Hello community! I am signed up to take AP Calculus AB next year (sophomore year) and I was planning on taking CTY’s “Calculus C” course during the summer after sophomore year. I would then proceed to take Multivariable Calculus junior year, and a math elective (AP Stats, AP Comp Sci) senior year. My questions:
How much more difficult/different/intense is multivariable from Calculus AB/BC? Would it be foreign material or based off of other topics taught in Calculus AB/BC?
Is it detrimental/bad to have finished all possible calculus/algebra courses, that are offered at my school, by junior year? The math supervisor was trying to convince me to take Calculus BC junior year and Multivariable senior year instead, but I don't want to take multivariable in senior year (senioritis + hard classes = one helluva year).
I am looking at Duke-tier schools, so would only having 3 years of algebra based math weaken me, or would it strengthen me because of the multivariable?
Thanks, and please let me know if I’m crazy or not!
I don’t see the point of racing through math just to take AP stats as a senior. I can see racing through the math courses if you were intending to graduate early or to do dual enrollment at a good local university. I don’t think either of your plans will affect the Duke admissions decision.
Will your school allow the CTY class to be listed on your transcript? Many colleges only consider school and college transcripts.
Multivariable taken over a whole year at the high school should not be too difficult. It is normally a semester class in college (as are Calc AB and Calc C). Multivariable is an extension of the concepts taught in the two prior semester classes of calc. You will need a good handle on polar coordinates if you don’t already have that.
AP Stats is generally thought to be an easy AP, especially if taken over an entire year instead of one semester.
Many colleges would not consider AP Comp Sci to be a math course. It is valuable, so I’d take it as an elective if you can along with a math course.
You do not want to race through math just to take AP Stats. You end up with a weaker base and for what? An easier senior schedule?
How about delaying AB and taking AP Stats next year, then Calc AB junior year and BC senior year? Another thought, you 're obviously a strong math student. You may not find MVC all that difficult. It’ll be work but with two solid years of calculus (not one year and one summer), you’ll be ready for MVC.
I finished Calc BC freshmen year, Linear Algebra sophomore year, and completed MV Calc 3 last week, all with As and high test scores. Was it worth it?? Not really.
It doesn’t give me a huge boost in college admission, and I had a ton of hw compared to the typical math student. Plus I missed opportunities to make friends of my age.
If you like math to the point where you wanna do Calculus in the summer… go ahead… if not, it’s not worth it
@nw2this i originally had Calc BC in the summer because the teacher who teaches BC in school is regarded as the worst in the math department. That along with the difficulty of the tests (talked to students) made me fear taking the class.
@deeznuts so do you think I should take AB soph, BC junior, and Multivariable senior? I want to take AB and BC cuz if I can go into BC (worst teacher) with the knowledge from the AB teacher (best teacher) I’ll be more successful than going straight to BC.
Yea that sounds good to me I completely understand your bad teacher worry, I had a TERRIBLE BC teacher (nice guy though) and it definitely made it worse. The actual BC test isn’t that bad though, just cause the curve is so lenient
Be wary of “speed-running” through the math courses at your school because they always sound easier on paper. As long as you have AP Calculus BC done by the time you graduate, they consider you prepared. It would be far worse to get a bad grade now than to spread out your math courses and take multivariable senior year.
Do you have the option of taking math classes (such as linear algebra, differential equations, discrete math, or calculus-based statistics) at a local university?
If you are taking MultiVar over a full year it shouldn’t be that bad. Our school only had a semester of MultiVar and then a semester of Matrix Algebra. My son thought it was easier than BC in terms of content but because it was a full DE class there was no curve or extra points for homework or projects like normal HS classes so only the kids who really got the material got As where in previous math classes kids could get B’s on tests but get enough points off of the curve and homework to still get an A in the class. If you go to a highly competitive college you may not get any credit for multivar. My son got no credit at all even though it came on a transcript from a 4 year college. He was OK with that and knew most of the private schools he was applying to would not give him credit.
D might be in the same boat with you… We didn’t want to run out of math classes too soon in high school, so she took AB in sophomore and BC in Junior, also doubled up with stat. In Senior year, she will do linear Algebra (honor only) as she doesn’t want to be the 5th kid ever in their school who would go to college or distance learning program for multi variable. I wouldn’t recommend doing BC within CTY. D did a lot of ECs last summer which shaped her career choices–you don’t want to do a semester class in a summer and don’t get to experience anything else.
Given how advanced you are in math, indicating that you are a top student in math, it would make sense to take math courses at college pace if available to you:
10th: calculus BC
11th: multivariable calculus, differential equations, linear algebra
12th: discrete math, calculus-based statistics, etc. depending on interest
However, if the only math courses accessible to you are slow paced calculus AB, calculus (rest of) BC, AP statistics, and multivariable calculus (that is not a college course), then no matter what you do, your math progress will be stalled and limited. The best you can do after running out would be to self-study (without credit) math topics of interest. In this case, there is not much point in trying to accelerate more in the summer (you will just run out of math more quickly, so unless you are highly motivated to self-study, it will not do any good).
Yes, the key question is : do you have access to college classes in math? If not, AB->BC ->MV is a good sequence. If you do, AB (for good teacher)-> (Jr) de calc 2 -> de MV -> (sr) de upper level classes at the college as suggested by posters above, would be the best sequence.
sorry for the late response everyone, I spoke with the math supervisor and he said that students (for a reason I dont understand) cannot take both AP Calc AB and BC, so I am just going to take Precalc next year, BC junior, and Multi senior year. I can only hope at this point that it all goes well! Thanks everyone!
I took pre calc as a freshman, BC as a sophomore, multivariable calculus as a junior (self studying ap stats) and then linear algebra and compsci (both full year classes) senior year – I would always support taking the hardest math classes that you feel you can handle. The thing with taking AB and the BC is that a lot of the material is the same in the BC curriculum and you might find yourself bored and not challenged. I think colleges would appreciate any display that you are challenging yourself, which would include taking the more challenging classes available.