My daughter just finished precalculus at the end of 10th grade. Beyond that, our local high school offers AP Calc AB, AP Calc BC, and AP Stats. We also have a community college nearby which has more math courses but of course, they aren’t always at times that are convenient, and then there are some online options.
Daughter wanted to take BC calc in 11th grade and then likely AP stats in 12th, or maybe do something at the community college if the timing worked out, BUT unfortunately our high school doesn’t have enough spots in BC Calc and seniors have priority. So she’s got a slot in AB Calc. She’s bummed because she wanted the harder class. Currently is planning to major/double major in some combination of math, CS, and/or physics, and is looking at selective schools (although not MIT/Caltech which afaik are the only ones that expect Calc 3).
So here are some of the options we’ve thought of:
a) take AB Calc in 11th, BC Calc in 12th, and then maybe take AP comp sci or AP music theory online with the spare time of having the easier class. (advantage - looks like increasing difficulty of courses. Disadvantage - lots of repetition).
b) take AB Calc in 11th at school and BC calc online at the same time, and just do the BC test, then do AP Stats or something at the community college in 12th. (disadvantage of stats - looks easier. disadvantage of cc - timing might not work with schedule).
Makes no sense on the part of the high school, since the more advanced students in math are typically the strongest ones. If it must ration places in BC (versus AB), it should prioritize students by their grades in precalculus. Or if the BC and AB offerings do not match student demand, replace an AB section with a BC section.
Or is there gender stereotyping in that the counselor is not pushing hard to put her in BC because she is female? If there are male students in the same grade who got into BC, that could suggest that this is a problem.
It’s not sexism… my kid’s a bio male and still presents more or less as such but identifies as female. ;-). I think they’ve worked themselves into a corner where they put most of the juniors into AB and then kids who still want to take more calc senior year get priority for BC. They said they only have one section of BC this coming year. I think they really like their record of how people do on the AP tests and also are under pressure to keep sections full for financial reasons.
do not take AB and then BC - part of it is a repeat. OR, take AB in 11th and then BC and STATs in 12th. I would personally push the counselor over the summer.
Simplest solution would be to change the AB section with all of the juniors into a BC section. Students reaching calculus in 11th grade should be top students in math who would want to take BC. If every junior who wants to take BC and their parents lobby the school, would they do that?
@ucbalumnus I don’t think the community college schedule is going to work… it conflicts with my kid’s main EC. Unless she does the online option (which could be done through the cc rather than as an ap course… I have no idea what would be the best choice there if she did online).
How repetitive are AP Calc AB and BC? Our schedule is junior AB, senior BC, S20 has already taken AP stat in 10th grade. Why would AP calculus be taught in this way (partial repetition)?
@makemesmart there is significant overlap between AB and BC. AB is essentially covering the first semester of college calculus in one year, or more likely the first 2 quarters of calculus, while BC covers the full year of college calculus. So I would say that at least half the material in BC and AB is repeat, albeit it at a faster pace. I never understood why any school district would give the option to take both classes.
A couple of years ago my kid’s HS math department had the brilliant idea of combining an AB class and a BC class, which did not go over very well. Just saying…
@washugrad the local CC is equidistant from my kid’s HS and the CC I think intentionally had Calc 1/2/3 classes right at 3:00, as well as 6:30pm and even 7:30am classes. Since this is an elective class, the principal had no issues letting kids out a period before or coming in later so they could get to the class. However, there is a disadvantage to taking Calc 1 and 2 at the CC level. Though the material covered is roughly the same as AP BC, there’s a lot to be learned in discussion, and the level of classmates in CC will be nowhere the level of kids who are taking AP in HS. Something to think about.
Another option is to take an online class that is certified. An example of that would be AOPS. They have a really good online Calc BC class, with super smart kids in there. My kid took it, but he took it as a supplement since he was already taking the actual BC class.
If your daughter does AB and then BC, she’s basically repeating a semester worth of material. Try to get her to do the AB course at school and BC online, and then senior year, she can do a harder course with online AP Stats. Chances are that the high school she goes to offers a course made for after completing AP Calc. That’s what I recommend she takes.
My daughter took Calc AB in 11th and then AP stat and multi variable calc in 12th (taught in the HS by the calc teacher). She did end up majoring in math in college. In college ,she had AP credit for calc 1 and took calc 2 and 3. Her college had several tracks of calc so she was in the calc 2 and 3 for math, science, and engineering majors.
Another vote for taking the AP Calculus AB and simultaneously taking an on-line AP Calculus BC course on-line and then taking the AP Calculus BC test at the end of the year. AND continue to petition the school to get your daughter a slot, or make an additional class or come up with a better solution during the summer. Leave AP Stats for senior year. I would be concerned with taking a year off of math between pre-calc and Calc. If you are concerned with how it looks on the college application you can add that in the comment section that the school didn’t have enough slots and preference was given to seniors. It also shows your daughter took the initiative to continue at the level she is qualified, and taking BC will reinforce the AB class making that class easier for her this year. It might also be the best signal to the school that they failed in their job to provide the appropriate level class to all students.
A/ Colleges will not “think” anything when seeing it on the application.
B/ If she feels strongly that it needs to be addressed on the application, which I don’t, I’d recommend that the GC mention it, not her.
In some schools BC is not a AB/BC combo but simply BC so AB is taken previously and BC starts with new info.
@ProfessorPlum168 Though the material covered is roughly the same as AP BC, there’s a lot to be learned in discussion, and the level of classmates in CC will be nowhere the level of kids who are taking AP in HS. Something to think about.
This reads a bit insulting to me. How do you know the students in cc are not at the same level? Some schools determine high school starting level for math as early as 6th grade and the student can be really intelligent but it wasn’t known in 6th grade. Some students move here from other countries where the schooling may have been different. Some students go to high schools that simply have AP Calculus AB as the highest math. There are lots of people, especially middle income who make too much for much financial aid and not enough to easily afford full pay that opt for community college to start to save money. The assumption that community college students are automatically below high school students is often not correct. It is true that the class doesn’t meet daily and there is less discussion time but that isn’t always needed for many students gifted in math.
While true, for the OP’s D school, it appears to be a combo, not a sequence. From the original post: “Disadvantage - lots of repetition” Of course, the OP can clarify.