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02-16-2008, 07:37 PM
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#31 | | Junior Member
Join Date: Jan 2008 Location: SoCal Gender: Male
Threads: 8
Posts: 179
| haha
50% of the span lang test takers are hispanic, and 45% of the test scores were 4's and 5's. | 
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02-18-2008, 01:36 PM
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#32 | | Junior Member
Join Date: May 2007
Threads: 31
Posts: 259
| Quote:
Most of the elite-tier universities offer Honors Calculus to students with BC 5 scores. This is an extremely difficult theoretical course, best suited to physics and electrical engineering majors, as well as math majors.
Most students who have BC 5 scores but plan to major in chemistry, life sciences, or economics, in a first-tier research university, and who want to keep an option open to do undergrad research, and possibly pursue a Ph.D., should take regular calc (rather than take pass out credit), because except for a small number of public high schools, for example Thomas Jefferson High School for Science and Technology and the Bronx High School of Science, and a few dozen or so private prep schools, AP Calculus is not equivalent to first-tier research universities' regular calculus.
(Easy check: does your high/prep school's calculus course(s) use a university textbook, such as Stewart, Thomas or Hughes-Hallett? If so, taking pass-out credit is appropriate. Move on to a probability and statistics course for research-track students. (If you earned a 5 in AP Stat, move on to a p & s course for research-track students.) If your high school or private school uses an "AP Calculus" textbook, take calculus again at university.)
| Very informative post HomeschoolDad, thank you.
A hypothetical question -IB School- Freshman takes AP Calculus BC- there is a state flagship with a very good math department in the same city that students from this HS can take courses at - what math sequence would you suggest, provided that a student will still have to take IB Further Math as a senior? This hypothetical freshman is of course extremely good in math and wants to pursue engineering/physics related curriculum. | |
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05-07-2008, 01:53 PM
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#33 | | Junior Member
Join Date: Dec 2007 Location: Memphis, TN Gender: Female
Threads: 6
Posts: 118
| 1 down, 1 to go- My school doesn't require you to take the AP test if you take the course, they just take the weighted points away from your GPA if you don't. The AP classes are so crazy hard and grades are so low and the weighted points are so needed that everyone takes the test, even if they aren't prepared at all... | |
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05-12-2008, 10:11 PM
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#34 | | Junior Member
Join Date: Dec 2007 Gender: Male
Threads: 3
Posts: 37
| As an extension to homeschooldad's response, that isn't true on the whole. In my high school and in my geographic region calculus AB and BC tend to be subsequent courses. I took calculus AB as a junior and BC this year as a senior. My guess is that its a regional thing - around here I've heard of very few schools that offer the choice. I just want to say that I don't think the two year sequence implies a "weaker" math program, or quality of teaching or student body in the least. I've found that my school's math department is hands down the best in my state (although small! :P), and I feel like it could potentially be weakened by implementing a one year program. I found calculus a breeze last year - and the AB review for the first part of this year as well - but having the background allows for a very interesting and much more intense high school preparation in a BC class where the entire class has a working knowledge of AB Calc. Since my class was in this situation, our teacher was able to utilize theoretical proof and analysis frequently and consistently, and I think my readiness for high level college math was helped significantly because of it. | |
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05-12-2008, 10:21 PM
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#35 | | Senior Member
Join Date: Oct 2007
Threads: 103
Posts: 1,262
| 1) our high school requires you to take the AP exam if you take the course
2) you take either AB or BC calc. No one would take both! | |
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07-12-2008, 03:34 PM
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#36 | | Junior Member
Join Date: May 2008
Threads: 4
Posts: 36
| My schoool requires you to take the exam. And you have to pay. We have Calc AB and BC at my school. I took AB junior year and I am taking BC next year, senior year. Most people just take AB senior year but a few go from precal to BC. | |
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07-12-2008, 04:16 PM
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#37 | | Member
Join Date: Oct 2006
Threads: 55
Posts: 840
| "On the other hand percentiles will not only distinguish bright from brightest but also will have more meaning for the layman."
Often the differences in the very far right range of the score distribution lack statistical significance. But Subject Tests do give your percentiles, I believe. | |
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07-12-2008, 04:21 PM
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#38 | | Member
Join Date: Oct 2006
Threads: 55
Posts: 840
| "My schoool requires you to take the exam."
Such a fake way of ensuring student accountability. As if you can't simply sleep through an AP you're not prepared for. | |
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07-12-2008, 05:38 PM
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#39 | | Senior Member
Join Date: Aug 2004
Threads: 12
Posts: 1,226
| My kids' school also offers AB and BC as sequential courses, and the most advanced math students take both classes. But both courses go far beyond the AP curriculum - while they are labeled AB and BC, these courses are following a school-developed calculus curriculum and the kids just happen to take the AB exam at the end of one and BC at the end of the second year. | |
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07-13-2008, 04:37 PM
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#40 | | Member
Join Date: Jun 2007 Location: Ft. Lauderdale, FL
Threads: 32
Posts: 930
| My school also requires students to take the exam, but they're private. If you don't sign up for it or don't show up, you get your AP designation and weighting taken away on your transcript. If you were already accepted to a college, it is notified that the AP designation was taken away from you for the course(s). Ouch. That makes everyone always show up. | |
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07-13-2008, 06:00 PM
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#41 | | Senior Member
Join Date: Jan 2005
Threads: 108
Posts: 3,230
| Just curious, why would a high school care if a student took the AP exam or not? If a student did not plan on expemting the freshman courses anyway, why pay the money for the exam? | 
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07-14-2008, 07:32 PM
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#42 | | Member
Join Date: Feb 2008
Threads: 12
Posts: 545
| Because of the Newsweek high school ranking that comes out once a year, based on the (ridiculous) "Challenge Index" devised by Jay Mathews. The more students you have who take AP exams (regardless of outcome), the higher the school's ranking will be.
I'm sure some schools don't care about it, but many do.
My S's school requires that those taking AP courses take the corresponding exams, and has been paying for the exams. I think there's a lot to like about making a student take a corresponding AP exam, but I'm not a fan of the way the Newsweek ranking is done. | |
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07-14-2008, 07:46 PM
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#43 | | Senior Member
Join Date: Apr 2007 Location: Vermont Gender: Male
Threads: 80
Posts: 1,039
| Wow, at AP Chinese Language. That's the most loltastic thing I've seen all day. | |
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