<p>Is it bad if I haven't taken Calc BC and I'm applying to Caltech?</p>
<p>Was it offered at your school? Most (as I understand) of the students who get accepted to Caltech have a year or two of math beyond Calc BC. Granted, if it's not offered at your school, that may be something, but if it was, I think Ben is going to wonder why you didn't put it there.</p>
<p>Good answer, Olo :)</p>
<p>Certainly, some kids get in without Calc BC, usually from high schools where BC is not offered or due to some extenuating circumstances that didn't permit you to get as far ahead in math as similarly talented kids.</p>
<p>You should certainly apply, but it would help if you explained why BC wasn't there, especially if it was offered.</p>
<p>Hehe, I got your back, Ben. :D</p>
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<li>Timur S.</li>
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<p>It scary here. I came in thinking that I would one of very few taking Calc BC in 10th, but half my class(junior year now) has taken Calculus BC last year.</p>
<p>The view is slightly different at the better places. :)</p>
<p>You can also try self-studying Calc BC (sagar self-studied Calc BC while taking Pre-Calc and got a 5 and I self-studied it when taking Calc AB and got a 5). If you self-study before 12th grade and get a 5, then you can include it on your Caltech application.</p>
<p>...which we would find quite impressive, given the self-studying. Some people can't even get a 5 with a good Calc BC class.</p>
<p>Ben... that sounds kind of ... extremely optimistic. Very impressive to self-study Calculus BC? I am pretty sure the majority of the caltech population has done this? Don't a lot of people take it in like 7th grade(very impressive).</p>
<p>Ahh, this is what happens when we go to collegeconfidential or Art of Problem Solving and hang out in very-high achieving communities - we forget about the big picture. If I can recall correctly from downloading some statistics from the Department of Education, only 10% of students in high school take calculus and out of those, the majority only go through Calc AB, usually in 12th grade. Students who take AP exams in 7th grade are very few and far between and for that, one would need an unusually flexible school district or parents willing to homeschool. Furthermore, many people don't even know that self-studying APs is possible and there is obviously a stigma against mathematics in the United States. I was the only person out of over 1500 in my (former) high school to self-study APs and my high school is one with 14 AIME qualifiers and 7 National Merit Semifinalists.</p>
<p>Also, there is a huge misconception in the United States that "you need a teacher to learn from a course." When I tell people about my AP self-studying for example (I took 4 without taking the respective classes last year), some of them tell me that I can't learn without a teacher or that I'm just "insane."</p>
<p>Out of students not yet in 9th grade, 380 took an AP exam and got a 5. Interestingly, the mean for 9th grade students is the lowest and the mean for students not yet in high school is the highest.</p>
<p>Some more interesting statistics:</p>
<p>think about it... do you think a normal 7th/8th even think about taking an AP test? they obviously tested prodogies :/</p>
<p>sagar -- </p>
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Ben... that sounds kind of ... extremely optimistic.
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<p>Nah... :) I'll go with simfish on this one. Even at Caltech, most people just took Calc BC from a teacher somewhere around 10th or 11th grade and then did some more advanced math afterwrard. It is impressive to study AP Calc on your own, (even though the course itself isn't all that hard) because it shows discipline and initiative. When I read applications, I'm impressed by that sort of thing.</p>
<p>:)
Ben</p>
<p>Hmmm... than perhaps that I'm entering Siemens with a project without a mentor(well I got one for the last 5 days ; ) ). </p>
<p>We'll see how I do. Even if I don't get anything, it sure was the best learning experience in my life. Learning how real scientists work... its like as close as I can get to what drives me.</p>
<p>Also, there is a huge misconception in the United States that "you need a teacher to learn from a course." When I tell people about my AP self-studying for example (I took 4 without taking the respective classes last year), some of them tell me that I can't learn without a teacher or that I'm just "insane."</p>
<p>It seems like people at my school have similar ideas, that you can't self-study an AP. Even taking an AP online is considered a waste of time here but it's kind of interesting that the teachers for most of the AP courses at my school encourage "college-style" learning where you do most of the work outside of class. I haven't really thought of it that way until you mentioned it.</p>
<p>That you self-studied APs and did well is encouraging. I'm trying to self-study AP Chem to take the SAT II in November... so every bit of success-story helps.</p>
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That you self-studied APs and did well is encouraging. I'm trying to self-study AP Chem to take the SAT II in November... so every bit of success-story helps.
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<p>I self-studied some chemistry for the SAT II and got 790. My chemistry class had only covered what's equivalent to around 15% of the test by that point.</p>
<p>I have to ask this question. I have a D, now at Princeton, who took Calc BC senior year and scored a 5 on the AP exam. Now taking Multivariate Calc and finding it easy. She attended an extremley alternative grammar school so really had no way to go any higher in math earlier especially since her mom is not a math genius(yes, that's me). The question is: what special consideration do girls get in applications? How should we evaluate performance for girls who seem to be unusually good at math? TIA.</p>
<p>To be honest, it's not clear to me how the first part of your message relates to your question. Students like your daughter who don't have a chance to go further in the curriculum are evaluated on the strength of their record in the courses they took, and on their initiative in other subjects. But being female seems to have nothing to do with that, since a male could easily be in the same position. At Caltech, girls get no special consideration, and are evaluated based on the same rubric as their male counterparts. I think we should evaluate their performance just the same as we do for boys -- give them a chance to learn and then see how good they are at it. I don't see why girls would need special adjustments one way or the other.</p>