<p>Does anybody know exactly how AP Calculus AB and BC line up with college Calculus I and II? Is AB like Calculus I and BC like Calculus II, or is there an overlap? I'm confused because Calc I in college takes only a semester, while AB takes a year in high school, but I guess that could just be because of the audience. Anybody?</p>
<p>I think it depends on the college. At some colleges, a first-year calculus class could cover Calc BC in one semester, while at school they cover it in a year. At my school, we only have calc ab, and it's a joke. we have an entire year (on block schedule i might add) and we move so slowly. At top colleges, students in these classes are assumed to be smart enough to handle it; and besides, college is supposed to be harder. Now, don't get me wrong, AP class difficulty varies not because of what is taught, but because of how much each teacher requires (homework, projects, etc). A community college calculus class may very well be easier (sometimes).</p>
<p>Oh and by the way, AP Calc BC is overlapped with AB...it covers the same thing, plus like 2 more chapters.</p>
<p>Generally, Calc AB is Calc I and II, and Calc BC is Calc I, II, and III.</p>
<p>However, I've found that my college Calc I/II are a lot more involved than AP Calc was in high school.</p>
<p>No, AP Calculus AB is Calculus I. AP Calculus BC is Calculus I & II.</p>
<p>Almost all AP classes would only be a semester in college, by the way.</p>
<p>"Almost all AP classes would only be a semester in college, by the way."
Not true at all.</p>
<p>My local community college offers calc courses levels A, B, C, D, etc., similar to the high school AB and BC options. Why do you think they do that?</p>
<p>"Not true at all."</p>
<p>Really? Which ones wouldn't?</p>
<p>Physics here is 2 semesters, but the equivalent of Calc BC is one. The introductory computer science course is one semester, too. I have no idea about humanities courses.</p>
<p>I think Calc II is usually more focused on the BC part (series, polar coordinates, etc.). Calc III is multivariable calculus. Of course, I just got this from 5 minutes with Google, and obviously it varies from school to school, so you probably shouldn't take that too seriously.</p>
<p>Also at many schools Chem, Physics, and Bio are a full year.</p>
<p>I took AP Calc AB because I was afraid that jumping into Calc III in college would be pretty hard. This way I take Calc II in college and have a stronger foundation for III.</p>
<p>AP U.S. History covers two semesters of college courses in one year of high school. In a college, U.S. History is usually divided into two parts-history before 1877 and history after 1877. In APUSH, you cover pre-Columbian times all the way up to the 1990s.</p>
<p>At UC Davis it's as follows (quarter system)
math 21a - derivatives
math 21b - integrals
math 21c - partial differentials, 3D stuff
math 21d - vector stuff
So AP Calc AB is about equal to math 21a&b, and Calc BC is equal to B&C.. there is some overlap. AB does basic integrals, BC does tougher integrals.</p>
<p>According to my school's course selection guide, Calc BC "covers the content of three quarters (or two semesters) of a college calculus curriculum."</p>
<p>I think it differs too, my school only offers AB, but they go through diff & integrals. The only difference is, we don't go as far in the book (Larson's), but we have like 40 problems for each section.</p>
<p>AP Calculus AB covers derivatives and integrals.
AP Calculus BC covers derivatives, integrals, and a little more.
Calc 1 covers derivatives.
Calc 2 covers integrals.</p>
<p>So though you learn Calc 1&2 in Calc AB, colleges only give credit for Calc 1.</p>
<p>my AB calc teacher says that we (the class) should take Calc I in college even though the college may give credit for Calc I. He said that AP Calc AB is only a foundation for Calc and may not prep us well to take Calc II (of a particular school)</p>
<p>I guess it varies from university to university...the local one has things like Bio and US History in one semester...</p>