I’m taking the AP calculus AB class, and I’ve got an A in it. Looking at the syllabus of both the exams, it seems that there’s not much more on the advanced exam (just 2 chapters of my book in addition). Do you think I can self teach those chapters and take the BC exam even without being in the class? Or it is much more difficult and it would be too time consuming?
It’s definitely doable, but BC is difficult if you don’t have good preparation in pre-calculus and AB topics. A lot of topics normally covered in pre-calc (polar and spherical coordinates, vectors and vector-valued functions, sequences/series) don’t appear in AB but show up in BC.
However if you are well-prepared, BC should be easy.
Ok, that was helpful! Are the ones you stated all the precalculus topics that show up in BC but not in AB?
I just figured out that my class will finish the AB program right before the test. So when do you suggest me to study the supplemental material? Do I have to wait until the end of all the other topics or I can study the BC part before, after a certain point?
You should definitely study for the BC test if you’re doing really well in the AB class. The AB test is not very useful in getting college credit, so it’s really important to take the BC test before you graduate. As far as I know, the additional two chapters are not that bad, and you should start studying them right away. I believe the polar and spherical coordinates, vectors, and some other stuff does show up in the BC test, but I’m not sure.