Re:We Don’t Do Legacy (2012)
by uiri on Sunday April 02, 2017 @11:34AM
(#14017504)
At my University, there were Calc I, II and III - roughly AB, BC and Multivariate. Calc I is a review of the high school curriculum (at least for local students). I think having a quick review of the chain rule and proceeding from there would be much less of a waste of time. I can't imagine anyone who got through HS Calc failing the first calculus course (although I'm sure it happens) and I think passing the Calc II course on the first try is a good test of the kind of intelligence needed for CS/Engineering. Doing Calculus at MIT's pace doesn't seem unfair at all.
That said, plenty of people repeat Calc II and go on to graduate (often in 5 years instead of 4). My University has a strict rule where if you fail a required course twice, you get kicked out of your program.
Re:We Don’t Do Legacy (2012)
by ocschwar on Sunday April 02, 2017 @10:45PM
(#14020278)
What is unfair is that too many high schoolers don't get the opportunity to be MIT-ready when they graduate, and thus MIT does indeed get many incoming freshmen from the elite schools the parent comment is complaining about.
That said, plenty of people repeat Calc II and go on to graduate (often in 5 years instead of 4). My University has a strict rule where if you fail a required course twice, you get kicked out of your program.