<p>I just finished my junior year with the following classes:</p>
<p>AP English Language
AP US History
Honors Chemistry
Honors Precalculus/Trig.
Physics 1,2
Advanced Biotechnology</p>
<p>Next year I am signed up for</p>
<p>College Writing
AP Chemistry
Engineering Physics
And i dont know if i should take
Honors Precalculus/Calculus A
Or
AP Calculus AB
I dont care about college credit i just want a STRONG foundation in math in order to be prepared. Should i just take it slow and easy and Take Precal/Calc instead of AP Calc?
Is it true that the Algebra/Trig part of Calculus is the hardest part of Calculus? Thanks, and remember i just want to be prepared for college math classes</p>
<p>Pretty much. Calculus itself is really not all that hard, but most students have such a vague grasp on their trig they do everything they can to avoid it. Getting a good background in trig is a really good idea, as you will use it a lot, in more than just calc.</p>
<p>I think it depends upon how comfortable you feel with your precalculus/trig. skills. You do learn important foundation information in these classes, but if you’ve done well in math throughout high school, you could easily find yourself bored with the class. Aside from challenging yourself, calculus also provides a strong foundation for engineering in college. Most schools only require a precalculus background, but you’ll find many of your classmates (depending upon the school of course) will have taken at least AB, some BC, and even a few multivariable calculus (Calc III). Even if you don’t get an amazing grade or credit from the exam, it will be much better for preparing you for an engineering curriculum, to which most high school courses are laughable in comparison.</p>
<p>The Trig and the Analytic Geometry part of Calculus (hence: why the course is often times called “Calculus & Analytic Geometry”) are the hardest parts of Calculus. The “pure Calculus” parts are very systematic (Power method for derivatives, integration and limits for the most part).</p>
<p>Algebra & trig are the hardest parts of calc because calc really isn’t that hard. You need to memorize a few new rules, and after a fairly quick and easy step or two you wind up with a fairly nasty algebra problem to solve. I’d say it’s pretty much that way all up through differential equations. The most important thing, I’d say, to learn is how to be very accurate with your algebra and not make little mistakes.</p>
<p>I’m wary about the fact that you’re taking two science classes at the same time:
AP Chemistry
Engineering Physics</p>
<p>Unless the classes you outlined are the only classes you are taking (in which case it is OK), then you might want to focus on one. (I see that you aren’t taking an social studies/sciences classes…Why?)
It’s just as important to be strong at math/science as it is to be well-rounded.</p>
<p>Way off topic, but Calculus BC is by no means the same thing as AB. There’s a reason why you get an additional 4 credits for the BC exam. There are only a few new subjects, (primarily series, parametric, vectors, polar) but you also cover the AB topics in much more depth. The textbook we used covered chapters 1-9 for Calc AB and 9-12 for BC, but the AB style questions you will receive on the BC exam will be considerably more difficult. There will be no MC questions such as “If f(x) = 2x, then what is f’(x)?”. </p>
<p>Our AB course was 1.5 credits and the BC course was only 1 credit, but most high schools will assume you’ve taken AB before BC. Without this background, you’ll get completely lost during the 2 months you spend reviewing AB material before heading into BC material that will confuse you even more. AB material certainly isn’t overly difficult, but it’s not something a high school senior wants to be tackling in less than a semester, particularly with several other science classes.</p>