<p>My child is a junior, currently taking honors diff eq at a university, with more math to come in the spring and senior year. Can he skip taking the AP Calc BC exam? It will be fairly inconvenient for several reasons that I won't bore the board with. Can we just assume that admissions will get that he really does understand calculus?
He had decent AMC12 and AIME scores as well , but I have no official piece of paper with the scores. Is it okay to just list scores?</p>
<p>It’s very impressive that your son is taking Diff Eq as a junior.</p>
<p>Personally I would still take the Calc BC exam, but I’m sure MIT would understand if it was inconvenient. Oftentimes schools can schedule exams on a later date in case of sickness or a conflict–and the price can be waived–so don’t let that stop you.</p>
<p>an official score from the Calc BC exam (with a score of 5) will allow for you child to skip some calc classes for MIT.</p>
<p>If he is confident enough I am sure he could place out w/o the Calc BC exam.</p>
<p>But most importantly, he has to get accepted by MIT first before you specialize just for that school</p>
<p>Thanks, lidusha. I’m pretty darn proud of him.
Certainly, at this point, I don’t even know if he will apply to MIT (although it seems moderately likely). I’m just trying to help him minimize the standardized test-taking and so I thought that asking here would be a good start.
(He already has his three SAT subject tests done, and given his soph. PSAT score, might even get away with only taking the ‘regular’ SAT once.)
I think I may have him schedule it, then cancel if timing doesn’t work out.</p>
<p>I believe he could still take it as a senior for credit and placement at most schools. However, in terms of his application, it may be a red flag that needs to be addressed.</p>
<p>My understanding is that MIT is one of the easiest schools at which to receive credit in ways other than AP tests - my state school, for example, only gave credit for AP tests, and there weren’t any alternative exams you could take for intro classes. If he has a conflict between AP Calc and another AP test, I’m pretty sure he can take a conflict exam for one of the AP tests. Even though he clearly understands the material, I feel as though sitting for a 4-hour test is going to be a lot less of a headache in terms of Calc I credit than trying to go through other channels / schedule advanced standing exams / take placement tests at most universities.</p>
<p>It’s not that he needs an AP exam for placement/credit. He will need to find a school that will let him place even higher since by the time he enters college, he will have roughly four semesters of math (mostly in honors classes) past AP calc BC, plus probably three semesters of computer science classes (theory more than programming) starting at roughly the 200 level. It’s that not having the AP score on his transcript might be confusing to admissions folks.</p>
<p>Have you or your son ever visited the Art of Problem Solving website? It’s kind of an electronic home for advanced math kids. You may find more specific advice there.</p>
<p>I know that at MIT, at least, you need to show proficiency in <em>all</em> math subjects, either via AP test or through testing out. So, even if your son has taken an extra 4 semesters of math, he will still need to take the 18.01, 18.02, and 18.03 placement tests in order to get credit for these classes (obviously, the BC calc AP test can substitute for the 18.01 placement test). The only exception is if he has taken the courses at a college, which would mean that he needs to submit transcripts and syllabi to the math department for approval before he gets credit.</p>
<p>Also, for what it’s worth, there’s a freshman on my hall who came in with 3 years of college math - most of it taken at MIT. He didn’t apply for transfer credit, so he now has to retake all of the courses, because the math department won’t grant him credit for auditing them without proof of a transcript, and for some of the classes, there wasn’t a placement test. I’m just saying that there will be hoops that your son will need to jump through at most colleges, so taking the AP test might minimize them, and he should consider it.</p>
<p>^ Yeah, that’s pretty good advice.</p>
<p>Personally, I just think having the AP score will raise a lot less questions in the long run and you won’t have to keep explaining yourself. To me, I think that alone is worth taking the Calc BC exam and getting it over with. If he finds Calc BC to be easy, there should be no preparation needed on his part, so there’s probably no hassle with studying. The $83 fee would probably be a hassle, but I think it’s a worthwhile investment just in future considerations of getting credit, placing out of classes, and even college admissions in general.</p>
<p>Thanks to all. We know AoPS well - it’s a good place.
k4r3n2 - we are keeping syllabi and transcripts. (All the college math is being taken at a University, as an official student, not auditing.)</p>
<p>
Absolutely. People often comment on how “smart” or “above average” students on CC are, but the bar at AoPS/MathLinks is set at an entirely different level.</p>
<p>Ok, Chris and I have both advised your son to take the AP Calc BC test, but ultimately it’s your call. Your son will also need to provide transcripts / syllabi for each of his college classes if he attends MIT. This is how our math transfer credit system works; if it were me, I’d definitely rather take the AP test than bother with all of that stuff, especially since I’ve heard that the AP test is significantly easier than our placement tests. Additionally, if he chooses to take the placement tests for some classes, he may be also expected to do the problem sets for the classes (this is true for DiffEq, at least). MIT also might refuse to accept some of his transfer credit. But again, it’s ultimately your call. I just wanted to make sure that you realize how much of a hassle this could turn into.</p>
<p>As far as the AMC / AIME test scores, MIT asks you to self-report them. Obviously if your son was in Algebra II and reporting that he scored a 10 on the AIME, this will raise a red flag, but I don’t think they’ll ask for official ‘proof’ in your case.</p>
<p>Don’t skip the AP exam. It sounds like your son will have other advanced standing exams he wants to take during MIT orientation. However inconvenient it will be to take the AP this spring, it will be more inconvenient to take an extra 3 hr exam when he is trying to meet other students, decide where he wants to live, etc.</p>
<p>Transfer credit is straightforward to receive if he saves all his documentation for the courses, and is taking them at a university. Watch out for courses that aren’t actually equivalent, though. For example, if the same book is used does it cover all the same chapters? He can probably figure this out in advance by googling the course syllabus.</p>
<p>AoPS (art of problem solving) is the best resource out there of high school students interested in science or math (maybe even better than MIT ocw).</p>
<p>Calc BC is a fairly straightforward exam, it doesn’t hurt to take it, and I’m pretty sure your son will score a 5 with a little bit of prep.</p>
<p>“My understanding is that MIT is one of the easiest schools at which to receive credit in ways other than AP tests”</p>
<p>Lol, I have to disagree with this after having taken the Chem ASE… :D</p>