<p>At our hs, it’s either AB or BC, not BC after AB. Many students who take AP-Calc also take AP Physics C (the only AP Physics offered in our hs).</p>
<p>OP: I just want to make it clear to you that by taking Pre-Calculus in 9th grade, your child is ahead from any college perspective.
What might help your child more is to take AP Calculus BC during 10th grade followed by AP Statistics during 11th grade followed by Multivariate Calculus/Differential Equation in 12th.
Why?
- AP Calc. AB will be too easy and might give colleges the feeling that 9th grade Pre-Calc was not natural but forced as going to AP Calc. AB is downgrading from A on Pre-Calc.
- AP Statistics is an easier course and will help your child balance the Junior year course schedule.
- If your child is going to be math/science/engg student at college then 12th grade Multi. variate/Diff Equation will be much more helpful.</p>
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<p>How so? Why could he not take this earlier? My S did, in 9th grade and is now a happy grad student.</p>
<p>Which teacher is better?</p>
<p>In our school kids took AB first, then BC. Very few took BC without taking AB. Most of the kids ended up getting 5s on the exam and placing into Calc 3 in college. My own feeling is that a kid who is not a math whiz would be better off taking AB, especially if he can take BC after. Neither of my 2 who took both ever complained about being bored or finding the material overly repetitive, but maybe that is the way the classes were structured.</p>
<p>I would consider a kid who is doing precalc in 9th grade able to do BC in 10th. As I’ve posted earlier, a whole year of BC will be wayyy too slow.</p>
<p>Here’s a vote for Calculus BC. My dd took it in 9th grade (after a not-wonderful Pre-calc class in 8th grade) and really loved it. She’s taking Multivariable online from UIUC this year.</p>
<p>By the way, we did the “both” options from the Calculus trap. My dd has enriched (took Intro to Counting & Prob from AoPS, has all the other AoPS books, took LM1 & LM2 from eIMACS, and done a lot of math contest work) and gone ahead in the normal sequence.</p>
<p>Note that AP Stats in many ways isn’t really a math class. In fact, many schools find that the best math students are not the ones that do best in stats. Stats includes a lot of descriptive work. In college, many times Stats is its own department separate from the Math department. However, a basic stats class is probably one of the most useful courses you can take for everyday life.</p>
<p>It seems that schools differ a lot in how AB vs BC is handled. In DS’s IB program, AB followed by BC is the standard sequence for IB HL Math. They spend time in both courses on material required for IB but not AP.</p>
<p>I might get clobbered by this crowd, but if your kid is not a math/science kid, there’s nothing the requires that he take math in 12th grade. It still might make sense for him to take BC in 10th grade if he’s ready. Then, he can take AP Stats in 11th grade, and none in 12th grade. My kid took BC in 11th grade, and no math in 12th grade (although he was in IB Physics).</p>
<p>marite:
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<p>I never said he couldn’t take it earlier. What I said it will be advantageous to take it in 12th grade as the college math will start from some calculus and most like either Multivariate or Calculus II/III where ever the child is placed based on their AP scores.</p>
<p>I also explained the advantage of taking AP Stat in 11th is to distribute the load during the most stressful year at high school</p>
<p>Also AP statistics is a very useful subject in real life or for any computer engineering, accounts, buisness professional and should be taken during the high schoo.</p>
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<p>No, it does not. It only does if a student has taken the usual high school math by 12th grade. But if a student has already taken BC-calc, unless s/he feels shaky there is absolutely no reason to re-take or even to start with MV-Calc. Been there with S who took BC-Calc in 8th grade and MV-Calc in 9th. There’s no way he would have started all over in college!</p>
<p>Again, just to throw in a point for the non-science types out there. My son took stats in college–no calculus. But he’s a likely music major. There are a lot of different options.</p>
<p>marite:
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<p>Once again we’re not talking about your son here or any other US Math Olympiad participant who was done with high school math curriculumn during the middle school.</p>
<p>We’re talking about OP who has taken Pre-calculus at 9th grade and had achieved A with some hard work. </p>
