Unfortunately, the school I went to (a K-9 private school) did not offer a chance to skip a math, so I had Pre-Algebra in 7th grade, Algebra 1 in 8th, and Geometry in 9th. I’m taking Algebra 2 right now at a public high school (it doesn’t offer an Algebra 2/Trig option). I enjoy math a lot and am very good at it, and I feel like I’m too advanced for the math class I’m taking currently.
I want to skip a math this summer (Pre-Calc, honors if possible) and take AP Calc AB my junior year. I was thinking about taking (Honors) Pre-Calc at my local community college or doing it through self-study. Problem is, I am also applying for COSMOS, a four-week summer program, and this may overlap with summer classes at the community college. I want to do COSMOS, but I also want to take classes that are fit for my academic level.
Most pre-calculus topics are already covered in some detail in algebra 2, but seems to focus more on trig, complex numbers, exponential and logarithmic functions, basic linear algebra, and vectors, which definitely show up in calculus and more advanced fields of math. If you’re familiar with most or all of these topics, you can probably comfortably skip pre-calculus (if you’re allowed to). Otherwise, you should take pre-calc. I know a couple people from my HS that skipped pre-calc and ended up getting 5’s on Calc AB/BC and majoring in STEM-fields.
AP meetings at my school are next week, so I can talk to the math teachers about this. I’m aspiring to major in a STEM field as well. If I take AP Calc A/B my junior year, it means that I’ll be taking 5 AP classes (assuming I get accepted into all of them), and I don’t want to overload myself.
Note: I’m not taking these classes to increase my chance of getting into college. I’m taking them because I love learning and I want a challenge. And I can always opt out before school starts if I change my mind.
Does your school offer AP Calculus BC? What are the prerequisites for it? You don’t need to take AB before BC unless your school requires it.
Would skipping pre-calculus allow you to take more advanced classes by the end of your senior year than you would have taken otherwise? I wouldn’t bother skipping anything unless you’d be able to take something like multivariable calculus, linear algebra, differential equations, etc. at a local college. This would probably require taking AP Calculus BC in your junior year.
@halcyonheather My school does offer AP Calc BC, and the prerequisite for it is AP Calc AB, but my school does not specifically say that AB must be taken before BC. However, my school does not offer anything higher than BC at the moment, but I’d like to skip because I assume it will give me college credit (if I do well, of course).
My son self studied over last summer…over 150 lessons…and then the head of the math department tested him. He got well over 85% which I think was cut off and was able to skip. He also had three hours of grueling football practice everyday plus volunteering and other summer activities. If you’re a self starter and highly motivated, I think you could do it.
Don’t know much about your school system, but in my system, there are summer school options. But you should really ask your counselor, they probably know a lot about options for you. I don’t know too much about cosmos, but I’ve heard about how intense it is. You probably won’t be able to self study while there. But remember summer is 10 weeks, you would still have 6 weeks left.
There are summer school options at my local community college, but it overlaps with COSMOS, and I’d rather do COSMOS. I will talk to my counselor, though!
If your school’s BC class covers all the AB material, you should just go straight to BC after pre-calculus. You wouldn’t get any additional college credit by taking the AB exam first.
I’m not as up on the differences between Calc A/B and BC as I should be.
But if you’ve never taken Calc, then you don’t know how to differentiate or integrate. Or what those terms mean, or what they’re capable of telling you once you find them.
And diving into a course where those skills are assumed (are they? Where does B/C begin???) sounds like an incredibly iffy proposition to me.
If you’re planning to do anything in math or finance, you need more than course credit, you need to know the information behind the course credit. If you’re planning a course of differential equations, or on anything that involves integration, you need to know that material.
AB exam = Calculus I
BC exam = Calculus I and Calculus II
If the classes align with the exams, BC will begin at the beginning of Calculus I and cover all the material in AB before moving on. I’m trying to understand why the OP thinks AB needs to be taken first if the school doesn’t require it—there might be a good reason, but sometimes people just assume it’s necessary without checking.
The AB and BC exams are always on the same day, because they share a lot of the same questions so @skieurope is correct.
I’d recommend doing COSMOS over the summer and then take pre-calc your junior year and then calc AB or BC your senior year. Pre-Calc is more of than review, but rather its more of connecting the dots to all the other math you’ve done before hand along with exploring of other new topics. If the class is too easy for you, then I’d recommend looking into some Math competition problems and asking your teacher if it’d be alright to work on them if you end up finishing your work early in class.
My D skipped Pre-Calculus and took Calculus AB & Calculus BC as a junior (her high school is on block schedule). She took the Calculus BC exam at the end of the year. She received a 5 on the exam, and she also received a subscore of 5 (which addresses the AB content). If you skip Pre-Calculus, I would definitely recommend starting in AB versus BC.
You do NOT have to have Calculus completed before starting college. Even in a STEM field. In fact most of the mathematics and physics professors (including me) I know at my university are convinced that there is a big difference between the AP classes and a real University Calculus or Physics course. Yes, some students come in and are able to make the transition smoothly but I have seen equal numbers come in and have a hard time with jumping into the middle of the university Calculus sequence. As a physics professor, i can teach the students what they need to know about Calculus in my physics classes but the most important things they need to know to succeed is algebra and trigonometry. Having a solid foundation in these two is the best predictor of success in a STEM field.
By all means take AP Calculus (whichever type you want or both) but be ready to repeat some of that material if you are advised to do so in college.