<p>I am currently a Sophomore enrolled in Pre-Calc Honors. I do well in the class (mostly A or A-'s) but I do have to put in the effort. For my junior year, I have the option of taking AP calc BC or AP calc AB. If I were to take AB, I would take BC the following year (my senior year)- and yes, that is allowed in my school. I would rather take BC as I enjoy math and simply because I think I am up to the challenge. So, my questions: is there such a huge gap between AB and BC and do you think BC would be the correct decision given my circumstances? </p>
<p>Also- I am looking to major in computer science, math, or chemistry (can't be really be sure, at this point).</p>
<p>Thank you for any suggestions.</p>
<p>BC covers material at a similar pace that college calculus courses cover it. AB covers it at a slower pace (about 50-60% of the material, so colleges usually give only a semester of placement for AB, versus often a year of placement for BC).</p>
<p>You are two years ahead in math, so this would mean that you are one of the top students in math at your school. Seems difficult to believe that you could not handle BC.</p>
<p>As a general rule, if you can do the work in BC, that’s the way to go. Especially for what you want to major in.</p>
<p>You can take BC, but it helps to know AB material first (continuity, limits, differentiation/integration rules, chain rule, etc.). Obviously, you don’t need a whole year to learn it; you could perhaps pick up a textbook and learn it throughout the summer. Even if the BC course teaches AB, it still helps to at least conceptually know derivatives/integrals.</p>
<p>If you take BC junior year (I did this too), realize that you may have to take AP Stats, or go on to multi-variable calculus/differential equations/linear algebra your senior year. It’s definitely doable, and more fun than AP calculus, but the latter courses are more abstract and may or may not be offered at your school.</p>