AP Calc AB or Calculus at a Community college?

I’m a junior in high school and I have the option to take AP Calc Ab or Calculus at a Community college. Does it look bad if I choose the Community college calculus? I want to take AP Stat and AP comp Sci, instead of AP Calc because I am interested in those two subjects and because I fear that Ap calc will be too hard?

Also, I think I am going to take Macroeconomics at my Community college also. Will taking these two classes over the summer make my application better, since i only have two AP classes my junior year (Psychology and Human Geography)?

Let me know what you think.

You can always do AP Calc in senior year too. It won’t look bad if you choose the CC Calculus or any other CC class for that matter.

Make sure you take the placement test at the community college before leaping into their calculus class. You’d be surprised how many students just guess what math class they should take based on the name of their last high school class. Nothing wrong with community college classes, just don’t assume they are easy.

If you choose to take calc at the community college, just make sure you also take the AP test to show that you learned everything you would have in Calc AB

CC courses will help your application (assuming you get good grades). They show initiative.

@Matt846 So it won’t look bad to only take Calc at a CC instead of AP Calc also at my highschool? My highschool is very competitive and AP Calc is not an easy course. Neither are Stat/Comp sci, but I have interest in those.

@onceuponamom IS ap calc viewed similarly to Calc at a CC though?

The equivalent of it may be at the CC, yes. I still would recommend taking the placement test. I say this because, while I have absolutely no idea how well prepared you are, I have seen numerous high school students take pre-calculus and still not be prepared for AP.

@onceuponamom Yes, the placement test is a requirement and I plan on taking it. I also have another question. I only took 2 AP classes my junior year (and three honors). Will taking CC classes make up for not taking as rigorous a courseload as possible? Also, I signed up for 5 APs senior year. Will this look good for admissions, and offset the fact that my junior year was not the most rigorous?

let me know what you think, or if you have any advice

thanks

You would probably get many opinions on this. I am not one of those who thinks 5 APs junior year is necessary. But then again, I wasn’t looking for my kids to apply to ivies. They have gotten into fine institutions. I think taking the college classes will look good, as long as you succeed in them. Summer is an easy time for distractions.

just realize most summer 4-credit college courses are 8 weeks. That means you will cover alot and it will go by very quickly. Also, community college does not mean easy. The difficulty can be vastly different depending on where you live, the quality of the cc, and the professor teaching the course. If it is a good cc, then the credits should be accepted by the majority of four-year institutions. For instance, MIT accepts calc I, II, and III from my community college.

It may not be a bad idea to take it at the cc. You could try and build a relationship with the professor and have them write you a letter of recommendation. It may help you stand out in the admission process with a letter from a college professor, but again this depends on the quality of your cc. Most math professors at my cc have a doctorate or are currently in the process of attaining one.

Calculus I, there was just recommended homework, four exams, and a final. Each exam was worth 20% of your grade.

If you practice, are good at algebra and decent at trig it should be fine no matter where you take it. If I were I would still take the AP exam regardless of what you choose.

If the CC course is for math, physics, and engineering majors, it will cover material at a faster pace than high school calculus AB (college calculus courses cover material at a similar pace as high school calculus BC in one year).

A summer course will be about twice the pace of a regular semester course, since a summer session is about half as long as a regular semester.