I am a junior in the AB class in school, but I have self studied the BC material and I am prepping to take the exam. I was able to find a place to take the exam at a nearby school since my school refused to let me take the BC exam in my own school. I was then told I wouldn’t be allowed to graduate unless I took the AB exam in school, and I am trying to reason with them to find a way where I can have my cake and eat it too, but it isn’t looking very likely. If I end up having only taken the AB exam by the end of junior year (I also may not be able to take AP Calculus BC as a senior), will it matter to colleges? Will it make a difference to colleges if I have an AP Calculus BC score? Keeping in mind that by the end of junior year in my school, nearly every student will have earned a 4 or 5 on AP Calculus BC.
Thank you very much!
If you take the BC exam, you will get an AB score as well."
Thank you for your response! I am aware of that, but my dilemma is that if I do not take the AB exam in school, I cannot graduate. I would like to know if it will make a difference to colleges if I am unable to take AP Calculus BC.
That makes no sense (to me) why you would need to take the test at your school as opposed to somewhere else. If you signed up late or for any reason quite frankly, you have the right to take the test at another location, if that location will allow you. It’s the same test. What would happen to those people who decide not to take test at all? Would they not graduate either?
It makes no sense to me either, but my school is very AP based private school and teachers get bonuses depending on their students’ AP scores, so they make a lot of strange rules and regulations. I also think I have the right to take the AP elsewhere, but they are barring me from graduation if I choose to not take the AB exam in school.
Involve your parents. They are paying for a private school and won’t be happy if you’re not allowed to graduate from it in 2020 because a year prior you took a test elsewhere.
You can also argue the fact that if you pass the AB section it’ll still count as an AP pass for your teacher and your school.
That being said, your teachers are probably worried you won’t pass BC since you’ve been taking AB at the school, and that it’ll look bad for them.
Can you take both the AB at your school and the BC test elsewhere?
For college, getting to precalc is the “normal” math progression. Getting to AP Calc AB is advanced, and BC is really advanced. Almost all colleges assume you would start with Calc 1 in the curriculum.
Most likely by taking the class, not by self studying. As @MYOS1634 says, the school is likely concerned that you will hurt their stats.
It’s unlikely that this is enforceable. What they can do, and many schools do, is strip the AP designation (and corresponding weight) from your transcript and/or impact your final grade in the class.
Why not? What math class are you planning on taking?
College Board rules prohibit taking the AB and BC exams in the same year due, inpart, to overlap in the test questions.
That’s one option. But there are some things that are just not worth fighting about. If the OP had given a compelling reason, that would be different, but s/he hasn’t.
Absent a compelling reason, just take the AB exam and take BC next year. Colleges are not going to give you double brownie points for taking BC as a senior.
Thank you for your help everyone! I was unable to find a way around this, so I will be taking the AB exam this year and BC next year as a senior (along with either linear algebra or another math). And the exams I take out of school do not affect my school’s stats, so that isn’t what they’re worried about. Thank you so much! (I am new to CC so I don’t know how to end or close threads I’ll try to figure that out)