<p>I am interesting in majoring in a math intensive physics field, but unfortunately my school doesn't offer AP Calc BC. </p>
<p>I am currently a sophomore, taking Alg 2/ Trig, and will take AP Calc AB my senior year. I considered taking PreCalc over the summer, but since there is no other calculus class, I would have to take AP Stat for senior math. Since calculus is important to me, I didn't want a gap year. </p>
<p>A lot of kids on this forum seem to take both, and take Calculus way before senior year. Does taking only one AP Math so late in my high school career put me at a disadvantage?</p>
<p>You won’t be at a disadvantage for not taking courses your school doesn’t offer. Different applicants have different opportunities available to them, and colleges will take this into account.
However, you could self-study Calculus BC and/or take dual-enrollment math courses at a local college. My school doesn’t have any kind of AP math, so this is what I did.</p>
<p>Take AP Calculus AB and selfstudy the C part.</p>
<p>Yes, but can I take both exams senior year?</p>
<p>Is if ok to take Calc AB during the normal testing schedule and take the Calc BC exam during the late testing schedule? Is this allowed?</p>
<p>No. You can only take one Calculus exam per year.</p>
<p>BC is the most important AP test you can get when it comes to physics and even more so when it comes to engineering.–I recommend that you take it and get an AB subscore (to start at Calc II if not III) even if you don’t master the BC parts, which actually aren’t that hard.</p>
<p>Reason being: A lot of the time without a single AP math test (its worse if you have APs that cover most of your GEs) in such a major you might be stuck with GE’s for the entire freshman year because every single class you have to take requires applied math, and generally at the BC level (taylor series are important etc), not the AB level. With BC you can jump right into differential equations, possibly Calc based mechanics, etc which are prerequisites themselves for a bunch. Calc AB is for the Biologists / less math intensive majors… :)</p>
<p>Take CLEP for Calculus </p>
<p>Then BC for your AP test</p>
<p>I’m in the same situation. I took Calc AB junior year, and I will take Calc2/Calc 3 at a local LAC my senior year.</p>
<p>Wait, why on earth would you want to take both exams? If you are confident with BC material, you only need to take AP Calculus BC. BC = AB + some additional topics.</p>
<p>CLEP is a test for college credit and is done by the college board</p>
<p>Does your school offer online classes?</p>