<p>I went to school in China at one of the top schools in my city; math was extremely rigorous, so I have very strong mathematics foundation. In China, they don't cover a lot of topics in math, rather, they go extremely idepth. I'm back in the states now, and my school offers math courses up to differential equations. I'm a current sophomore taking pre-calc honors (no need to say how easy it is). I would like to be able to take differential equations senior year and multivariable calculus junior year, but that would mean I'd have to take AP Calculus BC over the summer. I have a strong potential in math, so I'd like to use the resources that are offered to me at my school. </p>
<p>My question is, is it really impossible (for a strong Chinese math student) to take Calculus BC over the summer?
I've heard a lot of people say that you need time to sink in the concepts, that you really need a teacher to force things into you; but still, (with hard work over the summer) would you recommend doing it?</p>
<p>If so, would you suggest taking an online course? Where should I take the online course? Or do you suggest not taking an online course at all? Or a summer school? What books should I buy?</p>
<p>I appreciate all of your suggestions and ideas, thanks a lot.</p>
<p>It depends all on you. If you’re highly self-motivated and put in the hard work / time to learn the material, it’s easily doable. The only drawback with this is that you don’t get any credit for doing it, unless you take an AP exam or some other licensing / coursework-based exam (ie CLEP, EdX, Online Summer School, etc). if you need credit, you should always confirm that the online class or summer course will transfer to the school you need it for. </p>
<p>The only advantage of an online course is that a teacher can be a good resource for support + help keep you on track. It also helps give you credits, which can be useful for verifying that you actually understand the material. </p>
<p>As for textbooks, Princeton Review does an excellent job covering the AP calc BC topics. For textbooks, check on amazon – larson, finney, are all pretty good but there may be better new ones now on the market. </p>
<p>Thanks a lot @Equilibrium !
I might be doing CTY, which my school will accept credits from. The only thing is CTY has two courses for calculus, Calc AB and Calc BC, so I’ll have to take both of them over the summer.</p>
<p>If I finish Calculus, maybe I’ll take the AP exam next year when I’m taking multivariable, although the material won’t be fresh anymore. I guess that is an option. </p>
<p>Thanks again for your suggestions!</p>
<p>hey im from China too! Agree that the pre cal is super easy, I just finished studying singlevariable cal in 1 month by watching free MOOC videos from internet and practice by my own. I even didnt by any textbook. I spend less than 1 hr per day on it and find it not difficult at all. </p>
<p>@DorianZhao Thanks a lot for your input!! Glad to know it was easy for a Chinese student! Will you be getting credit though? Did you finish Calculus BC? What grade are you in now? </p>
<p>Im a sophomore currently. I m not going to take the exam this year because I missed the register deadline. … AP cal BC is essentially singlevariable cal and I think I can get at least 4 if I take the exam now. Anyway, I think study it for 2 months will be enough to get 5 on the exam. </p>
<p>@DorianZhao Sounds good! What will you be taking for math next year in school then? BTW where did you go to school in China?</p>
<p>I’m going to take AP Cal BC (it’s good for my GPA when I studied it already) and linear algebra. I was in Anhui province until last year. Where are you from?</p>