What math do most cadets take 1st year?

afa

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Dec 12, 2012
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i am just curious to see what most cadets get placed in. i understand it depends on what you test into and some may not want to be put in a tougher class but i plan on trying to test into math 152 but the page where i took my survey said cadets who took calc in high school had trouble getting an "A" in math 142 because it is much more demanding than high school level calc.

current cadets please post what you are taking, how you feel about it and for people starting this year what you plan to try and test into.
 
The majority of people take Calc 1 and Calc 2 their first year.
For those who validate, they take Calc 3 and Diff Eq. if they want to be tech majors.
I took AP Calc AB/BC in highschool, chose not to validate, and ended up getting As in both Calc 1 and Calc 2 at USAFA.
 
The majority of people take Calc 1 and Calc 2 their first year.
For those who validate, they take Calc 3 and Diff Eq. if they want to be tech majors.
I took AP Calc AB/BC in highschool, chose not to validate, and ended up getting As in both Calc 1 and Calc 2 at USAFA.

oh so are they only 1 semester courses? or how does that work i'm a little confused...

how did you do in calc in high school i did fine 1st semester but am finding 2nd semester of calc BC (sequences and series) a little harder
 
In HS, I took calc BC (didn't take AB) with a 5 on the AP BC exam. I had to catch up without AB but finished out with an A and I didn't find the course overly difficult. At USAFA, I validated into Calc 3 and took that first semester, received an A. I did not take Diff Eq since I was not an engineering major (biochemistry).

I always advise validating everything possible. I found school no worse and my schedule was more free and under my control later. I have a long thread somewhere years ago on SAF detailing my thoughts on validating.

Each of the math courses mentioned are only one semester at USAFA.
 
Both my sons took Calc I at the local U their senior high school year and both earned an A there. One son validated the exams at USAFA and went straight to Calc 2, one son stayed in Calc I. I believe the one who stayed in Calc I (got an A) really appreciated the review. They were Physics and Operations Research majors so both were heavy on Math.
 
I took AP Calc BC in my senior year of high school and got a 5 on the AP test (but I still didn't understand sequences and series very well). In basic I took the tests and validated calc 1 and 2. My freshman year I took calc 3 and differential equations and got As in both. I ended up doing a double major in physics and math and never regretted not taking one of the calc classes as a review. I reviewed what I needed when I needed it on my own, and the two free semesters allowed me to do the double major without having too many significantly overloaded semesters (I had 6 classes most semesters, with two 7 class semesters).

I say validate everything you can. The lighter class load will more than make up for anything you may have forgotten by not retaking a class.
 
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