<p>I'm a HS junior right now, and we're scheduling for next year. My career in math has been marred with bad teachers and disruptive classes, however, I've always managed to pull out an A.</p>
<p>I've followed the most rigorous math option offered at my HS. I did Geometry Honors as a Freshman, College Algebra and Trig as a Sophomore, and I'm currently enrolled in Precalculus. In Precalc, I'm averaging a 98%, and I completely understand what we're doing thus far (though we haven't actually touched on calc yet, it's more of a review of Algebra.)</p>
<p>The next step is AP Calculus. I've heard terrible things about AP Calc though, and I'm a little wary of taking it. I have a 4.0 right now, and I do not want to lose it because of one math class. </p>
<p>The colleges I'm looking at include:
University of Wisconsin - Madison
Marquette University
University of Michigan - Ann Arbor
University of Chicago
Northwestern</p>
<p>Is it imperative that I take AP Calculus to get into these schools? I guess if I HAVE to I will, because I'm not going to let one math class ruin my future, but I'd rather not take it.</p>
<p>Does your school have an Honors Calculus program as an alternative? I recommend AP if you are one of those students that doesn’t really need to study at all for math and just gets A’s. If you need to study diligently to pull out a good grade, the pacing of AP calc maybe hard for you to deal with. Having a regular or Honors Calc class senior won’t hurt applications, but if you are not the best at math, and take AP, and do really bad in it, it could hurt you fairly badly come application time.</p>
<p>I highly suggest you take it. The reason is because if you think taking AP calculus in HS sucks, it’s 100X worse in college (in colleges its just regular calc). You don’t meet as many times as you would in high school and there are many more students, so the teacher can’t focus on you as much. Not to mention, in college, you’ll most likely take calculus in one semester while in HS it’s for the whole year. This means in college, you’ll be getting a years worth of material in 3-4 months. Doesn’t sound nice does it. Trust me, take AP calc in HS, get the credit for it so you can avoid it in college. In HS, you’ll get the teachers and the help. If the teachers suck, at least you get more time and days to learn it than in college. </p>
<p>My experience with AP Calc (AB) in HS was great. I did not find it difficult, This was mainly because I went to the NYC Specialized HS and had an awesome teacher. The curve is pretty good on the AP test. I got an A in the class and got a 5 on the test. It was easy to understand and there are youtube users such as patrickJMT who can help you. </p>
<p>Now fast forward to college Calc 2 (which would be AP Calc BC - I should have taken this). I got stuck with a retired teacher who taught Calc using “slides” (think of it as PPT slides, but on paper, he’s old remember) Math is something that should never be taught on slides. Learning math on slides is the equivalent of trying to understand an Ikea instruction manual. The steps and pictures are all there, but I still don’t’ know how to put it together. Therefore, I experienced great difficulty in learning the subject not to mention we only meet 3X a week. If I needed help, I had to go to a math help room, which didn’t help because they were being taught by upperclassmen who had no teaching experience whatsoever. Also, the course is graded mainly based on your test grades. They don’t include anything such as homework, participation or effort. So if you bomb a test, you’re pretty much screwed because there’s at least 2-3 test in one semester. The professors most likely won’t do class reviews unlike the ones in HS. Therefore, I ended up getting a B- for the course. </p>
<p>Trust me take it in HS. If you don’t do well the first semester and least you can improve second semester. Also, if you are pursing science or math degrees such as engineering, I suggest you take Calc BC if you can handle the math. That way you can skip ahead and take less courses - meaning it saves you time and money. From your post, it seems like you definitely can. As for your GPA worries, don’t fret. Colleges know that AP classes are harder and will take it into consideration. But in general, take AP Calc now or suffer much much later. Also, must schools requires 4 or 5 on the AP test to get credit, but the curve is very very generous.</p>
<p>You don’t need AP Calc to get into those schools (but you also don’t need a 4.0). However, colleges like to see that you challenge yourself. Playing it safe to keep your 4.0 might not be the best idea in general.</p>
<p>You haven’t addressed the most important factor. What is your future MAJOR. If it is math/science related then YES AP Calculus or some calculus class is needed.</p>
<p>Math, physics, engineering, statistics, computer science, economics preparing for grad school: lots of math, often also statistics
Biology, business, economics: freshman calculus and statistics
humanities, social studies other than economics: probably nothing beyond precalculus, but may require a statistics course</p>
<p>What choices of calculus do you have at high school?</p>
<p>BC = approximates a full year of college freshman calculus
AB = approximates a semester of college freshman calculus</p>
<p>If you may need calculus for your major, but do not really enjoy math, you may want to take AB for a gentle half speed introduction to calculus. If you wait until college, you will have to take calculus at full speed instead of the half speed that you can take AB at.</p>
<p>If you plan to major in one of the “lots of math” majors, it is best to take BC. If you really do not like math, then choosing a “lots of math” major may be a mistake.</p>