Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I was a bit gobsmacked to find UMich accepting a whole list of Nova CC classes for credit. UMich Reddit is clear about avoiding lower level UMich math classes.

Why gobsmacked? Math is math. The curricular content is clear and objective. The answers are either right or wrong. The grading is transactional. And you can get great teaching and nightmarishly bad teaching down the hall from one another at any institution. You are in fact far more likely to find _less_ attention paid to lower-level teaching at a research-intensive university. And PhD's don't come with any guarantee of pedagogical excellence.

UMich Ann Arbor accepts a fair number of well-qualified in-state transfer students. This is partly for logical, socially worthwhile equity/affordability reasons. So early courses need to be transferrable. There is also an excellent community college right in Ann Arbor that preps a lot of transfers. Reddit indicates that some engineers take math there as a hack to balance workload insanity. I would expect that a NOVA course and student transferring such a course to Umich would have acceptable prep.

Also, in lower-resourced school districts, high school kids who take calculus or higher might take it at community college because their school cannot field a live class.

I took calculus at a different state flagship. It was lecture-based and I happened to pull a bad TA. Someone very bright but literally having a personality meltdown that semester. I tried using the free student tutoring service but the work-study student tutors weren't very effective. I got an A but it cost me a lot of time and anguish, and I haven't ever had to use calculus again. Just to know vaguely what it's about.

I will not mock anyone for taking calculus away from their home institution to ensure more favorable learning or grading circumstances for themselves. Math geeks can be very snobby sometimes and that further lessens other people's interest in the subject. I find that it takes me 2x as long as a math geek to get to the same level of comprehension. But I can do it. The problem is that classes get faster and faster as the difficulty level rises, and any small gaps in fundamental skills or problem-solving speed become disastrous. Essentially, college calculus is a mini-weed-out. Hacks like transferring in cc credits could reduce the agony while still providing the same long-term result.

Anonymous wrote:Math is math but not all classes have the same math.

Yes, my DC wanted to take statistics and econ at UMD one summer. There was enough difference in the statistics syllabus that the school wouldn't have accepted the transfer. They recommended a specific CC, but she was home for the summer.

My son’s school allows certain classes like FL but they have to be approved first.

Not allowed ar our kids schools (one private, one public).

My DC’s school requires pre-approval of the syllabus, it must be a four year college (no community college) and it can’t be in your major.

School dependent. My college required a copy of the other course's syllabus as part of the application to take the outside course for credit. Pre-approval from my college was required. It showed up as a transfer credit and was not counted in my GPA.

Required courses is your major might not be accepted at the 4 year school. My DS, who went to medical school, couldn't take Organic Chemistry at another school.

Some universities will only accept credits from other four-year institutions.

Read your school's academic policies carefully. Often pre-approval is involved.

Math is math but not all classes have the same math.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I was a bit gobsmacked to find UMich accepting a whole list of Nova CC classes for credit. UMich Reddit is clear about avoiding lower level UMich math classes.

Why gobsmacked? Math is math. The curricular content is clear and objective. The answers are either right or wrong. The grading is transactional. And you can get great teaching and nightmarishly bad teaching down the hall from one another at any institution. You are in fact far more likely to find _less_ attention paid to lower-level teaching at a research-intensive university. And PhD's don't come with any guarantee of pedagogical excellence.

Math his math not a classes have the same math.
Basic math classes cover the same core content, yes. But not advanced and honors classes, and classes at elite programs.
And this isn't unique to math.

Of course! You have to get above a certain grade for it to transfer though. I think generally a C? But tons of kids take classes over the summer at their local community college to lighten their load during the year, or to get harder/easier classes out of the way, depending on whatever their strategy is.

Mine are at top 10 privates and it is only allowed in very specific circumstances once the syllabus is reviewed. Even then, it is discouraged by advising to take any course outside the school, especially premed advising . Students are told it will be a “ding” by med schools if any med school requirements are taken outside the home school. Taking it over the summer at the home college is allowed and often paid campus jobs are available so it is not difficult to stay and take it if you do not have room in the year

Of course it is possible, it is called (transfer of credits). You just need to get approval from your current university. You could find out yourself by simply calling them. I remember that in the summer I didn't want to do anything at all, everything was decided by the writing service, I used https://ca.edubirdie.com/ for this. In general, I don't understand these summer classes. I would remove them and they overload children.

DC was able to take classes at the community college. He talked to his advisor and found classes that would transfer to his university. The CC class grades did not factor into the GPA at his college, so it was essentially pass/fail.

Anonymous wrote:I was a bit gobsmacked to find UMich accepting a whole list of Nova CC classes for credit. UMich Reddit is clear about avoiding lower level UMich math classes.

Why gobsmacked? Math is math. The curricular content is clear and objective. The answers are either right or wrong. The grading is transactional. And you can get great teaching and nightmarishly bad teaching down the hall from one another at any institution. You are in fact far more likely to find _less_ attention paid to lower-level teaching at a research-intensive university. And PhD's don't come with any guarantee of pedagogical excellence.