First of all, I know there are similar threads on CC, and I have looked at a few of them but none of them were “my” situation, so I apologize if this concern seems repetitive.
I am a sophomore currently in Honors Precalculus and we just began our scheduling process for next year (one word: STRESSFUL). I am for certain taking one of the AP Calculus classes (there is no “honors” or “regular” option for Calculus and I have ruled out taking ACP) but I’m unsure as to which one I should take. I have a solid A in Honors Precalculus currently, so that’s not the concern. My algebra 2 class last year was not at the honors level, but that shouldn’t (most likely) affect how I would do in calculus or after. Up until very recently, I had been planning to take AP Calculus AB because I am already in double-advanced math (the highest level regularly offered at my school), my other classes are/will be difficult, I don’t like learning too quickly especially in math, and I’m not planning to take Multivariable Calc or Different Equations in high school (yes, I will take these classes eventually, but not in high school). However, it is the “norm” for honors students to continue on to AP Calculus BC. There is a bit of social pressure surrounding it too. The majority of my classmates are planning to take BC regardless of what they get on their placement exam so if I were to take AB, this is socially considered to be a “lesser” class and it would appear that I was unable to meet the demands of BC, which in reality is not the case. In general, students that take Calculus AB are those that did not take Honors Precalculus, because many honors kids overrule the recommendation for AB and end up taking BC instead. I can’t say as to how well people tend to do in either class though…
If I were to take AP Calculus AB junior year, I would be able to take AP Calculus BC second semester only of senior year. This was my original plan before I even considered jumping directly to BC.
Another wrench in the situation is that I might like to go into biomedical engineering. I don’t know where I would like to go to college and I don’t know if it would even matter if I took AB instead of BC, but I know that colleges like to see students challenging themselves, particularly since I may go into engineering, which is, well, math-heavy.
We took the calculus placement test earlier this week, but we haven’t gotten the results back. The school-wide recommendation for BC Calculus also includes a PSAT math score of 710 or higher, which I did NOT reach. I’d have to check my exact score, but it was somewhere in the 640-660 range. Even if I wasn’t technically recommended, I’d be allowed to take either class, AB or BC.
So, I’ve made a list of a few pros of taking AB and a few pros of taking BC:
AP Calculus AB junior year, AP Calculus BC senior year
Pros:
-would be able to learn all of the material covered in both classes at a less intense pace
-more likely to get an A
-most likely the class I would be recommended for
-less likely to burn out junior year
AP Calculus BC junior year
Pros:
-would show that I am challenging myself
-greater chance of staying with current classmates
-the more “socially acceptable” class to take
-better for possible STEM major??
I would love any advice you have and thank you if you read that entire block of text above (lol)! Is there a significant reason that I should take BC over AB or vice versa? Would it look bad to take AB junior year and BC senior year second semester?
What does the rest of your schedule look like? You can’t just look at the classes in isolation. It is very easy to overload yourself Junior year. Are you taking other AP classes? Especially ones like APUSH and/or a science. One thing people overlook is that there is two different speeds for AP classes, college and half. Calc BC is normally a college speed class. So is APUSH. Other like Calc AB and AP lit/lang are half speed. My DS school actually puts homework guidance in there course catalog. For many of the classes it is 45 minutes per night. When you add it all up it can quickly get to 3-4 hours per night, every night. What else do you do? Sports? Other ECs? I really wished that more schools had Calc BC done in two years of HS. Lastly, look at your senior year also. Just to make sure that you don’t delay an issue into that year.
The rest of my schedule:
PLTW Medical Interventions
Honors Spanish 4
Honors Physics
APUSH (most likely) or regular US History
some sort of English (AP possible, still deciding) or AP Seminar
Dual-credit psychology
Elective
I will have ECs 1-3 nights per week depending on the time of year
There is a lot of pressure to do so? Absolutely not. A lot of people claim at our school they are going to take AP Calc AB, but actually take regular Calc. Just do AB and then BC. Besides, you won’t feel as rushed.
I am in the unique situation of having experienced both AP Calc AB and a version of AP Calc BC that is normally taken following Pre-calc. As someone who has experienced both, if you are questioning whether you are ready for BC AT ALL, take AB. It won’t be a huge deal in the long run and you’ll probably be happy you’re not in a class that rushes through topics.
In terms of preparation for studying engineering in college, either route is fine. BC covers material at college pace, while AB covers material at a slower pace.
It does seem odd that you are advanced two grades in math but do not feel confident in going full speed ahead with BC. Do you feel that you were pushed further ahead in math than you should have been placed in middle school?
AB->BC is as rigorous as can be expected. You’ll have no problem with any college. As for social pressure, now’s the time to realize that what a few teenagers at one highschool think my seem like a big deal but really… It’s not. If you tell them ‘I’m working on college applications so I checked with … college and there’s no expectation of bc->post bc work…’… You’ll be ok because it’ll show them you’re ahead. There are any myths developed by hs kids and stockpiling APs is one of the worst offenders. Colleges want to see balance, emergence of interest, intellectual curiosity. Taking calculus ab then bc is considered plenty challenging.
@ucbalumnus I’ve been in the double advanced track since fifth grade, didn’t have any problems with it until 8th grade Honors Geometry. I got a B in Geometry and opted to take regular algebra 2 instead of honors. If anything set me behind, I would say that Geometry was a blow to my confidence and taking regular algebra 2 set me behind my peers in honors. I’ve done fine in Honors Precalculus, though.
I wasn’t aware schools allowed you to go straight into Calc BC without AB, granted our precalc felt like a review of Algebra 2, and wasn’t very helpful in AB. I took both AB and BC and the way I think of BC is going into more detail about certain topics you learned in BC with addition of learning a handful of completely new things. Personally I don’t think I would have been able to do as well as I did in BC without taking AB, and I wouldn’t advise anyone to take BC without having first taking AB. However if you feel like you can handle this jump then go for it. Also I assume your pre-calc course must be very rigorous considering your school allows you to skip AB and go straight into BC.
In high schools where BC is taken immediately after precalculus, the BC course includes all of the AB material. Basically, it covers the material at the same speed that a typical college calculus course covers material (AB covers less material, so a year in high school AB covers a semester or a little more of college calculus).