kingwood one year ago. Kingwood has a very good calculus teacher, but I'm not sure about Humble. My buddy and I both went straight to 152 and made good grades. If he did well in calculus and in school overall, I'd go straight to MATH152. Just tell him it's a lot of hard work and studying to get an A. Don't plan on slacking off because you learned it in high school.

I wouldn't bother with A+ or any tutoring services. You have a professor and TA (that can hopefully speak English) who can answer any question you have and are much better teachers than tutors are.

BigSteve, from what I remember, 151 is single variable differential calculus and 152 is single variable integral calculus.

Whether or not to go straight to 152? I would think his advisor or a math advisor would be best qualified to answer that. I know lots of people who had to retake 152, but most, if not all of them took 151 at A&M. He could try out 152 for a couple of classes and if it's too far above his head, don't let him feel ashamed to drop back to 151. It could be more in depth than what he took in high school.

The only problwm with that is that he is forced into doing what might get him the best GPA to get accepted into the upper level degree program. There's no room for error.

Steve,

There is room for error - FYGE his freshman year.

EN will accept him so long as he is over a 2.5, solid CBK, and did not repeat a course more than once. A minority are out in 4 years.

buh bye

I took it 2.

BigSteve - that's what I was saying. He could go to the first few 152 courses just to see if he thinks he can swing it. If there is any doubt, find an open 151. The problem with that is he may have to get into a section of 151 that is at 8 a.m. or another bad time. Although there could be a mass exodus from math courses after the first few classes. Since he's had 151-type course work before, he shouldn't be too far behind after just a week or so. Just my two cents.