<p>Ok so I'm a junior right now and I my guidance counselor had to make up my program for next year. I took 4 Ap classes this year ( chemistry, psychology,English language, and apush) and I plan to take around 4 next year also. They would be ap physics, English literature, economics, and maybe either Ab or Bc calculus.
My teacher recommended me for BC calculus, but I hear it is extremely difficult compared to Ab calculus. Also, I never took pre cal, I am in alg2 trig right now. Will BC calculus be way too hard for me? Should I take AB calculus or maybe even just Precal my senior year?
My average for junior year is 105 and I always score 95+ on every trig test. </p>
<p>So please help me out on which Calculus I should take next year. Let me know if I should drop any ap classes to make calculus more manageable.
Thanks!</p>
<p>See LaceDat: There’s a reason it’s called “PRE-Calculus.”
Don’t rush things and skip classes. That will only hurt you in the long run, especially if you plan to go into a math-intensive field.</p>
<p>going straight from algebra 2 trig to bc is a bad idea unless you really love math a lot.
I’m taking precalc right now and bc next year. Though a lot of precalc is just sort of algebra 2 trig review, I still find it helpful, especially since I had a really bad algebra 2 trig teacher. </p>
<p>Anyway I’d recommend AB, especially if you’re taking a lot of other APs.</p>
<p>Do you already know precalculus? If so, then by all means take BC. However, if you don’t, I would strongly suggest taking precalculus or AB Calculus. AB goes at a very slow pace, so you could probably fare well without knowing too much precalculus.</p>
<p>Definitely don’t do BC. First off, precalc is kind of essential for calculus. However, the precalc I took was precalc with trig and the trig part is the part you use most often in calc. Also, BC is way easier when you’ve taken AB first. It’ll be awful if you haven’t taken precalc or AB. Also consider what types of courses you’ll want/have to take in college. Will you be required to go through the same level of calculus covered by passing the BC test? If not, take the AB class. Calc AB covers the basic calculus requirement at a lot of colleges (if you pass, of course).</p>
<p>Thanks for the help.
I was kind of surprised too that my teacher recommended me for BC without precal or ab. Ill talk with him tomorrow and see what he says.</p>
<p>If you can do Calc AB you can do Calc BC. BC just moves a little faster but in reality it’s like an extra 3 chapters in your book. Sometimes, AB seems a little slow. </p>
<p>Also, I skipped pre-calc to take AB. Now I understand BC is different and more accelerated but the difficulty level is not that different. Oh, and I’ve had a 95% or so in Calc all year and I’m almost 100% sure I’ll be getting a 5 on the AP exam tomorrow. </p>
<p>If you’re confident and can devote enough time to studying, take BC. Don’t let others tell you what your limits are. You have to figure that out for yourself.</p>
<p>You don’t <em>need</em> precalc.
you get some nice exposure to topics not in trig (e.g, polar coordinates) but not necessary since any book or teacher will so the same.</p>
<p>I would say that it depends on how confident you are of your math skills and how motivated you are. My son is a quick learner and took AB first semester/BC second semester of Sophomore year. He found it very intense. He had sailed through all previous math classes. He did get an A and also a 5 on the exam, but it was one of the first classes he ever struggled with.</p>