Calc AB or BC? [in 11th grade]

Applying to College
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I’m currently a sophomore in high school taking AP Precalculus, and I plan to study International Affairs in college with a minor in linguistics. I’m not sure where I want to study, but I probably want to go somewhere competitive.

I’ve been debating all year whether to take AP Calc AB or BC my junior year. I’ve never ended a semester with a math grade below an A, and I’ve been in all the top classes my entire life. However, math has always been my weakest subject - I was always the kid who cried in and outside of math class because I couldn’t understand. I also have an extremely math smart older brother majoring in nuclear engineering, who passed Calc BC with As and a 5 on the exam. I’m a very hard worker and care strongly about my academics, but being among the academically elite has unfortunately given me a complex where I have to be in all the best classes or I feel like a failure. Because of this, I want to take Calc BC; but I will also be juggling band, show choir, theatre, and possibly basketball along with my leadership positions such as drum major, a cappella group leader, choir board and theatre board. With all these, I fear I won’t have the time to study rigorously for Calc BC - for more context, I also plan to take AP Lang, AP Bio, and AP Gov/Comparative Gov. My counselor thinks Calc AB would be good for me based on my major and my limited time, and my parents want me to take AB. However, my math teacher thinks I could succeed in BC, and I’d feel like an absolute failure for not taking it. I’ve always been among the smartest, and the concept of not being that is terrifying, but I don’t know what to do.

Sorry for the lengthy explanation - I would really appreciate some advice. This decision has been stressing me out to an unreasonable degree!

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You will spend time on AP Calc AB homework too, it will take time and effort. If you are applying to competitive schools, no matter major(and majors get changed by students), go for AP Calculus BC. Very often both courses are taught by the same teacher and they definitely see who could handle it and who may struggle. Talk to your teacher, counselor, upperclassman who took one of these classes recently. Will you have support, like office hours, peer tutoring or study groups available to you? Will you have opportunity to switch to AB if BC will be too challenging? Do your research and believe in yourself! Good luck!

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I don’t see a problem taking Calc AB. I’m not a fan of overloading. Will you have the option to take BC senior year?

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Firstly, your teacher should be guiding you. You shouldn’t decide.

Secondly, given your desired major, AB will be enough - and it’s for 12th graders.

So you are well ahead.

But teachers, not students, should be defining the proper level. The counselor said AB so there you go. And Ap stats will be great for IR senior year. Or as some schools allow, BC after AB. But stats is more pertinent to the major.

Good luck.

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You are two grade levels ahead in math and always earned A grades in math, but couldn’t understand math and find it to be your weakest subject? That seems inconsistent.

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My first piece of advice is that doing well in math classes is way more important than jumping ahead in math classes. I would go with AB unless you are very, very sure that you are ready for BC and want to put in the extra effort.

My second piece of advice is that there are only so many hours in the day, and there are way more things to do than any of us have available time and available effort. You need to prioritize. Based on this I also expect that AB would be a better choice.

It is good that you have recognized this as a potential issue early…

One thing that I have said about MIT (I got my bachelor’s degree there): MIT is pretty good at teaching a bit of humility to people who were sorely lacking in it when they arrived. The point is that there are a lot of smart students, and we need to each just be ourselves and not try to get ahead of or keep up with anyone else.

You do not need to be the best, or to beat anyone in math or anywhere else. Be yourself. Be the best you that you can be, and take things at a pace that makes sense to you.

This is a lot. You will also be starting to look at universities, possibly visiting a few, likely studying for the SAT, and there are those things called classes to keep up on.

I agree with them. Taking Calc AB as a junior still puts you way ahead of the normal math progression.

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So I would definitely take Calc AB.

And personally, I would suggest something very ambitious in its own way to you, even though it may not sound like it at first blush. I think your ambition should be to re-establish a positive relationship between you and Math.

