<p>I think a lot of kids may also be repeating calculus, because they didn’t score as well as they’d like or because they are premed trying to get an easy A or if their high school calculus class was not AP level. I recall seeing on a thread here months ago mention of a kid at one of the well-known LACs (perhaps Swarthmore) who was the only student in their class of 20 who had not previously taken calculus in high school. I don’t mean to imply it’s necessary to finish calculus in high school. But a kid who walks in to a college calculus class may find themselves at a disadvantage or just have to work a lot harder than others if many of the other students are repeating the course.</p>
<p>In 2003, 282,814 kids took the AB exam and 104,483 kids took the BC exam. I assume that doesn’t include the kids who took a non-AP level calculus class and it doesn’t include some of the kids who took calculus at a college. So I think it’s safe to assume that many of the applicants to STEM programs and top colleges will have taken calculus.</p>
<p>If a kid is ready to accelerate, I wouldn’t hold them back any more than I’d push ahead a kid who didn’t easily master pre-algebra.</p>