<p>I want to get into engineering school. I passed pre-cal with As, but I'm failing AP calc. Will this kill my chances of acceptance into engineering school?</p>
<p>You have half a semester left before you have a final grade. I suggest you work your tail off. Regardless of whether or not you get into engineering, if you can’t pass calc, you would have a hard time with engineering in general anyway. That is the absolute basis of engineering, and in engineering you will be doing calculus on a daily basis. If you can’t do it now and you still want to do engineering, you will probably end up having to do a community college for like two years to get a good GPA there and work on getting acquainted with calc and then transferring in somewhere. If you can get your current calc grade up though, you can maybe still get in though. Calc isn’t a prerequisite to get into engineering, but failing it won’t look good.</p>
<p>you must work hard, and deliberately. calculus did not come naturally to me either, and i received a 5 on the BC AP. {Never took precalc, but I did get a C+ in Algebra II, before taking BC}</p>
<p>AB or BC? Just curious, but it doesn’t matter that much. I would concentrate really hard on doing well in the class. I personally consider myself pretty good at math, but not great…I only got a 670 the first time I took the regular SAT, and a 760 on Math II, but I’m finding my AP Calc class to be a breeze, and this is with a teacher who has a very good track record in terms of students getting 5s. Not trying to be mean or anything, and not saying this means you can’t or shouldn’t be an engineer, but definitely give it some thought and start putting as much effort as you can into your calc class.</p>
<p>Consider getting a supplemental text, such as something from the Idiots, Dummies, or Demystified series on single-variable calc.</p>
<p>Don’t worry about it. Whether or not you actually take the AP, whether you score badly, you can still get accepted without it. Senior year APs are too late for applications anyway. The class grade may affect your GPA a little, but perhaps also too late for applications.<br>
Just repeat Calc in college. I suspect you fell behind and are finding it impossible to catch up or else you had a bad teacher or one you couldn’t connect with. If you have trouble in college just get some additional tutoring. Also a lighter or less intense load your first year will give you more time to concentrate on Calculus. APs are mostly useful for credits but often people end up taking the class anyway to either benefit their college GPA or because although the passed or scored high on the AP they didn’t really learn the material enough to take follow on courses. Did you take the SAT II subject test in Math 2c?</p>
<p>Admission wise you should already be sending your applications in and therefore schools shouldn’t see your failing grades, unless they request a midyear school report. </p>
<p>Failing Calculus won’t kill your chances at A engineering school but it’ll severely impact your chances at top engineering schools. Furthermore, calculus is integral (HAH A PUN!!) to engineering and you want a firm understanding of it if you major in engineering. I know, I know that you can retake it at college but in my experience the college course is much more difficult than a high school course. </p>
<p>You have time left and I suggest you work your tail off to learn the material.</p>
<p>Thanks for your thoughts. It’s AB and we were self-taught in precal. New teacher this year with an excellent track record, but many of us just aren’t prepared. I’m working like heck and refuse to drop the class because I know that won’t look good. I have several “help” books. I can solve every problem in the book; quiz grades are A/B, but the tests kill me. . .45% average and they are 90% of the grade! Any recommendations on books that teach how to determine how to attack these incredibly sophisticated problems that have no resemblance to the most difficult book problems?</p>
<p>I got a D in AP Calc. My friends were shocked to find this out, cuz they seem to think I get all A’s. Truth is, I’m a tard. And if I can do well, you can too!</p>
<p>I’m not doing so hot in calc either. I got a D in AP Calc AB. ALthough I got a zero for a major HW assignment (didn’t turn it in like an idiot) so it probably should be a C. But anyway. Its good to know that I’m not 100% screwed for college admissions.</p>
<p>What if your not doing well in circuit analysis? I’m in a “governor’s school for engineering studies” so we have this class called “senior seminar” that teaches circuit analysis, statics, dynamics, and teamwork through the year. 1st semester we’re doing circuit analysis and statics and then 2nd semester we’re doing dynamics and teamwork. But I’m not doing well in circuit analysis right now. Any suggestions?</p>
