<p>I'm a junior at a small private high school. I'm currently taking Algebra II, and it's really easy. I don't like the fact that if I follow the trend I'm on, I will never take Calc in high school and stop at Precalculus. </p>
<p>I'm considering skipping Precalc and skipping to AP Calc BC. Is this a stupid idea, or is it doable? How probable is a 5 on the exam?</p>
<p>Thanks.</p>
<p>I recommend trying AP Calc AB first with Pre Calc at the same time. This kid I know did that and he is doing very well in my BC class right now</p>
<p>I truly think that would do more damage than good . There are key concepts that you will learn in Pre calculus especially during the second semester . However if you are set on taking ap calc your senior year you can probably take Pre-cal over the summer is that is available where you attend high school or you can take a regular calc class at a local junior college during the summer if that is offered . I think both options will give u sufficient background with calculus</p>
<p>Take Pre-Cal over the summer, or at least learn rudimentary Trigonometry. And don’t go into BC, at least only go into AB. You may not get to take the hardest class you can in high school, but you would just drag the class down, and you’d be extremely behind. Sorry, but you shouldn’t do it.</p>
<p>Honestly, I think that’s too far of a jump ahead. If you really want to go beyond pre-calc, study some pre calc over the summer, and then go into AP Calc AB senior year. I know a couple people that have done that and succeeded, but even that was difficult for them.</p>
<p>You absolutely must learn trig somewhere before you take calculus.</p>
<p>I jumped from precalc to Calc BC… But yeah, you should definitely learn the material somewhere (possibly a summer class if possible) if you plan on not taking precalc normally.</p>
<p>I did Trig and Calc the same year, and it was fine, but AP Calc (of any variety) wasn’t offered.</p>
<p>Precalculus and trigonometry are prerequisites to calculus.</p>
<p>What is your intended major in college?</p>
<p>Note that very few colleges actually design their curricula assuming calculus in high school. Taking calculus in high school and starting in a more advanced math course in college can be somewhat useful in reducing schedule pressure for some majors (such as engineering and physics), but is not generally required. Math-heavy majors do expect that you are ready for calculus as a college freshman – i.e. that you know your precalculus and trigonometry from high school.</p>
<p>it is a bad idea. like you, I was also upset that I couldn’t take calc in HS, so I just took algebra over the summer. try taking precalc and trig over the summer. don’t skip it.</p>
<p>I disagree with the others though, you could go for BC right after taking precalc and trig. it doesn’t have to be AB.</p>
<p>You should at least have a solid foundation in pre-calculus topics, including trig, logarithms, sequences/series, etc. before going on to calculus. If you can self-study these topics, and can pick up new material easily, you can take Calculus BC. Otherwise, you shouldn’t take it.</p>