<p>I skipped Pre-Calculus as a freshman last year and am now currently enrolled in AP Calculus BC as a sophomore. I think Pre-Calculus is not a hard subject to learn by yourself (which you must if you want to go into AP Calculus), as the only major stuff you need to know is trigonometry. However, I have a really really good teacher for BC, and he reviews all the Pre-Calculus we need (because everyone else already forgot it over the summer), and he is the type of person who is very effective at teaching those who just have never got math before. So it varies school by school. I would suggest that if you are unsure of your capabilities to do BC, then learn the Pre-Calculus on your own, do AB, and then get ahead in the class do that you can self-study BC by the end of the school year.</p>
<p>Precalculus is important for developing logic and problem solving skills, while prealgebra is not. I don’t recommend skipping precalc, and if you do you need to make sure you really understand everything that it covers. Calculus is hard!</p>
<p>@collegebound that’s because usually calc AB is calc 1, and calc BC is BOTH Calc 1 and calc 2 combined</p>
<p>Adding on to what hpysm said, make sure you learn trigonometry before you even think about doing AP Calculus BC. In reality, it isn’t the calculus that a lot of my classmates fail at; they easily understand the calculus, but it’s the algebra and trigonometry skills that lack in order to do the calculus. And I’m talking about people who actually took Algebra II and Pre-Calculus. Sadly, the classes who should take in order to prepare for AP Calculus really don’t prepare you very well; that’s one of the major flaws of math education in this country (especially in public schools). The moral of the story is that you need to know your algebra very well and trigonometry to a good extent, and you’ll easily understand the calculus if you just do your homework.</p>
<p>hpyscm*; my bad.</p>
<p>Unless you’re a genius/borderline (read: not taking advice from CC), there’s really no reason to do so. The most I would recommend would be taking Alg II/Pre-calc freshman year and then hitting some geometry and early calculus over the summer before taking BC sophomore year. There are some important trig concepts and general mathematical experience that will help you out in those courses.</p>
<p>In reality, though, this may hurt you more than it helps you. You likely won’t apply calculus and subsequent classes in differential equations and linear algebra until your 2nd and 3rd year of college. That leaves a 3-4 year gap between when you learn the math and when you apply it, which could negatively affect your performance. Unless you’re graduating from HS in 2-3 years and starting engineering courses in your freshman year, in which case you’re probably should seek professional counseling, there’s really no reason to skip three math courses.</p>
<p>The bigger question is why this previously dead for 18 months thread was restarted.</p>
<p>Good question. Simple answer: thread necros are the national pastime of CC.</p>
<p>It was revived so that someone could mention their own transition from geometry to calculus.</p>
<p>In my school Pre-Calculus (Math Analysis) skippable, however you do not have to take AB to take BC.</p>