Students with Calculus Credit: Math Class Choices

You may have earned academic college course credit by scoring well on Advanced Placement (AP) and/or International Baccalaureate (IB) examinations. Once you have your AP and/or IB exam scores, visit the Office of Admissions website, review the AP or IB Equivalency Chart, and look for the exam you took to see if your score corresponds to a CU-Boulder Course Equivalent.

Don't know your AP or IB examination scores? For AP exams, you should receive an AP Score Report by mail that lists your cumulative AP Exam scores. You may also contact the College Board to obtain your scores by telephone beginning July 1. For IB exams, results are sent out in July for the May session and in January for the November session. Students may also obtain their results online.

For example, if you scored a 4 or 5 on the Calculus AB AP exam, you have earned 5 CU-Boulder credit hours for the MATH 1300 class taught in the Mathematics Department.  Note that engineering students are required to enroll in Applied Mathematics (APPM) courses rather than those taught by Mathematics; however, MATH 1300 will substitute for APPM 1350 for students seeking to transfer in math credits (and MATH 2300 will substitute for APPM 1360).  Ask your academic advisor for more information on transferring math credits.

In addition, sometimes first-year freshmen come to campus having earned college credit by taking college-level courses while enrolled in high school (see "College Course Work" at the CU-Boulder admissions website).  You may have done that by taking community college courses, courses at one of the CU campuses, or perhaps by completing a "CU Succeed" course (which shows up as CU-Denver coursework on the CU transcript).

Did you know? The University of Colorado has a combined transcript.  That means that courses taken at CU-Boulder, along with the CU-Denver and CU-Colorado Springs campuses, all show up on the CU transcript.  So you may have established a CU transcript already if you took a CU Succeed class.

By now you should know if you have earned college credit for Calculus 1 and/or Calculus 2 (or beyond).  Even if you have this earned college calculus credit, some students find it helpful to repeat the last math class for which they have received college credit to make their transition to CU-Boulder engineering smoother.  If you do choose to repeat a course for which you already have college credit, your previously earned college credit will not be counted.

What if you have earned college credit for calculus, but your ALEKS score is below 75%? Even if you have the earned college credit for Calculus 1 (or beyond), if your ALEKS score is below 75% you will be pre-enrolled in GEEN 1235 (Pre-Calculus for Engineers).  Why?  Because the Applied Mathematics Department and the College of Engineering and Applied Science want you to be successful in your engineering studies at CU!  We want you to have an excellent mathematical foundation, be well prepared for your other engineering and science courses, and perform well in our APPM courses.  Doing so is important for all engineering majors.

What if you have earned college credit for calculus but your ALEKS score is between 75% and 100%? If you have earned college credit for Calculus 1 and/or Calculus 2 (or beyond), and your ALEKS score is 75% - 100%, here's what we suggest:

• Score 75% to 100% and have college credit for Calculus 1only:
  Take one or more final exams from the APPM 1350 Calculus 1 for Engineers course to see if you fully understand the full range of material from the course.  To accurately assess your skill and knowledge level, do not refer to reference books, do not use a calculator, and make sure you can complete the exam in 2.5 hours or less.
  • If you are comfortable with this material, enroll in APPM 1360 (Calculus 2 for Engineers). To increase your odds of being successful in the course, enroll in the accompanying GEEN 1360 Calculus 2 Work Group (see note below).  Do not enroll in APPM 1360 if you have not earned college credit for calculus 1.
  • If you are not comfortable with the full range of material on the old exam, enroll in APPM 1350 (Calculus 1 for Engineers) and the accompanying GEEN 1350 Calculus 1 Work Group (see note below) to boost your success.
     
• Score 75% to 100% and have college credit for both Calculus 1 and Calculus 2:
  Take one or more final exams from the APPM 1360 Calculus 2 for Engineers course to see if you fully understand the material. To accurately assess your skill and knowledge level, do not refer to reference books, do not use a calculator, and make sure you can complete the exam in 2.5 hours or less.
  • If you are comfortable with the exam material, consult with your major department academic advisor to determine an appropriate APPM math class.
  • If you are not comfortable with this material, enroll in APPM 1360 (Calculus 2 for Engineers) and consider enrolling in the accompanying GEEN 1360 Calculus 2 Work Group (see note below). Alternatively, you are welcome to enroll in APPM 1350 (Calculus 1 for Engineers).  Do not enroll in APPM 1360 if you have not earned college credit for Calculus 1.
     
• Score 75% to 100% and have college credit for Calculus 1, Calculus 2, and Calculus 3 or Differential Equations:
  Consult with your major department academic advisor and/or Professor Anne Dougherty in the Applied Mathematics Department to determine an appropriate mathematics class.
   

Calculus Work Groups

If you decide to enroll in either APPM 1350 (Calculus 1 for Engineers) or APPM 1360 (Calculus 2 for Engineers), consider concurrently enrolling in one of the accompanying "calculus work groups." GEEN 1350 (Calculus 1 Work Group) and GEEN 1360 (Calculus 2 Work Group) are each one-credit, pass/fail courses which emphasize collaborative learning techniques and are designed to parallel each calculus course. At each weekly class period of Work Group, you will work in groups of 3-4 students on problems prepared especially for the class. Before moving on to a new problem, all students in a group must understand, and be able to explain, the solution. The maximum enrollment is 32 students per section, so it’s a highly personalized learning environment. The APPM 1350 (Calculus 1) course grades for students who concurrently take GEEN 1350 (Calculus 1 Work Group) average approximately a half letter grade higher than those who do not.

More Questions?

If you have further questions about your choice of Applied Math class, you may contact Professor Anne Dougherty at 303-492-4011 or at anne.dougherty@colorado.edu.