Is it a good idea to take calculus 1 over the summer then take AP calculus BC in my senior year? My school requires us to take Calc AB before taking Calc BC.
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How have you done on the various prerequisites? What have been your grades in high school math up to now?
I would say no. Calc 1 in the summer is going to go at twice the pace as Calc AB. Also, if you go into a program that uses higher math, you want to have a good foundation.
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Agree with the above - best to take Calc AB senior year rather than over a compressed summer session.
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I’d say go for it if it won’t obstruct you from doing fun stuff over the summer. Don’t worry too much about the pacing, because it’ll be your only class for the entire summer. Being able to get ahead on college-transferable coursework is quite valuable, especially for engineering majors.
I have an A in honors pre Calc right now and it’s a really easy class for me. I feel like I am not being challenged enough.
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Keep in mind that you will need time to complete college applications so you don’t need to over-schedule yourself.
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A summer college calculus course will cover material much faster than high school calculus AB will.
Also note that high school calculus AB may cover slightly more than the first semester of college calculus, but not enough more for colleges to give more subject credit than the first semester of college calculus. But that means that if you take the first semester of college calculus, there may be some bits of material that you may have to cover on your own before taking a course that assumes completion of high school calculus AB. Another possibility is that some topics may be covered in a different order between the high school AP course and the college course, resulting in similar mismatches in material covered.
There may be another option. At some high schools, teachers of honors pre calc classes can often override the requirement that students must take AP Calc AB before taking AP Calc BC at those schools, if they feel a student is strong enough to do so in their judgement. Your pre calc teacher may feel that you’re ready and is willing to waive the requirement.
I wouldn’t take AB in the Summer…too quick. You don’t need it for college (BC).
However, high schools that require AB before BC may start BC where AB ends, rather than starting where precalculus ends and including the AB material in the BC course (as the BC course was originally intended to be). If the OP’s high is such a high school, taking BC without knowing the AB material would not be a good idea.
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That’s not necessarily the case. Even at schools where Calc AB is a prerequisite for Calc BC, Calc BC classes often start with a review of Calc AB materials. I’ve known plenty of students who took BC without taking AB at schools where AB is a prerequisite for BC.
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I think that I would ask your teacher from your precalculus class.
This is something that I would only do if I was quite confident that I would do well in the course. If you are strong enough in math to take calculus BC in high school, then it would seem reasonably likely that you will end up majoring in a field, or at least taking multiple classes in a field, that relies on calculus.
I was a math major in university. I definitely used calculus quite a bit both in later classes, and on the job after graduating with my degree.
What are your thought on - I’m not sure there’s a college in the country that requires BC.
Taking AB over summer May be rushing through when AB by itself, at least in my opinion, is all that’s needed even for the finest schools.
Your thoughts ?
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I have not heard of any university that requires BC.
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If you want to get into a STEM field you’d need a strong grasp on calculus, so if you study rushed over the summer you might not be able to learn as much as you need !
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I actually made a mistake in my post above. A summer college class (8 weeks) is twice as fast as a college semester (16 weeks). HS Calc AB is 32 weeks, so it would be 4x the pace.
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Yes, do it. If you are applying to competitive schools for a stem field, and precalc was easy for you, i agree u should take calc 1 over the summer and then calc bc in fall. It will put u in the ball park for competitive schools.
yeah, a lot of students actually take BC without taking AB- 8/10ths of BC is actually AB. If OP wanted to take some classes on AB this summer to get a head start and do better in BC I don’t see why not, but if OP doesn’t want to go into STEM, then there’s really no reason to break their back this summer self studying calc AB when they can just take it senior year and be alright : )