How to choose what AP Calc to take...

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1

<p>So I took Honors Precalc this year, and I got an A+ throughout the entire year. Took SAT Subject Test for Math Level 2, and I'm pretty sure I got in the 750-800 range. </p>

<p>BUT, my math teacher recommended everyone in Honors Precalc to take AP Calc AB, because only people who take Honors Analysis are allowed to move to AP Calc BC ... I personally didn't even KNOW there was an Honors Analysis class at my school.</p>

<p>So what AP Calc should I take? AB or BC? A senior took BC this year (she's going to MIT) and even she had difficulty with it in the beginning, since it was such a "jump" fr. Honors Precalc. And she's planning to be a math major.</p>

2

<p>Calc BC isn't as hard as you would expect the course to be. You can either stay on top of your work for the entire year and cruise through the course and AP exam or choose to learn it all in two weeks and ace the exam...both are very viable with the course because it has more to do with knowing the formulas and methods and utilizing them in a clever fashion rather than covering an immense range of topics and minute details.</p>

3

<p>If math is your forte, go for BC.</p>

<p>I haven't taken it, but my friends who have say that it's hard the first marking period, but once you've covered the basics, it starts making more sense.</p>

4

<p>take BC, i made the mistake of taking AB and was bored out of my mind.</p>

5

<p>BC and AB don't differ by that much, except in BC you go into a lot more depth with parametrics, polar, and infinite series. Personally I thought BC was manageable if you're good at math and willing to put in some work. (I did Honors Trig, Honors Precalc, and then BC - a bunch of others at my school do this as well, all as recommended by the teacher.)</p>

6

<p>well in my school we also have honors precalc and honors analysis. our school doesn't allow students to go from honors precalc to bc because the honors analysis class starts the bc curriculum at the end of the year. so you'd need to check out what your school does, but other than maybe having to self study a few chapters over the summer, i'd say go for bc if you have an a+</p>

7

<p>I took AB and did independent study of BC (our school didn't offer) and I did well all year, making around a hundred in the AB class while everyone was literally failing :/ I am sure that I did well on the AP exam.</p>

8

<p>We're not allowed to move up to AB without BC. How hard would it be to self-study assuming you're very good in math?</p>

9

<p>I found BC ridiculously easy. It's all just concepts and very little memorization. It's an analytical course, so if you're good at that sort of thing, go for it. I would have had straight A+'s, but I never did my homework.</p>

<p>BC is easy if you stay on top of the few concepts and really get into a good mindset and understand what major concepts mean fundamentally. I found that the people in my class who were having a lot of trouble were those who tried to do things systematically instead of analytically. That approach from previous years no longer works.</p>

10

<p>It depends how the AB / BC thing works at your school. At my school, you can't take BC without AB. Basically the BC course at my school is first three months you do BC topics and then the rest of the year is multivariable. </p>

<p>However, if your BC class spends time doing all the AB topics, go for it. There's only a couple more topics in the BC exam, which is 2/3 AB stuff anyway.</p>

11

<p>Some people in my class were just unable to grasp the material, but if you have literally sat back in your math class, not paying attention to the matter at hand, but rather later material in the book, and still made the top grade in the class, then :[ you are ready my child.</p>

12

<p>Math is definitely not my forte. </p>

<p>and I took BC. </p>

<p>I struggled, mostly because of what d4 said. I definitely take things systematically rather than analytically. But after a while, you'll get the hang of it and it becomes easier. I wouldn't say it was easy, but for the 'highest math possible' at my school, not too bad.</p>

13

<p>i don't even know if my school offers AB, after pre calc we are expected to go into BC, but i guess it depends on the school... my school generally goes algebra 2, pre calc, calc bc, multivariable</p>

14

<p>i took bc, it was good.</p>

15

<p>Our school goes like this:</p>

<p>Geo, Precalc, BC, MV</p>

<p>Yea, take BC, it's a very easy course.</p>

16

<p>At my school, the BC course is extremely hard and virtually everyone struggles with it. If you love math and plan to go into a math-related field in college, take BC. Otherwise, take AB and don't bother. I think the difference to colleges is minimal, unless you are thinking of going into "that" type of college or major in "that" type of field. If you're just a bright, well-rounded kid who's challenging him/herself with honors and/or AP classes, there's simply no reason to take BC. </p>

