Do colleges look down on taking both AB and BC?

[ucbalumnus]

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@Hunt

It seems to me that what’s goofy about this is that the existence of AB and BC does not accommodate people who would benefit from taking calculus over two years, unless the school deviates from the CB curriculum. It doesn’t make much sense (to me) to have people in the same BC class who have come directly from precalc with those who have taken AB.

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<p>But does it make sense at all to have any students do the two year AB-BC sequence?</p>

<p>Students in the position of being able to do so are the top students in math (two grade levels ahead). So they should be able to handle BC over one year. When I went to high school, it was never a question that a student two grade levels ahead in math would go to BC, get an easy A in the course, and get an easy 5 on the AP test.</p>

<p>A slower paced introduction to calculus (i.e. AB) would be appropriate for those who are good but not great in math (one grade level ahead at most) and not confident enough in their math ability to take calculus at college pace. Such students would take AB as seniors in high school, so the question about mixing them with other BC students the next year is not relevant. (Of course, if they really don’t want to take calculus, they can stop after precalculus, or take statistics.)</p>