<p>If we map such an applicant path over the next 3 years, we can certainly reach the conclusion that during his freshman year at any college he will be indulging in some Calculus related math.</p>
<p>Also it depends on the college OP matriculate because, even with 5 on AP Calculus BC and college level credits for Multivariate and differential equation, at some colleges OP will have to take Multivariate Calculus.</p>
<p>Did the OP say that the 9th grader had to work hard? I did not get that impression at all. The OP said his/her son “had to study” to get As. Surprise! That does not sound to me like someone who is struggling to keep up. As I’ve said, it’s a good thing that students should be challenged, otherwise known as “have to study to get good grades.”</p>
<p>Can you tell me which college demands that someone who has taken MV-Calc in college retake it? At our high school, students who take MV-Calc do so at Harvard. It would be very strange if Harvard or MIT demanded they retake the self-same course!</p>
<p>^^^: Here is what OP said
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<p>Since OP child has to study to get an A that is why the question was put up to either choose AP Calc AB or AP Calc BC. Otherwise it would be no brainer to choose AP Calc BC.</p>
<p>MIT doesn’t allow any college credit.</p>
<p>I took Pre-Calc in 9th grade, AP Calc BC 10th grade (5), Linear Algebra, Differential Equations, Multivariable Calculus all in 11th grade.</p>
<p>I wouldn’t have it any other way, except that I would have taken Algebra two years earlier had my school offered it, but thats another matter.</p>
<p>I would go for AP Calc BC. You can score a 5 and get an A, and most importantly understand the material if you work hard.</p>
<p>PIOH: You need to read more carefully. I NEVER said that MIT allows college credit. Neither does Harvard by the way, even for its own courses. I said that MIT or Harvard would not demand that a student re-take the self-same courses. Can you get the difference? </p>
<p>I get it that a student has to study for As. Big deal! So what? If he did not have to study for a grade he should not be in that class in the first place.</p>
<p>marite: I still don’t understand what do you mean by the following with respect to MIT
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<p>Does that means a student who has take a course at MIT during high school?
I don’t think MIT has an option or a couse a student can take during high school.
Or Does this mean a student has taken the course at another university?
For which MIT doesn’t extend credit.</p>
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<p>Only OP can say with certainity what does it mean but to me if OP has listed it then it means the effort is more than wha normally required otherwise there is no logical reason to put it.</p>
<p>1.
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<p>Who cares about credit??? It’s about placement! If the OP’s kid takes BC Calc in 10th grade, he can take MVCalc in 11th grade. Plenty of kids from my high school do so, and quite a few matriculate at MIT. I have yet to hear that they were made to re-take MV-Calc just because they took the class at Harvard. Students will be given placement tests and will be placed in the appropriate classes.</p>
<p>thanks so much for all your helpful advice. i do compare him to his younger brother who sails through math, is nationally ranked in math and enjoys art of problem solving and month long competitive math camps
he is not brilliant, just a smart guy who needs to put in the work to get an A. since he is pretty busy with science fairs and athletics i didn’t want him to crash under the weight of too many AP classes.
you will be interested to note that he is in a brand new STEM magnet program in a school of 2400 kids ,80% of whom do not continue to any kind of college.
the math teacher that he has for pre calc will teach AB and BC calc. The school plans for the kids to take classes at univ of md baltimore or the local comm college in 11 and 12 th grades.
i want to maximize his GPA/AP tests fo college where he would like to study engineering or applied physics. one annoying thing about this program is the sciences: he takes physics in 9th, bio in 10th, chem in 11th and then AP physics or college course (per guidance counselor) in 12th. i wish he could move ahead in the sciences…
he will not apply to MIT/caltech…not ferociously competitive/natural born genius; just a guy who wants to make the world a better place through the sciences (lehigh/lafayette/univ md)
i will talk to his math teacher and get a better feel for her classes.since it is such a huge school it is really hard to get in touch with teachers</p>