<p>Just my $0.02</p>

17

<p>This is kinda off topic, but I've always wondered:</p>

<p>Why don't people who take the AB calculus class at their school just go ahead and take the BC calculus test anyway? They get an AB subscore, so they'll get credit for that part, not to mention that there's a chance (albeit a small one) that they'll pass the BC part of it. I just never saw the point in only taking the AB test when you get an AB subscore (which I'm pretty sure, though I could be wrong, colleges all use in the same way as the actual AB test score) for the BC one. </p>

<p>You have nothing to lose from it, it seems, but you have a chance of gaining something if you pass.</p>

18

<p>My school doesn't have a Calc BC course because students have done so bad on it in the past; however we have the option to stay after school to learn BC material while taking the AB class...that's what I'm going to do next year. That way, I always have the option of learning BC after school, and if it's too hard, then I won't go after school to try and learn it.</p>

19

<p>"Why don't people who take the AB calculus class at their school just go ahead and take the BC calculus test anyway? They get an AB subscore, so they'll get credit for that part, not to mention that there's a chance (albeit a small one) that they'll pass the BC part of it. I just never saw the point in only taking the AB test when you get an AB subscore (which I'm pretty sure, though I could be wrong, colleges all use in the same way as the actual AB test score) for the BC one. "</p>

<p>Well, the AB score only considers about 50% or so of the BC test, so you have a higher percentage of losing more points off the AB score versus just taking the AB exam altogether. </p>

<p>For instance, AB exam has 60 MC and 6 FR...
BC exam has 30 MC and 3 FR for AB ...</p>

<p>Therefore, you have more of a chance of getting a lower percentage on the BC exam.</p>

<p>Does that make sense??</p>

<p>Actually, ABers...take BC...make the curve bigger =)</p>

20

<p>A couple of things about the AB/BC piece:</p>

<p>32 of the 54 FR points are used for the AB subscore, as are 26 of the 45 MC questions. The 26 MC questions are multiplied by a constant that is slightly higher than 1.2, so that the total AB subscore is out of 64 points.</p>

<p>The curve isn't made big by the mathematical intelligence of the people taking the exam. The people who score a certain percentage of key multiple choice carryover questions will earn score's of 1's, 2's, 3's, 4's, and 5's, in approximately the same percentages of the group with that score, regardless of the actual SIZE of that group.</p>

<p>This has to make sense. Suppose that everybody nationwide could be actually convinced to earn no points on the AP Calculus exam. One student, in order to have a little fun, answers a question in a way they think is incorrect, but accidently earns 1 point. Do we really think this student is earning a 5?</p>

<p>And while christalena2's point regarding each question being worth more increases the chance of getting a lower percentage has some truth to it, each question that is correct increases the chance of getting a higher percentage, too, so to speak. What's really happening is that when you take the BC test, every AB question has significantly more weight to it.</p>

<p>If you take a 100 question test, you have a chance to miss more questions and still earn an A, but that test is going to delve more into some of the minutiae, and the chances that you might miss a question should probably increase.</p>

<p>If you take a 50 question test, you have fewer questions that you can miss to get an A, but that test probably isn't going to hit quite as much of the minutiae, and so the chances that you might miss a question should probably decrease.</p>

<p>This, of course, presumes that you have adequate knowledge of the course material.</p>

<p>As to the real question of, "Should I take AB or BC?":</p>

<p>It really depends on the culture of your school. Some schools offer BC only as a course that you take after AB. This doesn't sound like the case in the OP's school.</p>

<p>While the grades in Honors PreCalc sound sufficient to take the BC course, it worries me that the recommendation is that only Honors Analysis students take the BC course. (And why are there two courses labeled Honors? Sounds like overly liberal use of the word "Honors" to me.) It also worries me that you didn't "know" about the Honors Analysis course for some reason.</p>

<p>I would find out the difference between the two courses of Honors Precalculus and Honors Analysis. It may be that the Honors Analysis course has already started through the AP Calculus BC curriculum set (it's one way some schools get through the BC curriculum in one year, without stressing their students as much). Is it material that your Honors Precalculus class has covered? Could you cover it independently, and as well as your AP Calculus BC instructor would require?</p>

<p>I think you need the answers to some of these questions before you answer the question of what course you should take.</p>

<p>As far as taking AB in one year vs. taking BC in one year, you're covering approximately 15-25% more in BC, without much added depth, depending on how rigorous your high school precalculus program is. So the battle that you might be fighting in BC is the pacing (that's what kills the majority of the BC kids at my school).</p>