My ds is taking Calc B/C now and would like to know if he gets a 5 on the Calc BC exam if he should go into Calc 3 this fall? His teacher is the head of our school’s math department and most of the students get 5s on the AP test. Anyone with experience with their ds or dd going straight into Calc 3?
DS went straight into Calc III first semester as a freshman. Didn’t cause an issue for him, ended up with an A- in the class.
With that said, this would not be the route for everyone. Not sure about anything else about your DS besides the AP expectation, so I will add this. DS is very strong in Math: CALC-BC AP 5, Math SAT I 800, Math ACT 36 so comparisons may be hard. His final take was that he would have been bored in Calc II.
So bottom line, if your DS is strong in Math Calc III is a doable option. If you aren’t sure or if he isn’t confident, you may want to go the safer route.
What does his HS teacher think? My DS went into Calc 3 and did well. Ended up with an A- too. He could have scored higher had he studied more for the final. I spoke with his HS teacher before registration and she felt confident in this placement. She was the TN teacher of the year last year and has years of experience so I decided to trust her.
The adult advisors at Bama Bound do discourage skipping, but it worked out really well for us. We spoke with an Avanti and he said it was doable and gave us 2 professors to try. DS really enjoyed Bruce Trace’s class.
First off, What is your DS major? Some majors need to understand calc 2 better than others. Since calc 3 does not really build off of what is learned in calc 2, your DS may be able to take calc 3 without having a very strong knowledge of calc 2.
Personally, I am an engineering major who enjoys math but unlike MemphisGuy’s DS, I did not get a 5 on the AP exam or a 36 on the math ACT. However, I did chose to skip calc 2. Calc 2 isn’t my best subject but I also realized it was not the most important math to my major.
Having said that, I know plenty of students did chose to start in calc 2 but most regrets it since its not very applicable for their majors. Others said they are glad they started with calc 2. Most of my friends agree with my that calc 2 is much harder and could hurt your sons GPA if he doesn’t enjoy it. Ask him if he enjoys that part of calc. I prefer vectors and all rather than series. Its like comparing apples to oranges. I would let him chose. I knew it wasn’t my best subject so I skipped it.
My son will be a ChemE major, and he loves the Calc B/C class that he is taking too! His teacher told me that he should take Calc 3, I just want to make sure he isn’t taking on too much his Freshman year. He will need to take Chemistry (Honors?) because he wasn’t able to take the AP Chem at his high school due to schedule constraints. He told me that he enjoys the series over vectors (not sure what that means). Thanks for everyone’s help! We are Bama bound late May and I want to start working on his schedule.
I would suggest taking calc 3. It will free up a lot of time in his schedule and provide a lot of flexibility. He will not need calc 2 as a ChemE. If he loves it, he probably knows it well enough to skip it. Calc 2 tends to be more time consuming than calc 3.
@Bamagirl18 - Just wanted to add a thanks for the student side of the conversation and for the insight between the differences between Calc II and III. As a parent we can add info on the choices our kids made but we often lack the details behind why a decision was made. Usually the best we can do is offer a “what happened” and add some stats with the disclaimer that mileage may vary.
I have noticed your additions to other threads as being objective and helpful. Just wanted you to know that your input is valued.
OP, you could look for a syllabus for Calculus 2 and 3 and decide.
Calc 3. Calc 3 doesn’t really build on Calc 2, so it’d probably be safe to move up. Also be sure to take the professor into consideration.
Go to Calculus 3. You will be just fine. My son, a Bama grad, was worried that he had not had calculus in three years when he got to school. So he chose to audit Calculus I. Big mistake. He knew the material without any problem. Same thing for a friend of his who majored in mechanical engineering. She thought she did not know the material well enough. She did. All the class was was a GPA builder … and she, like my son, graduated with better than a 4.0 GPA.
My younger son, who also had a 5 on the BC exam, took his brother’s advice when he got to UAH. Got an A in Calculus III with little or no trouble. If you have a good teacher in high school, you will be prepared.
Thanks again for everyone’s input, it looks like calc 3 will be the class he takes next fall.
^^Bamagirl^^ “He will not need calc 2 as a ChemE” did you mean he won’t need the knowledge gained from that class, or that he doesn’t need to take that class (or have AP) as a ChemE?
@BocaTerp he will not need the knowledge. It’s all polar and series type things and he will only need a basic understanding of it. Calc 3 will be a lot more useful to his major.
@MemphisGuy thanks for the acknowledgement! I just enjoy helping future students. I was there and I know it can be stressful for the students and the parents.
^^ But the class is still “required”?
Correct. You still have to take it.
Unless things have changed his AP score, if high enough, can be used to satisfy Calc I and Calc II.
Good to know…I guess he’ll know in about two months. Thanks
A five on BC gets credit for Cal I and Cal 2. That’s what mine all did and are doing. It hasn’t changed.
Am I reading http://courseleaf.ua.edu/introduction/academicpolicies/creditbyexamination/#advancedplacementaptext correctly?
It looks to me like a 3 on BC gets credit for Calc I and II.
Per the table it does appear that a 3 on the Calc BC exam would allow credit for I and II. However depending on your major I would warn against that in many cases. A 3 would indicate reasonable but not full understanding of the topics, if your major requires other higher math courses you may not really be prepared and I would suggest taking the Calc I or II class. However, if your major requires no further math courses it would be an option to be considered.