Is calc BC right for me?

<p>Hi. I am a sophomore. I am wrapping up Calc AB self study, and am thinking about going for BC. Just one question: I am not afraid to fail, but if I do bad onthe BC exam, and good on AB part, will MIT look down on me? I really love calculus, and I studied it because I needed it for a project I am working on(inverse kinematics and neural networks). I think I can cover BC in maybe 2 0r so months. Is the BC test harder? My teachers say it is just more topics to cover, but not harder questions.</p>

<p>anyone? I have to decide by the 14th!</p>

<p>BC is about two chapters more than AB - the most difficult part are series - if you are good at them then give it a try :)</p>

<p>it's more than 2 chapters, but if you're doing well in AB I would not fret. It's not that hard. At my school its just hard because you go fast, not because the material is impossible. Go for it, by the way, on the BC AP test, they give you an AB subscore. Therefore, if you screw up overall on the BC portion, you can just pass out of the AB part if your AB subscore is high. It's nice like that. Best of luck</p>

<p>Correction Sagar... you have till 2:30 pm on the 17th to decide :)</p>

<p>Gives you more time to prep
hehe</p>

<p>I think you should go for BC... you already have AB down
and you are the smartest genius ever created (ok maybe not, but the smartest at school)</p>

<p>it's ambitious, but you may really like series and the other C stuff. look over a BC course outline, read up on anything you don't get, and then decide. you still have enough time.</p>

<p>All of the extra stuff in BC is as easy as AB calc, except for the sequences and series junk. I'd say go for it :)</p>

<p>I did self-studied BC last year (with no prior calc experience), and I was scared that I wouldn't do well on the test, but I ended up with a 5/5 (and it was so freaken' easy). Just make sure you cover EVERYTHING in the calc text (er. know EVERYTHING on the BC syllabus that you can find on collegeboard.com).</p>

<p>Good luck man, thou I doubt you'll need it.</p>

<p>aight will check into it.</p>

<p>besides, MIT doesnt take the ab score, it's not that bad, just dont lose focus and you'll be alright. if you need help, you know where you can find it.</p>

<p>Yeah, but will it look bad if i screw up on BC, and maybe get a 4 or even a 3? I would just take it next year anyway to seal a 5, but still...</p>

<p>In my school, we covered all of BC topics (and AB topics) by the end of January (school year started in end of August). Our teacher then taught us problems that aren't even covered in the AP and reviewed for the exam until May. So, in terms of the amount of things you need to learn, it's not too much. I think if you are disciplined and aren't struggling with other classes, it shouldn't be too much trouble to take BC. Difficulty is exactly the same, AB and BC (in my opinion).</p>

<p>Ok. Well I just don't want to look stupid infront of MIT, with all you super geniuses taking it in 9th grade and 8th grade and getting 5's.</p>

<p>Well if you are able to take it by junior year, you still look like a genius.</p>

<p>I think if you score low now and then retake, don't they see both scores?
And do they see at what grade you take it in?
If not, then wait till next year.</p>

<p>Well, technically, you can withhold scores from them. </p>

<p>So, anyone else got something to say? </p>

<p>sorry mike, but i know you at school, so I already know what you will say. +I am looking for people who have "already taken it!" :)</p>

<p>I agree with the others that the BC extra material isn't any harder than the AB material. The series stuff is really fun! I think you'll like it too if you love calc. That was my favorite thing we did all year. :)</p>

<p>Yeah, although I still hate center of mass as well as fluid pressure</p>

<p>ya series stuff is pretty cool.<br>
I still havent found anything hard about BC, plus there isn't too much stuff to learn that is just specific to BC.</p>

<p>i got a 5 and i knew close to nothing about series because we ran out of time</p>

<p>streetlight, last year our b.c. class had to stay after school to take tests, because we likewise, ran out of time to finish all the b.c. material.</p>

<p><i>Yeah, although I still hate center of mass as well as fluid pressure</i></p>

<p>Fluid pressure in all those weird-shaped troughs less than exciting. I don't remember doing center of mass in my AP Calc class but in Physics we made weird shapes with intersecting functions, graphed and cut out the shape on cardboard, and used double intergrals to find the center of mass. It was really exciting when you stuck a pin in the point you calculated as the center of mass and your carboard shape balanced, except mine didn't really because I accidentally bent my cardboad. O.o</p>