My DD has average grade in Precalculus honors about 92%. School mentioned she should have 95% for AP calculus BC. So they offered her AP calculus AB instead. We try to override however they denied our request. I am sure she can handle BC in senior year as in Junior she is taking 3 science course( 2 AP and 1 honors) so far have A grade average on all three. Still school is not ready to override her request.
Is it okay if she take AP calculus AB? we are thinking to apply to John Hopkins, CMU, MIT, Upenn , Duke and Cornell to engineering school
BC is good to take.
BC, when offered, is the better option, particularly for top colleges.
Personally, I would try for an override. A 95 cut-off seems high, unless BC is capped at X students and X students have a 95+ in honors precalc.
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92% vs 95% seems like a lot of hair-splitting to me… I would try your best to get into BC–if anything, she’ll learn more great material!
BC is the better option. With a 92, I don’t think I’d be pushing for BC, however. That’s not a super high grade in Pre-Calc esp since BC is much more difficult. Your school might have a higher/lower bar than others. My kids school required had an emphasis on the last 3 tests which had to be 95 or higher no exceptions ( intro to calc material). Grade for the year had to also be an A.
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Ask if the school has a placement test that can prove she’s ready. My son did that to skip AB going into Junior year after getting an A- in pre-calc. They said no several times until they said yes (he was persistent – it was all him, we never intervened). He self-studied over the summer, took the test late summer and passed. The test existed for kids who took a summer intensive class to level up but he just took it without the class (which is the part that took convincing).
BC is the better option, but it really doesn’t matter. Almost every engineering curriculum in the nation is built with the assumption that an entering student will have taken NO calculus. It’s FAR more important that she take the class where she will develop the firmest command of the material than the decision of AB vs BC.
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Is the high school rationing spaces in BC? My old high school only requires a B in honors precalculus or an A in regular precalculus to take either AB or BC.
Yes, for admission to super-selective colleges, it is better to have BC (and do well in it, of course).
In college (any college for engineering), BC could give up to a semester more advanced placement in math, freeing up space for another free elective in college. However, advanced placement from AB can still be advantageous for an engineering major is terms of prerequisite sequencing (e.g. can start the physics sequence in first semester instead of second semester at many colleges). Either is above the minimum math for studying engineering (minimum math is readiness to take calculus 1 in first semester of college).
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Just curious how did he do in BC?
LOL. I don’t think they ration. What they do at our school is make sure the pace isn’t slowed by having two tiers of students. IF students have done extremely well in Pre-Calc they are assumed to do the same in BC.
( Not always the case ). Some schools send the slower kids/those with lower grade to AB Calc. It’s still a fine course but a bit easier.
I think these courses are AP at many schools.
Can we let the OP answer the very valid question please? What your school does matters not.
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A every quarter. Doing Multivariable Calc and Linear Algebra senior year.
I think a valid question is whether or not a student struggling (at least according to their high school’s perception) in pre-calc is a good fit for these programs, especially CMU and MIT.
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Is an A-/92% really “struggling”? ; )
I think the bigger issue is that this is a list of very competitive schools and even with BC calc on the resume, they are still reaches.
The family and student should be diving into finding match and safety schools in addition to the reaches.
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My daughter’s hardest math class in high school was honors precalc. It was also the most important for her developing sound mathematical reasoning. I think she also had an A- in the class but I don’t remember. She followed that with Calc BC and multivariable Calculus with no bother.
Calc BC is faster paced than Calc AB. I’m curious why they would make the cut off at 95%. Seems steep particularly if the honors precalc course is rigorous. Can your daughter talk to her current math teacher and see if they would recommend her for the BC path? At our school the teacher’s recommendation trumps all else.
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“I think a valid question is whether or not a student struggling (at least according to their high school’s perception) in pre-calc is a good fit for these programs, especially CMU and MIT.””
That was my first thought as well—if , compared to the other precalc kids, your kid is not as successful, then it may be a big signal you are over-reaching. On the other hand, if for some reason the BC cutoff is due to rationing/limited spots, and it just means your kid is not in the top quarter of students, and that top quarter routinely gains acceptance to CMU, MIT, GTech engineering, etc…then I am less inclined to be concerned that the 92 signifies math weakness.
While it may seem silly to even suggest 92 is somehow weak, 95 is about an average grade in honors math at a school across town, all the way through calc, yet their AP calc pass rates are dismal . More information is needed from the OP I think.
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I agree 100%, but her school is sort of telling her such. Pre-Calc is the crux class in the sequence though. She may very well do fine. And, as you said, they’re all reaches for anyone anyway.
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I hear you, and it would be helpful if the OP would post if this is a situation where the school is capping the class and at what number. Not being in the top tier of one’s HS math cohort could raise flags for the uber competitive colleges.
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And, as you well know, math has to sort of flow through the veins of an engineer no matter where they go to school.
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Does anyone’s school require Calc AB before BC? We are on the block system, and the school has Calc AB the first half of the hear, then Calc BC in the second half. I haven’t heard at this school of any path skipping directly to BC.
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Our school has two paths, you either take AB or BC in one year, my S21 took AB but I am guessing that the BC class covers the AB material first.
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