My experience was similar. I went up through AP Calc and AP Chemistry in my high school. I did not test out of Plebe Calculus completely, but they put me in Section 1. Back then, and probably still, cadets were divided into individual classes in the same subject based upon performance. So, it was easy to tell where you stood relative to your peers (if you were in Section 1, you were at the top, Section 50, well...). Thanks to my high school program, I was able to skate through first semester Calc with little effort. It was not until second semester that I found the need to apply myself at all. Differential Equations (aka Dif E-Q) Yuck year was more challenging.
In one respect, I am glad to have not tested out of Plebe Calc completely. One of the time-honored rites of passage in those days was "taking boards" (black, not white), which was a tradition that dated back many decades (you can see old photos of cadets in the early part of the 20th Century (when they wore Dress Gray to class) presenting their problems from the boards in almost identical fashion. It was such a formal process (how to set up the board, what to write, which colors of chalk to use, what to say and how to say it, even where to stand and how to hold the wooden pointer) that they actually published and issued a manual for the cadets on how to do it. It seemed ridiculous at the time, but, looking back, it was one of those Long Gray Line traditions I am glad to have been a part of before it died. I doubt that still exists.
I did completely test out of Plebe Chemistry. The department urged me to choose Chemistry for a major, but, when I learned that testing out of something does not earn you actual credits toward that major, I said, "no thanks."
Similarly, I tested into Firstie-level German classes, which ended any thoughts I had about being a German major. They told me that, because I had tested out of all of the lower classes, in order for me to have enough credits to earn my degree, they would to have create individual study classes for me one-on-one with the department head. That sounded like way too much "special attention" just to get the same degree as someone who started in the basic classes, so I did not choose to be a German major either. They did send me to Germany one summer to train directly with the German Army on a language immersion, which was GREAT!
By the way, who were the "Spice Girls?" Did Tiffany and Debbie Gibson get together and form a group?
The Corps has!
I haven't seen any white boards anywhere.
