BC Calculus verses DE Calc through Diff Eq

Colleges and Universities A-Z Georgia Institute of Technology
1

I will be attending Louisiana School for Math Science and the Arts next year and they offer many great math programs. I am looking for some feedback on possible schedules. If I take the first option I receive duel enrollment Calculus I and II as well as exposure to multi-variable equations. If I take BC Calculus I will take the AP exam. Which would Georgia Tech find more favorable? (listed by semester starting 1st semester of junior year) (Duel enrollment through University of Louisiana in Monroe) (I am looking to Major in Biomedical Engineering Pre-med)
Option 1:
J1: Precalc and trig
J2: Calculus I
S1: Calculus 2
S2: Calculus 3 & Diff Eq

Option 2:
J1: Precalc and trig
J2: Calculus 1
S1 & S2: BC Calculus

Thanks for the Feedback!

2

Hey! I went to Dutchtown and am now in school in Boston. Almost went to LSMSA, but preferred staying at home.
Great to see another Louisiana on here.

Anyways, to your schedule. Frankly, I do not think universities will care very much about the difference between the two schedules. They’ll both be high-level maths, so the difference will be minuscule.

Personally, I’d go with the BC option if you want to go into an engineering. Since you’ll be doing a lot of math as an undergraduate, that solid background will help. Dif eq is super fun, but takes a little bit of a tangent away from calculus fundamentals.

Good luck!

3

Are you doing calculus to get credit hours, or are you doing it to challenge yourself/get experience before college? If you’re going for the credit hours, make sure that GT would accept your credits. If you’re just wanting the experience, go with the more rigorous option because colleges often judge how rigorous your schedule was based on what was available at your high school. However, consider what other advanced classes you want to take - you want your schedule to be rigorous, but not too rigorous!

It seems like the dual enrollment is better because it would cover more in-depth material, but it also depends on the quality of the class. And if you’re not trying to get credit, then you’ll know more before starting GT calculus. (That will make your first, and possibly second, calculus class(es) a bit easier your first year.