<p>Actually, every school who takes AP credit that I have seen does. They equate AB to Calc 1 and BC to Calc 1 and 2. And all rightfully so, they are significantly different classes. So do know that BC gets you a semester difference of credit (assuming a 4 or 5). A few colleges will take the 3 in BC as Calc 1 credit still too. If you have an idea, look at your particular options.</p>
<p>To OP, I think AB would benefit you most here. BC is a ton of work as others said. Our school has the same setup, and often people drop down for work rather than ability. And AB will look fine for colleges. Someone attending Brown for STEM at my school is in AB. If its good for them, it should be fine for you.</p>
<p>Pengsphil: we’re talking here <em>for admission purposes</em>, not for credit. You’re right though, BC is college-paced, so 2 semesters of Calc BC = 2 semesters of college calculus, vs. AB which is college level but high school paced.</p>
<p>I think for applicants of top flight engineering and science programs (HYPS MIT, CalTech et al.) Calc BC is pretty commonplace. My D would have had to accelerate in her school to get to BC and decided not to do it, and I think she was surprised by the number of her peers at other schools who had BC. I don’t think it should change your thinking here–it’s much better to get a good grade in AB than a middling grade in BC. </p>
<p>My son was accepted into a rigorous STEM college program, as a physics major. The director of the program was very clear that they expected their students to have taken Calculus BC, and they look for that in the applications. From reading the previous posts this requirement may not be the norm, but some schools will look for BC vs. AB. </p>
It is not uncommon for a school to run AB/BC as a two year sequence where the second year has a rapid review of AB before delving into the BC topics.</p>
<p>Similarly, while the default length of an AP course is an academic year, I have seen many examples of US History, World History, and Physics C being two-year programs, and of Psych, Statistics, US Gov, Comp Gov, et.al. being semester courses. </p>