<p>Professors at all schools, and admissions officers at top schools, will know that “Calculus III” (whatever that means!) at the local college has a selectivity, difficulty, and coverage well below the nominally equivalent offering at the university. Credit may not be available and placement is often by exam.</p>
<p>For calculus specifically, beyond the BC advanced placement courses, I think the only category of students for whom it can be important to take it before college are people who know that it will lighten the engineering or pre-med requirements at a (same) state university or other institution that definitely takes the credits.</p>