<p>Bluebayou, you’re not completely accurate. </p>
<p>There are schools where AB is absolutely a prerequisite to BC. At my school, for example, I am not allowed into BC until I have completed AB. Why? Because BC (at my school, I understand that it’s not this way in the CB curriculum) starts where AB left off. It doesn’t start at the beginning of the AB curriculum. That is the way my school has chosen to do it, as have many other schools.</p>
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<p>The curriculum is designed by CollegeBoard’s team of math experts, which includes high school teachers as well as college professors. CollegeBoard sets the curriculum standards. CollegeBoard recommends precalc as a prereq to Calc BC.</p>
<p>Just because your school has a different requirements does not change CB’s thought process. </p>
<p>From CB’s website for BC (precalc/trig).</p>
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<p>And, more importantly:</p>
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<p>Just because they do it that way doesn’t make it necessary, particularly for advanced math students. (Ask your Chem Dept Chair why your school doesn’t do the same for AP Chem, i.e., teach it over two years.)</p>
<p>I never challenged the CB curriculum. I simply said that it’s not an option for all students.</p>
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<p>Harvard does ([Math</a> Ma and Mb](<a href=“http://www.math.harvard.edu/courses/index.html]Math”>Harvard Mathematics Department Administration and Finance), which together are equivalent to the usual first semester calculus course, Math 1a). But Harvard seems to be somewhat unusual in this. Perhaps it is their way of hiding a remedial precalculus course.</p>
<p>At most other universities, a student with insufficient math preparation takes a precalculus course in one semester (or a sequence of courses, if needed), then follows it with a normal speed first semester calculus course, so there is no slow-pace calculus course available (although there may be a less rigorous version for business majors).</p>
<p>MIT is also unusual in that its calculus sequence ([18.01</a> and 18.02](<a href=“http://student.mit.edu/catalog/m18a.html]18.01”>IAP/Spring 2024 Course 18: Mathematics) are the standard ones; there are also accelerated and more theoretical variants) covers in two semesters what most other universities’ calculus sequences cover in three semesters.</p>
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<p>Which is odd, because the students two grade levels ahead in math (i.e. the top students in math) should be easily capable of handling a full speed BC (including all of the AB stuff, starting from the completion of precalculus) course over one year, the way that college freshmen who are zero grade levels ahead in math (i.e. not all that great in math) are expected to handle a full speed college calculus course.</p>
<p>I also find it odd. I think it is because the middle schools are accelerating students. It is very easier for an intelligent kid who may or may not be particularly adept at math to test out of algebra 1, a lot of which is review and common sense. These kids end up in geometry in 8th grade, and then in calculus by junior year. However, they were accelerated at a very basic level of math, which I don’t think predicts ability to succeed in calculus. </p>
<p>I was one of those students. Math is my worst subject - I pull low A’s with a lot of outside work, but the trouble didn’t start until geometry and trig, I found all sorts of algebra very easy, but I think algebra and calculus require very different approaches to math. </p>
<p>Nevertheless, I do agree that BC should be offered as a one year class because there are certainly kids who can handle it.</p>
<p>You have to be careful. My school offers both AB and BC, and in the course guide it labels BC as a first year calculus course with pre-calculus as the prerequisite. However, in actuality, the course is hardly ever offered, and when it is, it starts off with complex integration techniques like partial fractions, by parts, etc., thus assuming you know everything from AB. BC is SUPPOSED to start from the beginning and just extend further, but some schools treat it as an extension of AB, which is entirely unnecessary. You don’t need a whole year of calculus for BC by any means. AB has pretty much taken over the dominant AP course in my school, and no one ever signs up for BC. I don’t understand why AB even exists. You can handle calculus or you can’t. </p>
<p>Also, taking AB and then BC is not a common practice across the nation. According to Collegeboard, most students in BC have never taken AB.</p>
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<p>Like I said upthread, it’s primarily an issue of economics for the school district. Many more kids can take AB – the stronger and the weaker math students, and the latter won’t fail. Thus, a district can economically offer a full class of students without concern that it will be down to <10 students by the end of the year. (Such a small class makes the unions unhappy bcos of the differential workload for the same pay.)</p>
<p>Secondarily, some district math coordinators truly do believe that HS students should only tread into Calc slowly. In a way that is too bad, since no college will accommodate such hand-holding and such students will flounder at a 4-yr Uni, and likely drop out of any STEM courses. (Goodbye premed dreams.)</p>
