<p>I'm quite nervous for BC Calc, which I am taking this year. I have only taken pre-calculus, and I have not experience with calculus at all. Is it possible to do well in BC Calc with this level of knowledge? Also is the class one where if I work hard and do the homework and practice, I can do well?
Thanks!</p>
<p>Some BC classes review AB material, which is what you’ll need, otherwise you’re screwed. The basics behind differentiation and integration are fairly simple (assuming you are not taking an analysis course), but it does take some practice knowing how to differentiate/integrate, use the chain/product/quotient rules correctly, and apply it to various problems. If you are quick learner, you may be fine in BC, otherwise it will be very difficult.</p>
<p>TAKE AB BEFORE BC.</p>
<p>Seriously, you’re shooting yourself in the foot if you go straight to BC. Many fundamental aspects of calculus are taught in the AB course and many you’re expected to simply know once you get to BC. It is imperative that you UNDERSTAND what you’re learning (rather than simply memorizing methods/identities/etc.) and AB is therefore a critical class to take. You’ll regret it if you take BC without AB, I guarantee it (unless you’re a super whiz of a math kid). !!!</p>
<p>It depends on your school. My school teaches Pre Calc Honors so that it covers Calc “A” and everyone goes right from PreCalc to BC; before this site, I didn’t even know people actually took both AB and BC because at my school it’s one or the other. This would probably vary by school and you should be asking a guidance counselor that knows the specific requirements and difficulty level for your school instead of just internet strangers postulating off of their schools</p>
<p>As the others have said, you must have an AB level calc review in order to succeed. AB calc is the foundation of all calculus, and BC applies what you learned in AB and increases the complexity. If there isn’t any sort of review, you’ll have to self-study AB, which I personally wouldn’t recommend (though many people do it and are fine). AB is very conceptual and taking a class will clarify things in a way that reading Barrons just won’t.</p>
<p>Also, are you a rising senior? If you’re not, then I’d just take AB this year and take BC another year. Taking classes beyond BC is not expected and though it does give a boost to your resume, should not be something you feel you have to do.</p>
<p>No, you can do fine in Calc BC without taking AB. I did it and the majority of students at my school do it. The BC exam is calc 1 and 2, while calc AB is calc 1. This means that everything you would have learned in calc AB, you will learn in BC. Usually the first 1/3 to 1/2 of BC is AB material. What some people above are talking about is schools that break apart the calc curriculum so that BC is just calc 2 so they can spend the entire year on that material. However, for those schools, AB is a prerequisite to calc BC. At most schools, that is not the case because that is not how college board designed the curriculum and the exam.</p>
<p>What’s the normal path at your school? If your school typically requires taking AP Calc AB before AP Calc BC, it may be more challenging or they may assume that you have knowledge that you don’t. If your school is fine with you going from pre-calc to AP Calc BC, then they probably cover all of the material needed for the BC exam just at a faster pace than in AP Calc AB. The BC exam also encompasses material from the AB exam (the BC exam even has a subscore for AP Calc AB, so you can see what you would have gotten if you had taken that test), so there’s really no reason to take both classes, unless your school’s AP Calc BC class (for whatever reason) doesn’t include all of the material on the BC exam.</p>
<p>At my school, it was normal for students to go directly from pre-calc to AP Calc BC. I did it and got an A on the class and a 5 on the test, so of course, it’s possible to do well without taking AB first. At my school, the students who went from pre-calc to AB were those who wanted to take a slower paced class, for whatever reason. Very few students went from pre-calc to AB to BC because the students who took AP Calc AB typically did it during their senior year.</p>
<p>If your high school’s BC course is taught at the pace of a college calculus course that assumes that entering students know only precalculus, you should be fine as far as prerequisite knowledge goes (it is a separate issue as to whether you will be ready to handle a college-pace math course or calculus in general). When I was in high school, the high school only offered BC; students who completed precalculus in 11th grade or earlier went into the BC course.</p>
<p>However, if your high school assumes that students take AB one year and BC the next (slow-pace calculus), then going into BC without AB knowledge is not a good idea.</p>
<p>The reason why some answers vary is because they are basing their answers purely on their schools and do not understand that some schools have BC as Calc 1 and 2 and some have it as Calc 2. However, we’re looking at your school, so you need to give us more information. If you honestly don’t know, just try asking the BC teacher. If he/she answers that it’s Calc 1 and 2, you should be fine. If at your school BC is Calc 2, take AB first.</p>
<p>AP Calculus BC includes AB material in it. If your school does not cover Calc AB in their Calc BC class, you would have a hard time to catch up if you jump into Calc BC directly. My D’s school offers both Calc AB and BC classes but the first semester of BC would cover (or review) the Calc AB. My D also took CalcBC directly after pre-calc and she had no problem at all.</p>