My high school Calculus teacher thinks it would be a good idea for me to take Calculus II and Calculus III at the local community college for next year rather than taking AP Calc BC. I’ve already taken AP Stats, and am currently taking AP Calc AB. What I’m wondering is if it’s worth it to take Calculus at the community college. If I take it at the community college, I get to take Calculus II and Calculus III, yearlong. However, it’s community college calculus, and I’m worried admissions officers won’t see it as very important. If I choose to take Calc BC at high school, I free up another semester and get AP credit.
My main concern here would be college admissions, obviously. I don’t really care that much about how much Calculus I take, it’s just an easy subject, so I have some options here. I’m applying to a couple state schools, and three or four Ivy Leagues, with the Ivies being my main goal. If that’s relevant. So should I take Calc II and III at community college or just take Calc BC?
How much do you care about transfer credit? Will the schools you're interested in accept AP credit? What about community college credit? (If necessary, you could take the AP exam after taking the community college classes.) If they don't give you credit automatically, would you be able to get credit by taking an exam?
Would it be logistically difficult to take classes at the community college? Would it prevent you from taking certain classes or participating in certain ECs at your high school?
If you're concerned that the community college isn't rigorous, is there a university nearby where you could take tuition-free classes?
Are you interested in learning more math or are you only concerned with college admissions? Do you have any majors in mind right now?
Does AP Calculus BC last all year, or just the fall semester? If it's the latter, you might be able to take AP Calculus BC in the fall and Calculus III in the spring.
Calc BC is Calc I and II so you would not be learning anything new in the first half of the class since you’re already taking AB. Taking CC classes allows you to take Calc III so you would end up at a higher level, therefore looks IMO.
State schools are more likely to grant more credit for CC classes (esp if in-state) so can save you time and money.
If needed you can always take the BC exam after taking the CC classes.
Ivy’s won’t grant credit for either but they will see that you are at a higher level by the time you graduate.
However, the difficulty of getting to the class is a factor. Will you have to go to a CC to take the classes or are they offered in your HS? Will having to go to the CC take time away from other ECs?
Taking Calc II and III wouldn’t take any time away for ECs, or classes in general. I would drive there in the mornings at 8AM, take the class, and drive to high school in time for my second period. And the community college is right down the road, so no real harm in this. If I didn’t take Calc II and III, I would simply take Calc BC and another AP, probably HuG, so it won’t affect my GPA if I don’t take it.
The main thing here would be admissions. I don’t have a particular draw or anything towards taking Calc II and III in high school, it’s just math has always been easy for me, and this looks like a neat opportunity. Problem is, I’ve heard some conflicting opinions as far as admissions go. Mainly for my reach schools. Just for a little background, I’ve got my safeties and midrange schools lined up, and I don’t think this will affect them much. But my reach schools (Harvard, Princeton, Yale) might think otherwise.
So with that in mind, would these top schools look differently at the application if I took Calc II and III? Would it change anything? I don’t really care about the credit, especially if I were to get into HYP, but how would it affect me admissions wise?
I don’t think it will matter a ton either way in terms of admissions as long as your GC will check that you have taken the most rigorous schedule available at the HS.
Most Ivy League schools give credit or advanced placement for AP Calculus BC. You can look up policies [url=<a href=“https://apstudent.collegeboard.org/creditandplacement/search-credit-policies%5Dhere%5B/url”>https://apstudent.collegeboard.org/creditandplacement/search-credit-policies]here[/url].
Math doesn’t stay easy, but the point where it becomes difficult varies from person to person. Calculus III is similar in style to Calculus I and II, so I don’t know if it’s common for people to struggle there when they didn’t before, but it’s something to keep in mind.
Ultimately, I don’t think it matters too much which option you choose. Selective colleges wouldn’t look at your schedule and think you were trying to slack off by taking community college classes instead of an AP class. Most applicants don’t take Calculus III, and it shows initiative even if it wasn’t at a great college.
Not that I get attached to the first article I read or anything, but I thought it was interesting that they included the “or even courses at the local Community College (which is actually a terrible idea)”
She’s probably referring to high school students who take community college classes when AP equivalents are available at their high school. In this case, it’s better to take the AP classes because they’re more standardized. In your case, you’re taking a class that isn’t available at your high school.
Another thing to note is that your grades from the community college will follow you after high school. This is because many programs (e.g. graduate schools) will ask you to submit transcripts from every college you’ve attended.