I posted earlier this year asking for my advice and what calculus i should go into. I just decided to take calculus honors and go into AP next year. However, I’m not sure if i should go AB or BC. I want to go into BC because of the rigor and recognition you’ll get by colleges, but I’m not sure if it’s normal to go form honors to BC. I have friends who are taking AB now and are getting C’s(i’m talking top ten out of our 700 student class), so I can just imagine what I would get in BC. Here’s another thing: I’ve been spending the last year taking online ap classes and dual enrollment classes to bring my rank up and I’m finally where i want to be( 22/700) and i don’t want my grade in bc to hinder it. What should I do? Thanks in advance.
Take BC. It’s high school. No class is going to be especially difficult. With the internet, infinitude of knowledge at your fingertips, there really isn’t any excuse to not do reasonably well. Challenge yourself, and, who knows, it might prove easier than expected.
Definitely BC. Most people just go straight from pre-calc to a AP Calculus course w/o any sort of honors calc. If you have some sort of foundation already, definitely go for BC. However, assuming that BC covers both AB and BC, then there is one possible exception. If BC takes twice the periods as AB (at my school AB is every other day, AB/BC is daily), then you might want to take AB to make room for another class. If the BC course does not cover AB content, then talk to your counselor and see if honors calc has covered the necessary content for BC.
Thanks for the advice guys
It looks like you are in 11th grade, taking calculus – i.e. 2 grade levels ahead in math. That implies that you are one of the top students in math.
It also looks like you are taking a “calculus lite” (i.e. less rigorous than calculus AB) course. This is odd. When I was in high school, it is typical for students 1 grade level ahead in math to go directly from precalculus to calculus BC, while the rare students 2 grade levels ahead in math did the same, finding calculus BC to be an easy A in the class and easy 5 on the AP test.
So it seems like you should not worry about calculus BC being too difficult, especially after taking a “calculus lite” course as a preview. The only cause for concern would be if your high school starts calculus BC where calculus AB leaves off, so that your “calculus lite” course does not take you to that starting point. But that would mean that your high school’s calculus courses are slow paced, so that you may be able to self-study to catch up if you take calculus BC.
Note that a one year calculus BC course starting from completion of precalculus (i.e. inclusive of calculus AB) approximates a year long college calculus course. Calculus AB is slower paced. Whatever your “calculus lite” course is may be even slower paced, or like a shallower “calculus for business majors” course.
My D took Calculus AB & BC in her junior year. Her school is on block scheduling.