BC Calculus: to take or not to take

Hello!

I am a rising junior who is currently taking a summer course for precalculus at my school. My school offers the option of taking these semester or full year courses over the summer to get ahead or free up course slots next year.

Unfortunately, I haven’t been performing as well as I would like to in the class and I think I will only be able to end with a B/possibly a B+.

I was originally scheduled to take BC Calculus in the following year, but won’t be able to do so if I choose to drop the course right now to avoid a bad grade.

I didn’t do very well my freshman year but I’ve shown an upward trend throughout my sophomore year, which I really don’t want to ruin.

Would it be better for me to take the B/B+ in precalculus but be able to take BC Calc next year? Or would it just be better that I drop the course now?

Thank you and please let me know.

If you drop the summer precalculus, and take precalc your junior year, you would still be able to take Calc BC your senior year, correct?
Calc BC proceeds very fast, and so I think if you’re not doing well in precalc, you may have even bigger struggles in Calc. Precalc in junior year is on track anyway, so it’s not like you’re behind or anything.

But I think you should talk this over with your summer session teacher and GC (if possible) and get their feedback.

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Does your school offer a track where you could take AB junior year, then BC senior year?

What would appear on your transcript if you drop the course?

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Maybe it’s just me but a “B” is NOT a bad grade even for precalc… The summer courses go faster. I would continue on and take bc or ab then bc for your math track. What would be your senior year math option if you take BC now?

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You may want to check your knowledge and perhaps find out what you need to review with these quizzes:

http://www.math.buffalo.edu/rur_index.html

“Are you ready for college algebra?” should estimate how well prepared you are for precalculus (“college algebra” usually means precalculus without trigonometry).

“Are you ready for calculus 1?” should estimate how well prepared you are for calculus (should be tried as you are completing the precalculus course).

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I would focus more on mastery of the material and confidence/preparation for calculus rather than what it looks like on a transcript. Ultimately, you want to know calculus so well that you can use it with ease.

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