If you were allowed in a calculus based physics course (some schools offer non-calc versions for non-science/engineering students) without ever being asked if you had taken calculus, there was an issue here other then you not having taken calculus. Calculus is not part of the standard curriculum at many US high schools. I attended one of the top 10 engineering schools in the US, and it was not that unusual for students to need to take calc before taking their first physics course. This kind of basic prerequisite verification is something any major university should be doing.
Calculus was required in pretty much all of the freshmen classes. There was no possibility of deferring that in order to learn calculus - it should have been done before the fall. Remedial classes were not offered.
As far as I recall, I was the only freshman who did not know calculus. I can only infer from that that I did not get the message, or ignored it. I certainly received no useful guidance from high school.
