<p>I took AP Calculus AB my senior year, but I wasn't prepared for the AP test at all (I got my first 1!). I'm not sure if that's the fault of the teacher (a lot of people blame him for several reasons--his teaching methods are unclear, he left for a couple months during one semester for surgery, and it was his first year teaching an AP class) or if I just suck at math. I thought I had a good grasp on it before this class, but now I don't know what to think. I wonder if, had I had a more experienced teacher, I would have been prepared, or if calculus is my weak area.</p>
<p>Given that I clearly don't have a very good grasp on Calculus, should I take 16A, or do you recommend that I take 32 first?</p>
<p>Do you have a solid grasp of precalculus? If you don't, then maybe Math 32 would be the best choice for you. But it's not as if knowledge of calculus is a prerequisite for taking 16A. That's what the class is supposed to teach you. It's designed so that people who have not even taken AP Calculus can take it. </p>
<p>You'll probably have to take the class at some point or another, so I encourage you to take it sooner rather than later. Worst case scenario, you decide to drop it.</p>
<p>If you have some time this summer, you could pick up a calculus book and spend some time going through it. See how hard it is when you work that way. It'll give you some idea of whether you have trouble with it or if your teacher was primarily responsible.</p>
<p>I would take Math 16A no matter what. Unless you have absolutely no confidence in your ability to handle calculus, then I would opt for Math 32. But Math 32 doesn't mean much and Math 16A seems to be the basics of calculus. Plus, there's lots of help available for Math 16A (adjunct course, GSI, discussion section) that you should be able to succeed. & like Christopher546 said above, it would help to look at the book before hand and see if it is something you can handle.</p>