<p>Hi i am a rising senior and i just scheduled my senior year schedule. I was suppose to take French 4 this year but due to scheduling issues i had to pick another class for the spring semester. I decided to double up math and take AP Calc AB and AP Calc BC in the same year. I am really worried because my transcript won't look good with only 3 years of language. I am really confused. I am planning to apply to Penn State University park and University of Pittsburgh and on their website it says that they only require 2 years of languages. Should i take French 4 in my spring semester instead AP Calc BC? Or should i take AP Calc Bc because i am planning to major in Statistics in college?? I need some advice! Thank you for you time :)</p>
<p>calc bra. wait. stats major?? idk meng. still would go calc if guaranteed A.</p>
<p>Taking AP Calc AB and BC at the same time is redundant. In Calc BC, you learn everything in Calc AB (albeit at a faster pace) and then some more. Essentially, AB is Calc 1 and BC is Calc 1 and Calc 2. So you would just be taking Calc 1 twice. What class can you replace Calc AB with? If nothing comes to mind there, I guess you can get by with Calc AB and French 4.</p>
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<p>Not necessarily. If your high school normally does a two-year Calc track (AB first and then BC), then B may start where A left off in the prior spring. If that is the case, taking BC could be difficult without the AB preparation.</p>
<p>OTOH, if the BC class covers the AB material in the first semester, then yes it would be redundant. (Heck, one can even earn a AB subscore by taking the BC exam.)</p>
<p>If you are going to double in math, take BC & Stats.</p>
<p>But also check on all of the colleges to which you are applying to see if they have a foreign language requirement. If so, the 4th year of French might enable you to pass out of the college FL requirements.</p>
<p>I can’t replace Calc AB because in order to take Calc BC i have to take Calc AB. I am taking Calc AB in the fall and Calc BC in the spring. Since i really don’t like French and French 4 is not an AP course i thought it would be more useful to take Calc AB and Calc BC because i will be taking those classes in college, but i am still worried that not having 4 years of language is going to hurt my chances of getting accepted at PSU or University of Pittsburgh.</p>
<p>Can’t say what is right for your situation–I want to say take what you are interested in, but the lack of BC won’t hurt you. My daughter received a full tuition scholarship to Pitt, and she took Calc AB her senior year, along with a fourth year of language, which in her case was AP French. I would suggest skipping the second Calc class and keep the language.</p>
<p>@bluebayou, according to the CB AP website for Calc BC, “It includes all topics covered in Calculus AB plus additional topics.” It’s also supposed to be a yearlong course. Now, different schools may do it differently, but most colleges do not offer credit for both AB and BC. That’s because they generally give both Calc 1 and Calc 2 credit for BC. So it would be redundant when you’re looking at advanced credit in college. </p>
<p>OP, since your school sounds like it’s running on a college-pace course (Calc 1 and Calc 2 each in a semester), then you do have a choice to make. Which one are you more interested in? I know you said you weren’t interested in French so maybe BC would be the way to go?</p>
<p>^^Yes, I know what the CB website says, but with 30,000 high schools in the country, there are plenty of ways to tweak the curriculum. (yes, most don’t even offer AP Calc.) Indeed, many high schools REQUIRE that Calc be taught over a two-year span: AB then BC. Do you really think that they start over the second year? (Personally, I think teaching it over two years is a waste, but they didn’t ask my opinion!)</p>
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<p>That is irrelevant.</p>
<p>^How is that irrelevant? The OP declared an intent to major in statistics. Most colleges (I checked Northwestern and UC Berkeley) require both Calc 1 and Calc 2 for that major. If the OP plays it right, he/she can get out of those classes and take higher level ones. AB will grant him/her credit for Calc 1, leaving the necessity to take Calc 2. BC satisfies both requirements. If you are in a high school that offers BC as the CB describes, then taking AB and BC is both unnecessary and a waste of time. If you are in a high school in which BC is taught sequentially after AB, then you don’t necessarily have to take the AB exam if you can do well enough on the BC to place you out of both Calc 1 and Calc 2.</p>
<p>Since you mention Penn State and Pittsburgh, here are the admission and graduation requirements for foreign language at these schools:</p>
<p>Penn State admission: second year of high school foreign language, or equivalent proficiency. [Basic</a> Admissions Requirements: Penn State University Undergraduate Admissions](<a href=“http://admissions.psu.edu/academics/majors/requirements/]Basic”>http://admissions.psu.edu/academics/majors/requirements/)</p>
<p>Penn State graduation, BA degree: proficiency equivalent to the 12th credit level (third semester in college) of a foreign language. [University</a> Bulletin: Undergraduate Degree Programs: Bachelor of Arts Degree Requirements](<a href=“http://bulletins.psu.edu/undergrad/barequirements/]University”>http://bulletins.psu.edu/undergrad/barequirements/)</p>
<p>Penn State graduation, BS degree: it is not obvious from the web site what, if any, foreign language requirement there is</p>
<p>Pittsburgh admission (Arts and Science): second year of high school foreign language, third year recommended. [University</a> of Pittsburgh: Undergraduate Admissions & Financial Aid](<a href=“http://www.oafa.pitt.edu/lookfor.aspx]University”>http://www.oafa.pitt.edu/lookfor.aspx)</p>
<p>Pittsburgh graduation (Arts and Science): second semester of college foreign language or equivalent proficiency. [General</a> Education Requirements](<a href=“http://www.asundergrad.pitt.edu/requirements/gened.html]General”>http://www.asundergrad.pitt.edu/requirements/gened.html)</p>
<p>Is French 4 the fourth year of the language, or the fourth semester (second half of second year) of the language in your high school?</p>
<p>Since i am going to major in statistics i thought having two Calc classes and a Statistics class would be beneficial. Don’t colleges require higher math classes for people who would be majoring in math?? Four years of language would look good on my transcript but since if i am going to major in statistics wouldn’t colleges concentrate more on my math courses??</p>
<p>Most colleges structure the math and statistics majors so that a student starting in first semester freshman calculus can easily complete the major in eight semesters (or twelve quarters for schools on the quarter system). These majors do not tend to be particularly heavy with requirements compared to other majors like engineering.</p>
<p>Of course, being ahead a bit (AB ~= semester ahead, BC ~= two semesters ahead, at least if you score a 5 on the AP test) does shorten the prerequisite sequences to allow you to take the advanced courses earlier, and give you some more free elective space in your four year schedule. This may make it easier to double major in the two subjects.</p>
<p>Check whether the fourth level of high school foreign language would place you into higher levels of college foreign language than the third year and/or help fulfill any foreign language graduation requirement at the colleges you are interested in. If you already have completed the third level, you appear to be fine for admissions to Penn State and Pittsburgh.</p>
<p>I would advise you take Calc AB and French 4 for one reason: high school classes are NOT as good as college classes. If you take a Calculus class at college, you’re going to get a lot more out of it than you would from taking the same class at high school.</p>
<p>French 4 would probably let you test out of the foreign language requirement altogether as well, which is another big advantage of going that way. Depends on the school, of course, but it’s still something to think about.</p>