Because Math is great. Math is such a powerful tool, and it is so helpful to understanding so many things. And no matter what you end up doing–including International Affairs, Linguistics, or so on–I promise you that a positive relationship with Math will be to your advantage. Like, I am a lawyer, and I cannot tell you how often I have benefited from being the lawyer in the room who does not freak out when experts and such start talking Math. I don’t always understand them, not right away for sure, but I am not afraid to ask questions until I do.

And clearly, you are in fact good at Math. Not maybe a Math prodigy, but who cares about that? You are clearly good at Math by ordinary standards, and I think you can work with that to great effect in your education and then well beyond.

Now let’s briefly discuss the main Math sequence. The main Math sequence is a more or less standardized sequence of classes that builds on itself to establish a well-rounded foundational understanding and skill-level in core Math. Calc AB is what is also known as Calc 1, and then Calc BC takes you through Calc 2. After that is Calc 3, multivariable calc, or MVC. From there you can also do Linear Algebra and/or Differential Equations. And then after that, I think there are too many optional branches to consider it main sequence any more.

OK, so in college, Calc 1 and Calc 2 are usually each one semester courses. In HS, you can usually instead do AB and then BC each in a year. Or you can do it all in one year with BC. But there is nothing wrong with taking the extra time in HS! Indeed, you usually also have more classes at any given time, there are other responsibilities you might have, and so on. So spacing it out a little more is fine.

And hopefully if you do that, you can follow through on this proposed ambition of re-establishing a positive relationship with Math. Not that it has to be your first love, but you can think of it as something you can comfortably handle, as well or better than most ordinary people.

Then in college, depending on what you want to study you could actually just do a Stats class (maybe a Calc-based Stats class, or not if you prefer), and that would be it. A Math education through Calc 2 plus some Stats is plenty for most professionals. Again, I think most useful at that point is just a positive relationship with Math.

But if you like, you can also do MVC (Calc 3), which actually can be kinda fun if you were comfortable with BC/Calc 2. Again, normally that plus some Stats is plenty for all but a few math-heavy majors/professions.

OK, long story short, my point is there is really no advantage to rushing through this sequence faster than you are comfortable with. No one in the future is going to care if you took Calc 2 as a HS junior rather than senior (or for that matter in college, if you decide to just do through AB in HS, although if BC was an option for senior year I would definitely consider it).

But they might well care if you are someone who radiates a positive relationship with Math. And so that, to me, is the far more important focus for your ambitions.

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Listen to your parents and stick with AB :slight_smile: You are not majoring in math or STEM. You will be fine with AB in proving academic rigor in math, also considering the other AP’s you are taking.

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My kids who were in pre calculus sophomore year took AB junior year and BC senior year. One is a college senior, finance major, math minor, she loves math (taking her 4th actuarial exam this spring). As someone who doesn’t like math, I think foundations are important. My kids got 5’s on the tests.

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Is AP Stats an option? I think that’s more aligned to your interest in International Relations.
I teach APCSA in Texas. When a teacher says a student would succeed in their class/subject, the true meaning could be within a wide range from not failing to being a superstar. You may want to ask for a more specific estimate.
I’ve seen so many students encounter unexpected difficulties in Calculus (all levels) after getting As in Algebra and precal, my own daughter included. They can still earn As in class, and likely still pass the AP exams with 3 or 4; however, they had to put in a lot more effort than in the previous math courses. My daughter, after discussion with me and her friends, took AP stats in high school, and Calculus at Rice. Without the pressure to earn high grades, she could focus more on the learning of Calculus, and it went well (but not an A). One of her majors was political science. she used a lot of statistics in coursework as well as internship and has become quite good at it.

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I cannot love @NiceUnparticularMan 's post enough.

Everyone is pushing you toward AB except for that little voice in your head whom you’ve acknowledged to be an ambitious little trouble-maker.