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<p>When I went to high school, there was only one classroom of calculus, which was BC. Only when they added a second classroom of calculus (a few years after I graduated) did they offer a choice of AB and BC. That was probably because the first classroom of calculus students was filled with the strongest math students, while the next classroom of calculus students got not quite as strong in math students.</p>
<p>Here may be another reason why high schools force students to take AB and BC over two years: by forcing students to take AB and BC over two years, the high schools also get to inflate the “number of AP tests taken”. Of course, the “AP lite” courses (psychology, environmental science, statistics, etc.) are also used for inflating this count.</p>
<p>My HS just the opposite, most years doesn’t offer AB, just go from pre-cal to BC. Older child did take AB (offered that year) because it fit better - BC is double blocked class all year. But most take BC. Younger did BC. Both made 5’s and youngest had no trouble making A in Vector freshman year in college (next class after Calc 2). So much of BC is rehash of AB not sure why would do both, even when offered no one did it as AB then BC sequence so it suprised me when I realized that many HS do sequence it that way. If you aren’t bored then you’ll definitely have firm grip of material and this may be plus if math is not strong suit.</p>
<p>^In schools where AB is a prereq of BC, they don’t spend much time reviewing AB. They just pick up where it left off. </p>
<p>ucbalumnus, so doubt high school courses are easier than college. But remember that kids take 6-8 courses at a time in high school and 4-5 in college. So if all AP courses were the same pace as college courses, a course load full of APs would be more difficult than a college course load - and in high school students have to be in class 8-3, which leaves less study time.</p>
<p>Most colleges are impressed with taking more math .</p>
<p>Whoops, meant “no doubt high school courses are easier than college.”</p>
<p>Ours is another school where AB is required before taking BC. </p>
<p>Kids who are doing extremely well in AB by December may be tracked for tutorial to complete the BC material before the May AP Test. Many schools in our area do not offer BC. I think this is more common than many on CC realize. Otherwise, Collegeboard would not divide the material.</p>
<p>As to the question up thread re AP Bio or Chem being broken up in 2 courses – It essentially is at most high schools since many schools have a pre-req to take a Bio or Chem course before taking the AP version.</p>
<p>If you don’t see these types of pre-reqs at your high school, consider yourself blessed to be living in an area of the country that pushes kids to excel academically.</p>
<p>Our school is very small. The honors Calc kids and the AP, AB kids are in the same class with a few difference in homework. The honors kids get in class time 1-2x per week to work on assignments while the teacher plows ahead with the AP kids.</p>
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Whoa, hold on a minute here. If I’m understanding you correctly, what you’re saying is, if a student follows their particular HS’s track of taking AB junior year and BC senior year, they are likely to flounder in college and likely drop out of STEM courses?</p>
<p>Do you really believe that?</p>
<p>I don’t. DS followed that exact track and is excelling as a rising senior physics major at his HYP school.</p>
<p>As someone pointed out above, seven or so HS classes doesn’t equal 4 college classes, so slowing calc down a little isn’t necessarily a bad thing.</p>
<p>Sry, I wasn’t clear: students that (the district math coordinator fears) NEED to take Calc slowly can and will struggle at the Big U. OTOH, top math students should not be inhibited by the district just because it is better for them – the district – and not those top students. </p>
<p>Nearly everyone ready for Calc as a HS Junior is by definition an advanced math student. There is no reason to make him/her take it slowly.</p>
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<p>But why math and math alone? Why not Chem? Why not Physics (since you mentioned your son’s major)? Why not teach AP US History over two years? What makes Calc unique in that AP regard?</p>
<p>I am in the same situation, but I am already in Pre-Calc Honors as a Sophomore. I will take BC Calc next year.</p>
<p>At my school, I don’t think AB is a pre-requisite for BC (they’re changing the AP policies next year though) but pretty much everyone who took BC took AB. However we had a few students who skipped pre-calc, trig, etc. but did very well in calculus.</p>
<p>Calculus is actually not the only AP class that can be taken over more than one year. I’ve heard of schools where APUSH is taken over two years. At my school, most people take APUSH after 9th and 10th grade history, and the APUSH teacher does not go over the topics already covered in 9th and 10th grade.</p>
<p>@aopsgirl, I think that depends on the school and how they do AP courses. For example I took AP Physics C - Mechanics in one year even though you usually take both C exams the same year (however the Mechanics class was more extensive).</p>
<p>Just curious, you’re an AoPS member?</p>