<p>I’m beginning to worry that my teacher is not sufficiently preparing us. So far, we’ve had three tests and four quizzes, and I haven’t missed a question yet.</p>
<p>You can always buy an AP calculus prep book and review the problems/concepts. If you want to go further get a Calculus book (Salas , Stewart or Larson are staples) and see if you can work the problems. </p>
<p>Calculus is cumulative but takes practice. </p>
<p>On a side note, if you are going into engineering AND especially graduate school, make sure you are comfortable with calculus!</p>
<p>As a PLTW girl, I know how crucial conquering calculus is. My school structures the course so that kids spend 90 minutes reinforcing concepts. In less than 2 months we’re just finishing integration. I agree with the dummies idea, and if you can’t tackle it the first time around I know people who took Calculus in community college during the summer.</p>
<p>Hi…I just got my AP scores back…and I’m really surprised</p>
<p>AP Spanish: 5
AP English: 5
AP Physics: 4
AP Calculus BC: 2 (AB subscore: 3)</p>
<p>I studied my tail off for BC Calculus…I took an accelerated course that was supposed to combine Pre-Calc and AB Calculus in one year and then BC Calculus the next year…the course and the teacher were new and overall the grades were extremely inflated (I got As and A+s in the course). I’m going into bioengineering next year…should I drop engineering? I feel like my fundamentals have been extremely messed up…the engineering track that I’m taking requires me to start with BC Calc in order to finish graduation requirements in time…how am I going to get through engineering? Advice please!</p>
<p>Just flip through your textbook over the summer. What’s the big deal? Doing bad on one AP test means you should change your major??</p>
<p>Piggbacking what JamesMadison said. </p>
<p>Most engineering programs do not expect student enter college knowing Calculus. Some students fall back to Caclulus I because they don’t remember half of the stuff they did in BC, which is very bad.</p>
<p>I took my state exam for advanced algebra in 9th grade and I only received 85, which wasn’t bad at all. But I didn’t like it. I retook it and got 94. It was only a test score. In 9th grade I was only doing algebra. </p>
<p>You studied your tail off and you couldn’t get a better score means two things: either you had a bad luck, or you didn’t master your material. There is no such thing as perfection. So don’t worry about the score. It means that you still have room for improvement.</p>
<p>I never took AP Calculus and at first I was very sad because most of my peer go straight to Calculus II or even Caclulus III, although I took high school calculus. I enjoyed all my Calculus classes at college because my professors taught us many cool things which average high school teachers could not. </p>
<p>Study over the summer. Some schools may offer an entrance exam for students hoping to skip Calculus I, II (they don’t just take AP credits, you must pass their exams too). It isn’t a common thing, so double check with your engineering program. </p>
<p>Oh Are you saying you are a Junior right now? Don’t worry. If you are a Junior, retake BC if you want. All you need to do is just register the exam with your high school.</p>
<p>Again. Don’t drop your hope. When you enter college, you may end up failing several classes because of the transition. Or because you simply had a bad experience in college. Don’t give up. Try until you finally recognize your true interest.</p>
<p>If you are going to college this Fall, you should be happy to retake your Calculus I because this time you can prove to yourself that I can handle my college work. I honestly don’t think AP exams are as difficult as some of my class exams in college.</p>
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<p>That actually seems like normal speed, but organized differently. When I was in high school, it was a year for precalculus, followed by a year for AP Calculus BC.</p>
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<p>Not simply because you got a 2 or 3 on the AP Calculus BC test. Engineering degree programs are generally structured so that a student who starts from beginning freshman calculus with no previous calculus background will graduate on schedule (there are about four exceptions where incoming freshmen are expected to have had some calculus background). Which school is it that you say needs you to start with AP Calculus BC?</p>