I’m taking AP Calc BC as a junior next yr. I’m doing the IB diploma, so this is math HL.
I’ve never really considered myself “good at math”, but I got A’s both semester of algebra I and geometry. I got a B- the first semester of Algebra II w/Trig but that was because of pure laziness. My quarter grades were 86% and 87%, so that wasn’t bad. But, I didn’t study for the final bc I would have had to get a 120% on it to get an A, but only a 40% to keep my B. So I didn’t see a point in studying.
Anyways, I did GREAT second semester. I got a 93% the first quarter and 100% second quarter. My semester grade was a 97%. I got a 90% (I was surprised!!) on the final, but my math teacher did a huge curve (I guess a lot of people did poorly), and I ended up getting 105% on the final. So my semester grade for 2nd semester was a 98%.
Because I know I’m capable of doing well, I’ve decided to take AP Calc BC.
What should I do to prepare myself this summer?
What does AP Calc BC even go over?
I’m not sure if this means anything, but I really struggled in chem honors this yr (got a C+ 1st semester and a B- 2nd semester). Since I struggled so much in this class, would you guys still recommend I take AP Calc BC?
BTW, algebra II w/trig is the prerequisite for AP Calculus BC in my school.
You might just want to get an AP Calc BC textbook or workbook / review book and start working on it over the summer
There really isn’t much you can do other than buy a bc text book and get as far as possible. The textbook most colleges use is calculus early transcendentals by Stewart I think. It has all of calc… All the way from calc a to multi variable calculus. Also watching khan academy or patrickjmt videos would be a good supplement but I would recommend you use them as supplements rather than actual study material. Buying a textbook would be you best bet. Or if you have the money, I guess you can buy a tutor or enroll in some sort of summer calc preparation class
I’m in the same position as you. At the beginning of last school year we had a new Calc BC teacher and all the juniors bombed the first test, and it was on limits. The average was like a 40…now I’m scared as hell. Definitely not gonna underestimate this class.
I took AB this year as a junior so I don’t know how qualified I am to answer this question, but I did pretty well. All my quarter grades were 97+. I will most likely be going into BC as a senior, so over the summer I am just going to go through a textbook/review book combination of the new bc material. I did that with AB and it helped tremendously. I would not have done as well if I did not do summer work. Over the year it also takes a good deal of dedication. I spent at least an hour on calc a night. It also helps to do past frqs as the concepts tend to just repeat themselves. If you work hard, you should do fine. Good luck!
Thanks everyone! From all this, I gather that getting a textbook/review book and going over as much as possible is the best way to start.