Calculus Placement

Most students entering Brown will fit somewhere into our calculus sequence. If you think you are one of these students, you should follow the instructions on this webpage. If you do not feel like some version of calculus is an appropriate course for you to take, but you still want to take math at Brown, you should send email to calcplacement@math.brown.edu.

We are especially interested in hearing from you if you have taken enough advanced math classes during high school so that you can skip our calculus sequence entirely. Also, even if you are not especially advanced in math, but wonder what math options you have besides calculus, you should feel free to ask us about it. For inquiries about courses past calculus, you should contact the current Director of Undergraduate Studies, whose e-mail address you can find here.

If you are an incoming first-year student, and you received a 4 or 5 on one of the Advanced Placement (AP) calculus exams, please read this note; these scores may limit your course options.

If you are still reading this page, then the most likely situation is that you will fit somewhere in our calculus series. We have a variety of tools available to help you determine where you fit in the calculus series. (NOTE: Several of the tools below reference Math 0170, which is temporarily removed from our course offerings; students considering Math 0170 should take Math 0100 or Math 0190 instead.)

Finally, if you have questions after consulting the resources above, you can e-mail calcplacement@math.brown.edu, or you can come see us at the session described in the Orientation Handbook as "Mathematics Placement Exam." Since the placement exam is now online, this event will instead be an advising session to answer your questions about placement. We recommend taking the online exam in advance and bringing your results with you, as it will help us lead you to the right decision.


BONUS RESOURCES: