AP Calculus AB or BC?

<p>Which should I take? </p>

<p>I will be a senior, and I got very good grades (Almost all A's) in Pre-Calculus, and finished with an A on my transcript. My pre-calc teacher recommended BC, but after talking with my counselor and the calculus teacher, I panicked a bit and dropped my schedule down to AB. However, after further conversation with the calculus teacher and the summer to think it over, I'm now unsure if I made the right choice.</p>

<p>I really like math, but I'm not planning on a STEM major (probably Spanish and business/marketing of some sort). Most schools I've looked at don't require anything past Calculus I for non-STEM majors, so I don't really NEED to take BC. I wouldn't be averse to taking another math class in college, but realistically I would probably have too many other required classes to want to bother fitting it in my schedule.</p>

<p>I guess I'm just worried that if I go with AB, I'll regret not taking the harder class when I could. I know it's a lot of work, but I won't be working at my job after the first week or so of school, and I do have a year-round study hall.</p>

<p>What would you all recommend?</p>

<p>My Pre-Calc teacher said that Pre-Calc is harder than Calc BC because of the amount of material they cover in Pre-Calc. While I didn’t think Pre-Calc was too hard, I think you’ll be fine in BC. Most of the kids in my school who got an A in Pre-Calc (including me) went straight to BC too.</p>

<p>Id go straight to BC.</p>

<p>I’d say play it safe and go AB. Gives you more time to focus on your college apps/ECs and other classes. If you really want to be challenged in math then join the Math Team.</p>

<p>I took AB under the premise of what QuadMaster said :</p>

<p>BC is going to be more fast paced due to more material to learn. The material that’s in BC and not AB is not very difficult. So I guess it comes down to if you like a slow paced class or fast paced. </p>

<p>bc</p>

<p>BC - don’t be A B*tch, Be Cool.</p>

<p>Would BC be with your school or an online program? If it’s in your school, try asking other students who went straight to BC how they thought it was like. If it’s a class that is meant to have a lot of kids that are skipping AB then it will differ than a class that only has like one or two people skipping into it. If it’s the latter situation, take AB because BC is pretty much a continuation of AB. If it’s the former, then I would go for it.</p>

<p>AB and BC at my school are meant to be a one or the other situation. 99% of the time the students are seniors who come out of Honors (or “Accelerated”) Pre-Calc, which is the class I took. Most students have said that BC is the way to go, but that it is a lot of work. Really only one said AB, but I know that he was also in AP Physics and AP Econ at the same time and was in general really busy, so I think that was his reasoning. </p>

<p>I’m thinking I might just take the plunge and go BC, but the point about having time for scholarships/college apps/ECs is good one. I just think that if I really have trouble with it, I can drop back to AB; it would be pretty painless since it’s the same teacher.</p>

<p>Thanks for all the comments, everyone.</p>

<p>As long as the change doesn’t show on the transcript I’d say you made the right choice.</p>