<p>Hey guys</p>
<p>So I have a question about a plan I thought of to get credit for the AB subscore part of the BC Calc Exam. </p>
<p>I signed up for the BC exam while enrolled in an AB course thinking that I would self-study the BC material so I could get more college credit. The thing is, I've been kinda lazy and I haven't learned the BC material well enough to get the 5 I need to get credit at the college I'm going to.</p>
<p>However, I have a decent but a little shaky grip on the AB material, I am getting ~65% of the AB questions right on the BC exam, a borderline 5 on the subscore (5 is credit at my college).</p>
<p>So my little scheme would be to completely skip any question that is BC material (I know the material well enough to recognize concepts but not to actually solve the problems for the most part) so I could devote a lot more time to the AB material and boost my subscore while completely blowing off the BC part.</p>
<p>Do you think this is a good idea or should I try to speak with my guidance counselor to try to switch to the AB exam at the last minute?</p>
<p>Thanks</p>
<p>I wouldn’t do it. First off, most colleges don’t give credit for AB subscore. For example if you get an AB subscore of 5 but a BC score of 2, you probably won’t get any credit.</p>
<p>You should either take the AB exam, or try to do the BC questions (i.e. don’t skip them).</p>
<p>I think your strategy is good and is actually pretty common because the AB questions are easier than the BC ones in my opinion. At the end though, do try or guess on the BC questions if you have time.</p>
<p>If you’re going to college this fall go check if the college(s) you are going to / waitlisted for accept the AB subscore for course credit. Otherwise you should just take the AB exam. But even getting a 3 in BC is good.</p>
<p>“First off, most colleges don’t give credit for AB subscore”</p>
<p>To rspence: the college I’m going to this fall, Notre Dame, does take credit for a 5 subscore so thats not an issue.</p>
<p>I would at least bubble in something for the BC MC.</p>
<p>The biggest concern I would have is that if you run into one of the topics you struggle with a bunch on the BC test, it’s going to have a larger impact on your AB subscore than it would on your overall AB score. You screw up a separable differential equations question on the AB test, you lose your nine points, and you might still be able to scrape a 5 if you do well enough on the other questions. It’s a lot harder to survive a nine-point “whoops” for the AB subscore if the same thing happens on the BC test… or if you think you know it’s a BC question and it isn’t (i.e. it looks like integration by parts, but it’s really a u-substitution question).</p>
<p>I’d probably switch to the AB exam. If you’re confident you can get 65% of the AB questions on a BC exam, it should be easier to get 65% on the actual AB exam (more “easy” questions to choose from). That being said, I don’t know if you can switch this late.</p>
<p>Honestly you could probably learn at least 3/4, if not all the BC material by test day. Its really not that much more.</p>
<p>^but that’s useless b/c I won’t get any credit unless I get a 5 on either. That’s why the plan is to throw all my eggs into the AB subscore basket</p>