Hi - I am trying to parse through hype vs reality in regards to a prospective CS major taking AP Calculus AB instead of BC in senior year. I have read comments suggesting that a calculus course (not further specified) in high school is “highly recommended” and others implying that admissions officers will view AB as “not rigorous” if BC is offered at the applicant’s school. Can anyone with specific admissions experience comment on this please? I recognize that CS is a highly competitive and impacted major but is AB vs BC really a make or break factor? Thanks.
It depends on how selective the colleges (and their CS majors) are. If you are applying to MIT, CMU SCS, etc., then not taking the highest level of math readily available to you may be a demerit to your application. But it will not matter at a less selective school that automatically admits anyone with stats listed on its web site.
As a CS major, you will find calculus as a degree requirement, so choosing BC over AB in high school may fulfill more of that requirement.
1 Like
You might consider applying to at least some colleges at which all majors are open to all students.
Thank you for your reply, I appreciate that you addressed the admissions angle as well as the degree requirement angle. To confirm, student’s goal is not to try to test out of calc requirement in college but it sounds like selective school officers could question rigor even if all other admissions factors are strong. There is a practical scheduling consideration here as AB is one period vs two for BC etc. In any event, thanks again.
Of course, some of these colleges that you are probably referring to are very selective in general, so that a student’s choice not to take the most rigorous option that is readily available may be seen as a demerit to the application.
That could make the rigor comparison (if it matters to the college being applied to) less clear if the choice is between AB + something else versus BC only.
Are you saying for BC Calculus the class meets 2 hours a day, 5 days a week?
If you are applying to a competitive (as in a top 30 CS program), I suspect the choice of AB vs BC will hurt.
1 Like
Yes it is a double period as opposed to a single period.
If the student chooses AB, would the student take an additional course, and what would that additional course be?
Choosing AB + empty period instead of BC could be a demerit at the most selective colleges (or CS majors). Choosing AB + something instead of BC is less clear, depending on what “something” is.
Thanks all for the responses, yes the issue is that in senior year the student will be taking a number of required CS courses, including PLTW Digital Electronics, Web Development, Capstone/Cybersecurity, IT Infrastructure. The student will have completed both AP CS courses in addition to AP Physics 1 (and other non-STEM APs). All of this in additional being a nationally ranked and (by some schools) recruited athlete. But stressed out now that AB instead of BC will derail the whole process, there are only so many hours in the day…
If the student chooses BC, what course would have to be dropped?
A softer AP course such as AP Geo would need to be dropped, but that would mean only two AP courses in senior year as opposed to three.
If it is AB + human geography versus BC, it may depend:
- Has the student taken enough social studies courses?
- Would the choice affect the counselor’s ratings of schedule rigor (“most demanding” or not?) and overall academic strength?
Human geography is not considered that difficult an AP course and test; indeed, it is most commonly taken in ninth grade.
What is the third AP course under consideration?
AP English Lit and an AP Calculus course are a given. Do you think that AP Micro or Macro course would be looked at more favorably than AP Geo? That is an option potentially…
Possibly… although now it is less clear if the actual choices are
- AB + human geography
- AB + economics
- BC
as opposed to the original presented choices of
- AB
- BC
With the actual choices, it may not be that much difference if the counselor’s ratings do not change between them. It could matter whether the student’s previous record has substantial social studies courses, or just the bare minimum.
These are required HS courses? What kind of school/program is this? If a prospective CS major, s/he will take these classes in college. College admissions offices certainly don’t expect students to have taken such courses, but they will want to see solid foundations in math and physics.
Can s/he replace AP Human Geography (a well-known soft course) for AP Physics C? (assuming AP Hum Geo is not needed to graduate, that is.)
2 Likes
The really conceptual CS stuff requires a solid grounding in math. Math, math and math. Web Development in lieu of the most rigorous math class seems like a weak tradeoff IMHO. Human Geo is not a good substitute for more rigorous AP course unless it’s the only social studies offered senior year…
2 Likes
If you are not doing Calc BC at least concurrently, AP Physics C may be challenging.
Yes, I suppose that’s possible. All the more reason to have a solid math foundation.
We see a lot of kids in our HS, who are interested in engineering and CS, taking several of the ‘Technology Education’ courses in engineering, web development/CAD instead of higher level math and physics. I think this does not serve these students well.
2 Likes
Probably one of those high school programs that encourages early specialization in high school, but mostly with courses that are not really good preparation for BA/BS degree study in college. Sometimes, similar programs get mentioned with health care emphases. Some of the courses may be helpful to students who want to determine or confirm their interests in those career paths, but the programs which consume a lot of schedule space by requiring lots of those courses are likely doing at least some of the students a disservice.
Another problem at the high school is that calculus BC requires a double period, consuming schedule space that could be used for other things. Many high schools teach calculus BC (including the AB stuff) in a one year single period course.
3 Likes