<p>just wondering. Is AP Calculus equivalent to Calc I in college or is it equivalent to both Calc I and Calc II in college?</p>
<p>I think...just Calculus 1. And BC is Calc 1 and 2, but I'm not completely sure of this.</p>
<p>You are correct Jman, AB is just Calculus 1 and BC is Calculus 1 and 2.</p>
<p>So in BC Calculus, will they go over the concepts of AB Calculus? For example, the Definite Integral, Differentiation, Derivatives, Limits at Infinity, and so on? I ask because you say that BC Calculus is considered both Calc. I and II. </p>
<p>Let's say I am familiar with the concepts that I stated above. What other concepts in Calculus would I need to know to be adequately prepared for BC Calculus?</p>
<p>Well, here is the list of topics covered in AB.</p>
<p>And then BC.</p>
<p>They look very similar.</p>
<p>I see. Thank you.</p>
<p>Would you consider it wise if a student skipped from Algebra II to AP Calculus BC? :D</p>
<p>I'm not sure. I'd think you'd have to learn trig before Calc, unless your Algebra 2 class covers trig.</p>
<p>I'm in precalc, and it's essentially the same as Algebra 2, except half of the class is trig.</p>
<p>Ah. I see (Uh-oh :D). And if the student (whoever s\he was\is ;)) studied Trigonometry and was familiar with the concepts stated above?</p>
<p>Then yes, because precalc is otherwise just a review of Algebra 2.</p>
<p>Trig isn't very hard, so if you self-studied it over the summer, I think you could go on to Calc BC, but I don't know if you should trust me....I haven't taken Calc yet :D.</p>
<p>Most people have said that the first half of Calc BC is like Calc AB. If you're dedicated, then go for it.</p>
<p>Ah, I see. Thank you for your words of wisdom. :)</p>
<p>
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So in BC Calculus, will they go over the concepts of AB Calculus?
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<p>Depends if your BC Calculus class has AB Calc as a prerequisite. If it does, they might just launch straight into new material (with a brief review at the beginning). If not, they'll start from scratch.</p>
<p>It depends on the college what they consider Calc I to cover and it it goes with Calc AB. I know that we had students who got credit for AB at UCF, but found out their Calc II teacher expected them to have studied vectors in Calc I (which isn't covered in AB). </p>
<p>I would say that Precalc is basically just a continuation and review of Alg II, plus a semester of trig. Honestly, you don't need that much trig in Calc as long as you understand the basics (i.e. unit circle, csc is the same as 1/sin etc). </p>
<p>At my school we are required to do AB before BC, and it makes it about 500 times easier. That way, you get a handle on the first year material, test on it, and see how you do and what you should improve on. In BC, the pace is much quicker. For instance, sections that AB covers in 3 days we cover in 30 minutes. We normally do two review chapters and then a new chapter, and go back and forth. We finish before Spring Break and review until the exam, but it is possible otehr schools go right up until the exam. But, overall, I beleive BC is harder to get in one year than the AB-BC track since it goes at such a faster pace. Sure, you can learn it and do well, especially if you are really good at math, but whether that information will stay with you and help you in college in another matter. Trust me, I love calculus (!!) and I've always been good at math, but I wouldn't want to have to go this fast through calculus, which is really a math that (to me) defies definition since it is so different than any math I've had before. </p>
<p>Hope that helps!</p>
<p>BC at our school used to be a year long course (on the block), and was a combination of pre-calc, calc AB, and calc BC. This year, it was changed so that you have to take precalc, Calc AB, and Calc BC all as seperate courses. The Calc BC AP examination covers topics from Calc AB, and you're given a subscore for that section (so if you ace the AB topics but bomb the BC topics, you could still possibly get credit for one semester of calc in college.)</p>
<p>However, I should state though that our precalc class is basically half calc, and we were done with the "precalc" book by the Thanksgiving; we spent the rest of the semester doing elementary calc - limits, elementary differentiation and integration, those kinds of things. BUT, that's probably because there's a course in between Algebra II and Precalculus called "Functions, Statistics, and Trigonometry" (which was renamed this year to "Analysis") that is basically most schools' precalculus.</p>
<p>Yeah, our school is weird.</p>
<p>^ mine goes from Algebra 3/4 (or Algebra II), to Pre-Cal, then to either Calc AB or BC, depending on what the student wants to take. </p>
<p>that does seem like a weird program</p>