Skipping Calculus AB [HS math progression: IM1 -> IM2H -> IM3H -> AB -> BC]

Yeah I understand, I am on alot of pressure however as many of people around me have got into ivies and other top colleges, I have created an online startup/buisness that has generated more than 150 thousand dollars is that a good extracurricular?

All extra curriculars are good if you enjoy them, are valuable to the community or are good learning experiences, etc. There is no ranking out there which says “Track and Field gets 10 points but starting your own business only gets 8”. You should pursue things you are interested in.

I think your current math teacher is the person to discuss your plan with. My own kids HS had two Calc tracks- AB OR BC. You could not take AB and then BC, it was either/or. So a teacher at your own HS is the best person to advise you.

Do not take stats in the summer if it means you won’t have time for something else you want to do- a job? volunteer work? get a life guard certificate (there is a national shortage and they make great money in many places). Stats is valuable, but not so important as to knock out something else you could be doing during the summer.

If a student takes one or the other, usually the school will determine which you can take based on performance in the prior class.

So you may not have a decision to make. It may be made for you.

And I can’t imagine you’d be kept out of a UC because you took AB instead of BC.

There will be reasons kids get rejected - but I don’t surmise that would be one of them. They will admit students without even AB.

yes, I understand, do you think taking elementary statistics and college alegbra will even it out that I didn’t take calc bc, this is because uc’s look at rigor and bc is stronger in rigor.

Again, I’d ask do you get to decide?

At my kid’s school, the Calc teacher made the decision.

Even if you get to decide, I would suggest you speak to them - and get put in the appropriate class. You might end up repeating it in college anyway.

If you get to AB as a Senior, you’ll be fine.

Why are you taking College Algebra in the Summer - you should go from pre-calc to calc - at whatever level you re advised.

I don’t understand the summer classes at all.

You’d be better to have a job. Math isn’t the kind of thing to rush through. You don’t need summer school.

PS - lots of schools look at rigor and within the context of your school - and to me, I don’t see the college classes as helpful. I’d much rather see someone as a teenager in summer. I’m not a believe in bending for colleges - because there’s a zillion you can study CS - and you can go overboard beyond belief and do everything crazy - and still not get in. And I’m not a fan of putting pressure on yourself because of others around you. Be yourself - and know the where you go may not necessarily necessitate a better outcome.

You have one life. Enjoy it.

You will have this with AB - so if you were my kid, I’d advise to skip the summer classes and that you’d be fine. You aren’t me - but I just see this arms race you’re involved in - and that’s no way to be for a kid.

C) Mathematics

UC-approved high school courses

Three years of college-preparatory mathematics that include the topics covered in elementary and advanced algebra and two- and three-dimensional geometry; a fourth year of math is strongly recommended. A geometry course or an integrated math course with a sufficient amount of geometry content must be completed. Approved integrated math courses may be used to fulfill part or all of this requirement, as may math courses taken in the seventh and eighth grades if the high school accepts them as equivalent to its own courses.

OP, I understand your nervousness here, and I can see you’re concerned that some students will have BC on their transcript and you might have only AB. Two things:

–In general, schools understand that where you begin in the math curriculum sets the pace for your four years, and what they want to see is that you took the most rigorous schedule available to you. They don’t expect to see you skip a class in order to do that.

–As noted above, the risk of skipping AB (if they’re taught as separate classes with an expected track) is that you will enter BC unprepared, and will struggle academically. Having taken classes outside of your HS will not make up for that.

Take other outside math if you’re genuinely excited about it, not to check a box that you can’t predict. If you aren’t excited, do something else.

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Taking dual enrollment statistics after Sophomore year may be useful to you if you want to apply for Data Science, because it’ll confirm aptitude&interest
or not. But if won’t do anything for UCs because they’ll be fine as long as you get As in IM3H+Cal AB. It will add to your uncapped GPA. However summer after junior year you should plan on DOING something.
Once a curriculum baseline has been met and you have the GPA, then the difference is essays and ECs.
(BTW there’s no quicker way for you to tank your GPA than taking a class without the pre-req, so if at your school you’re supposed to take Calc AB before you take BC, take AB senior year.)

@movingtothebeach
Thank you, for your response I understand what you are saying, I am pretty sure that BC goes off from AB as you need to take AB before BC which is the prerequisite, I really want to take these college alegbra and statistics dual enrollment class.

Even though you got good advice here, ask your teacher as well. My kids’ high school didn’t have many accelerated math students and most ended with calc ab or did ab junior year and then bc senior year (same teacher for both plus pre-calc). It wasn’t a prerequisite but rather just how things were done in a school district with a very traditional outlook. DS wanted to take BC junior year and the teacher approved it. Guidance counselor said what will you take senior year? We ignored the counselor, BC went well, kid took AP stats senior year, majored in math/physics and is in a PhD program.

While you won’t get dinged as others have said, if you want BC on your transcript ask your school if it will work.

I’ll add that the administration has changed and there are many more options now, including easier access to dual enrollment classes and more APs.

I will ask the school if bc will work instead of ab senior year, if they approve it I will take bc, if they don’t I will just take ab.

If IM 1 → IM 2 honors → IM 3 honors is sufficient preparation for AP calculus AB, then college algebra will be a useless waste of time because it duplicates some of the content in your IM courses.

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I want to take college alegbra as it helps my uc gpa.

I don’t think AB is a pre-requisite for BC. As stated by College Board, every topic in AB is covered in BC, but there are topics in BC that aren’t in AB. In fact, when students take the AP exam for BC, they will receive not only scores for BC, but also what is called AB subscores. Colleges can use both scores (and their in-house math placement scores, if any) to decide where to place students. For example, I know a student who got a 3 on BC but a 4 on AB subscore. The college considered the former insufficient to skip Calculus II, but the latter good enough to skip Calculus I. For STEM majors, Calculus I and II are pre-requisites for many subsequent classes, so being able to clear them early can save time/money. Taking BC over AB gives you an opportunity to clear two classes as opposed to just one. BC is definitely faster-paced and harder, though, so @math_tryhard you will have to decide what’s best for you.

I will ask my counselor and the calculus teacher if I can skip ab and go straight to bc

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If you will already have 8 semesters of honors point courses, taking an additional course may dilute the weighted-capped version of UC-recalculated GPA.

Also, an admission reader may wonder why you are repeating what you already know (grade grubbing).

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Some schools have an AB or BC system as you describe.
Some schools split BC into AB and BC over 2 years - which is what OP’s school does.
In AB first, BC 2nd schools, as a result, students cannot skip AB because the fundamentals (deritatives, integration
) are not taught in BC - students are supposed to have mastery of the concepts and their applications before they move to BC). This would lead to a catastrophe for OP.

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That refers to the test, though. An individual high school might teach the topics in sequence without including a lot of review in BC.

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I am taking two programming/computer dual enrollment classes during summer after 9th, and will be taking 6 semesters of uc honors in 10th grade, so will this lower my uc gpa?

If you are a 9th grader, don’t worry about what classes you will be taking 2 years from now. Focus on doing well with classes you have right now. The summer classes, taken them if they are of interest to you AND you can do well. Unlike HS, college grades stick with you forever.

The GPA dilution effect from taking above and beyond the “8” semetsers has been debated ad nauseam and personally I would not worry about having “too many” AP/Honor/DE classes if you can do well and they are of interest to you.

Edit out “classes” to say “semesters”

Thank you, our school is only 6 period by the way.