<p>If BC is available and she takes AB instead, would her course selection still rate as “most rigorous”? Anything less than most rigorous will hurt her chances for admission at a top school.</p>
<p>The pace and amount of work in BC are going to impact her stress level and amount of time available for other classes. If you have a question that it’s not the best class (and it appears that her school is telling you this) don’t put her in that position! The Jr year is an absolute beast. I am not saying avoid hard classes, far from it. This is the time to devote efforts to AP core classes that she enjoys and is strong in. Calc AB is not going to hurt her in top admissions…not even for an e’school applicant. Don’t get caught up in making every single decision based on top college admissions. Make the decision based on what is best for her academically. Given the information you presented, I think the answer is pretty clear.</p>
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<p>Since she is going to be a premed and has 2 years to take math she should take Calculus AB in junior year and Calc BC or AP Stat in senior year.</p>
<p>It is always better to have strong A and a score of 5 in AP courses in junior year for top colleges. The AP scores of senior year won’t be visible to colleges anyway.</p>
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<p>A student two years ahead of the normal sequence in math and doing well should be capable of handling Calculus BC. However, if the student does not really like math that much, or finds it more difficult than other courses (perhaps because the student was “pushed” ahead, rather than went ahead due to “natural” ability and interest), then the decision can be different.</p>
<p>Of course, “sandbagging” by taking AB one year and then BC the next year (repeating the AB stuff before getting to the additional stuff in BC) would be like practice for the all-too-common pre-med practice of repeating already taken material to get high grades for medical school admissions instead of taking more advanced courses (e.g. retaking freshman calculus after a 5 on Calculus BC instead of taking more advanced math courses). Medical schools have a reputation of not caring about the rigor of one’s course schedule beyond the minimum pre-med requirements, as well as not accepting AP credit, which effectively encourages this practice.</p>
<p>At D’s High School the path for kids that are following an accelerated track is AP Cal AB Junior Year and AP Cal BC Senior Year. Most piggy back AP Stats with one of those. The school teaches both Cals as full year courses and believe in the solid foundation they bring. There are a dozen of top admissions each year so it does not seem to be an issue with student transcripts. Mastery of the material and producing on the test is what should matter. This is a public school, so I can’t say if it matters. But pushing a “non-math” kid to take BC at all, just because “it looks good” is misguided. OP, I hope you realize top school admissions are very lottery based and every kiddo that applies pretty much has self selected before they even applied. The colleges can pick and choose and there is no rhyme or reason. Make sure your D has a solid safety that SHE LOVES and you can live with.</p>
<p>Take Calc AB. Her schedule will be demanding, she needs time for all other courses as well. It’s worked for many students at D’s school, with admission to top colleges. You don’t want one class taking up all the student’s time, energy and efforts.</p>
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<p>Unless they are adding a lot of extra theory to the courses, the students who are two years ahead in math(reaching calculus in junior year) are likely to be bored by the slow pace of the calculus courses (half the speed of a typical university freshman calculus course, taught to students who are not ahead in math).</p>
<p>Of course, it could be that way at that school because most of the two years ahead in math students were “pushed” ahead (perhaps like the student in the original post?), rather than went ahead because they found regular or one year ahead math too easy and boring. When I was in high school, two years ahead in math students occurred rarely (perhaps once every few years); they and the one year ahead in math students took a calculus course following the BC syllabus in one year (and many got scores of 5 on the AP test).</p>
<p>Junior year is so stressful; even kids who have not had any difficulties so far can get burned out and resentful if they’re stretched out too much. If she were gung ho about BC, fine, take it–but if she’s already ambivalent about math, having concepts flung at her fast and furious might tip her into hating it. Feeling lost in an advanced class is a recipe for giving up too soon, I think; for many people math is a means to an end, not necessarily enjoyable for its own sake, and they take it like medicine. If it’s too nasty, they’ll reject it altogether. If the learning curve is too steep, they’ll assume it can’t be done at all, not that another approach would get them to the top just as well.</p>
<p>I had trouble in pre calc but got straight A’s in BC Calc. It’s not determinant. Our BC calc is a single year and infamous for it’s difficulty. Pre calc and calc are infinitely (lol) different</p>