Hi all,
I know there have been very many discussions on whether to take AB or BC, but it would be really great to hear some perspectives on my situation.
I am a junior/rising senior and I have been on the advanced track for all my math courses since 9th grade, taking Advanced Algebra 2, Advanced Geometry, and Advanced Precalc AB. Since I took Adv. Precalc AB this year, I was also placed into AP Calc AB for senior year next year.
I want to major in engineering (not sure specifically which one yet), and it is my understanding that AP Calc BC is pretty much a baseline for top engineering schools. I’m gonna try my best to switch into BC next year, however my school is very strict with course changes and rarely allow them. How would my profile as an engineering student be affected by AP Calc AB at top engineering schools such as Carnegie Mellon, UIUC, UMD, U Michigan, and NYU (not really known for engineering but I’m wondering about other colleges)? What about engineering schools at the Ivys? I know that none of the Ivys are really well-known for engineering but would the AB vs BC greatly affect my chance of admissions there too?
Lastly, would taking introductory calc classes at nearby universities help me offset my lack of BC calc if I am unable to switch? Do you have any other recommendations?
Clarification: for the intro calc classes, it would be like a college Calc 1 course that I would be taking this summer for 7 weeks at a local university
Since you cannot take BC Calculus, I would make sure you take an AP Physics course. Do you have engineering electives at your school? You might also opt for a computer science class. AB calculus is the first semester of college calc so taking calc 1 this summer is redundant.
You are sweating unnecessarily. Calc AB vs BC is not going to make or break your application, relative to the weight of your GPA, your tests scores, any subject test or AP scores, your ECs, and your essays/recs.
@scubadive We don’t have engineering courses at my school but I did sign up for AP Physics Mech for next year. AP Physics EM is also offered but I decided that Mech might be better because I wouldn’t have enough calc background for EM with only taking Adv Precalc AB this year.
@ucbalumnus@ProfessorPlum168 Thanks for the info. I was considering taking calc 2 for that reason but calc 1 is a prereq to calc 2 so I doubt the university will let me take it.
What I was suggesting was to skip AP Calc AB in HS completely and just take a full year of Calc at a CC. That would be the equivalent of Calc BC more or less. You could also find online classes such as AOPS that teaches AP Calc BC. My guess is that your school district treats this as an elective class so they probably won’t care where you take the class.
Note that I’m just pointing out alternatives. This does not mean I am recommending any of these alternatives.
Keep in mind that you don’t only have to consider so called “top” engineering schools…any ABET accredited Engineering School will meet your and employer’s needs.
There are plenty of engineering students who “just” take CalcAB in HS.
I would make sure you set yourself up for success…take a class that you can do well in…be that Calc AB or Duel enrollment. THe worst would be that you are trying to look advanced and you take college calc that moves too fast for you.
To @bopper’s point, it is so true that the country, and the world, feature loads and loads of highly competent, and highly compensated, engineers who graduated from “non-elite” engineering schools.
“What I was suggesting was to skip AP Calc AB in HS completely and just take a full year of Calc at a CC. That would be the equivalent of Calc BC more or less. You could also find online classes such as AOPS that teaches AP Calc BC. My guess is that your school district treats this as an elective class so they probably won’t care where you take the class.”
I would not recommend skipping calculus in high school, even if you’re taking it at a cc or online, unless it’s not offered at the high school. The high school may not care where you take the class, but adcoms do, the engineering colleges you’re considering will look for Calc on the high school transcript (again assuming it’s offered). Taking it as senior won’t hurt either, taking it online or at cc will.
Now the AB/BC issue, lot depends on how you did in pre-calc/honors, if you thought the material was straightforward and the pace was ok or even slow, you may want to try for BC, otherwise AB is fine. Ask the schools, this is a common question, and hopefully they’ll give you a clear answer. I actually asked this question and one school said, do well in your classes, not too helpful, meaning don’t get a C in BC.
He said he might not be able to take BC in HS for bureaucratic reasons.
He can take AB but might get dinged for not taking the most rigorous class. Or try and take BC or equivalent elsewhere. This is perfectly explainable on the common app. My point is that he has other options other than settling for whatever the school offers.
Huh? When the student applies to colleges, s/he will need to include records of all high schools and colleges attended. So a calculus course, whether in the high school or in a college, will be visible to the admission readers at the colleges applied to.
A calculus course at a cc may or may not be treated the same as AP Calculus where adcoms know the rigor and syllabus. The cc class could spend a bunch of time on pre-calc stuff since they’re catering to a general (non-AP) audience and then spend say half the class on actual calculus concepts. Then someone could take a history class at a cc and claim it’s the same as APUSH, which no adcom, none would believe.
“He said he might not be able to take BC in HS for bureaucratic reasons.
He can take AB but might get dinged for not taking the most rigorous class. Or try and take BC or equivalent elsewhere. This is perfectly explainable on the common app. My point is that he has other options other than settling for whatever the school offers.”
He’s in AB because that’s where his math sequence has taken him, not for bureaucratic reasons. You don’t want to explain things on the common app on your course selection unless you really need to.
Many universities have articulation listings with community colleges that list which courses are considered equivalent to their own courses. Community colleges typically have mandatory math placement procedures so that students in calculus have either passed a placement test or passed precalculus.
UCB’s history department accepts US history courses from community colleges, but not AP US history scores, for subject credit: