<p>I was just reading the post about math courses at everyone schools and I got thinking about what the prerequisites are for AP Calculus BC. I know it's possible to take the exam through independent study at my school, but from what I've heard, you have to take pre-calculus and ap calc ab junior year, and then ap calc bc senior year. Is this how it is at every school? Apparently, I didn't get the memo about this and am only taking pre-calc this year, as a junior, so I'm wondering if I will not be able to take calc bc in the future, which would really bum me out seeing as I want to at least minor in math in college. For those of you who took calc bc, can you say what other courses did you have to complete before taking it, if any... thanks</p>
<p>it varies from school to school. In some schools people take calc ab one year and calc bc the next. At other schools, people decide after pre-calc which ap calc to take, and they differ in how fast they move through the matierial. Some schools offer only ab, and students who want to take the bc exam at the end of the course self-study the extra material.</p>
<p>For my school, the prerequisite for both is precalculus and teacher signature; you can decide whether to go to calc ab or bc</p>
<p>for my school, the prereq for calc bc is an A in honors precalc. otherwise u go to calc ab.</p>
<p>in my school if your on the 'honors track' you take honors pre-calc (as a junior) and then calc bc
otherwise u take reg precalc (as a junior) and then calc ab</p>
<p>It is absolutely unnecessary to take AP Calculus AB and then AP Calculus BC. If your intention is to make a five on the BC exam, then simply take Calculus BC.</p>
<p>Think of it this way. Calculus AB is the equivalent of Calculus I. But, AB takes thirty-six weeks to complete whereas Calculus I takes only eighteen-weeks to complete at a university. What happens in that other eighteen weeks? Calculus II.</p>
<p>And what is Calculus II? The material in Calculus AB subtracted from the material in Calculus BC is Calculus II.</p>
<p>Calculus BC simply moves faster than Calculus AB. The only prerequisite necessary for Calculus is trigonometry.</p>
<p>A = precalc
B = Calc I (first semester)
C = Calc II (second semester)</p>
<p>This is how it was originally designed. AP Calc AB was supposed to review pre-calc for the first half of the year and then move into calculus in the second half. BC Calc is one full year of calc. Of course, no one does it like this anymore, but that is what the letters really mean.</p>
<p>Yeah...well...in actuality...Calculus AB is more like 66% of a full year, while Calculus BC is 100% of that full year. I took Calculus AB at my school, and we basically covered the first 6 chapters of the book. Deciding to take BC that same year, I self-studied the extra chapters 7, 8 and 11 and was able to score a 5.</p>
<p>My school only offers up to Calc AB with a full year or precalc prior to the course. We tried to get the school to support a BC program, but they blamed it on the budget. So now we're just stuck in AB. >_<</p>
<p>My school offer BC and AB. You need to take precal honors in advance. Also you need a teacher's recommendation. The teacher decides for you whether you take AB or BC. i'm a junior and i am taking BC this year. But i didn't take AB before taking BC</p>