Many years ago, I was a grad student at one of the best programs in the country. We were doing a group project, and one of the group members let us know that he was willing to stay up all night and type, to do certain types of analysis, but that “basically, this just isn’t one of the classes I am really caring about this term, so I don’t have the interest or energy to do tons of work on this.” My reaction was “Wait! You can do that?” Honestly, that exchange was pivotal for me. You really don’t have to go pedal to the metal on everything – just on what matters.

Make sure you have time for what matters most to you. Give yourself the space to enjoy what you’re doing, even math! (Be honest, there are a million things we do every day that are a slog when we are stressed/rushed about them yet might even be enjoyable if we could just slow down and enjoy them.) OP, you are asking the right questions here to prioritize your happiness and success. AB sounds good!

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I would not recommend AP Stats in lieu of a calculs class junior year.

However, if Calc AB turns out to be a struggle (which I suspect it will not be since the teacher recommendation is to take Calc BC) or the OP has no interest in more calculus, then AP Stat senior year could be an option. Note that AP Stat is considered one of the least rigorous AP classes.

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Yeah, for any sort of “Social Science”, Statistics is clearly the most relevant branch of Math.

My only caveat is I am personally not all that fond of the typical AP Stats curriculum. I don’t think it is horrible as an elective, and it specifically would help prepare you well for college Stats classes. But I personally do not see it as a substitute for a good college Stats class. And conversely, I don’t think it is necessary to take before a college Stats class.

But still, if the OP wanted to do through Calc AB on the main sequence, and then also do AP Stats, that is for sure plenty before college for an intended Social Science major. I would, though, suggest then completing at least through Calc 2 in college, maybe also Calc 3, and then taking some sort of college Stats class (possibly Calc-based).

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This is what I would suggest too. AB junior year, BC senior year, and calc-based stats in college along with a little programming in whatever is the relevant language for the social science major (e.g., R?) to position oneself with quantitative skills for internships and such.

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Can you do Calc AB junior year and Calc BC senior year? Otherwise, what math would you take senior year if you did AB or BC junior year?

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The counselor isn’t the teacher and shouldn’t be “defining the proper level.” The counselor’s input is certainly valuable in what would be the minimum to make the poster a competitive applicant at the colleges in which they are interested, but I would not want a high school counselor defining the math level for an all-A math student, especially overruling the math teacher who said they could succeed in BC.

OP, do your parents want you to choose AB? Are they concerned that you’ll be overwhelmed? Did your brother go to the same high school? At many schools, 11th grade is a big step up from 10th in terms of intensity/studying, and they may have insights into how hard it is about to get.

What kind of linguistics are you interested in? At some colleges, linguistics is tightly connected to computer science, and showing that you can succeed in BC could be helpful, and the same argument could be made if you are interested in economic/monetary-theory related to international affairs. I am not advocating for BC necessarily, but I don’t think your interests are automatically as soft-science oriented as some posters are interpreting.

Please do not listen to anyone advocating for statistics over calculus. Statistics is a great class/discipline, but AOs are very open about how important calculus is in admissions. Even for students who will not use it in their majors, taking it and doing it well in high school demonstrates an ability to handle rigorous, sophisticated coursework. It has value. AB may be enough, but statistics is not an option to replace calculus given all that you’ve said.

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S25 has a similar profile as you - does well in mathematics but has to work at it. He took AP Calc BC during his junior year, and it was HARD. Like countless hours of studying, tutoring, stressing, etc. He also didn’t get much of a “bump” from the added rigor because he didn’t get an A in the class. If we could go back in time, I would have pushed him to take AB instead.

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I agree, but, there is also the caveat that the counselor sees the full intended course load that the student is taking whereas the math teacher doesn’t.

I wouldn’t do stats now instead of calc either, but AB is plenty, especially for junior year.

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Like most posters said, AP Calc AB is the right class for you. Not AP Stats nor Calc BC. College AOs would rather see you get an A and 5 in Calc AB then a B and 3 in Calc BC in junior year. Given you already have many other AP classes and ECs to handle, why take an unnecessary risk here? Good Luck.

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Yep calc AB gets you into every school in America.

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