Son is a sophomore, taking precalc H. His school just switched this year to 4x4 scheduling, so he has 4 courses each semester instead of 8 meeting on alternating days all year. I was thinking he would take AP Calc AB as a junior and AP Calc BC as a senior, but someone advised us that with the new 4X4 schedule at his school, our son should take both classes the same year - AB first semester and BC second semester. Son is a good student and makes mostly As, but has a B now in precalc H with a very hard but very good teacher.
The only math that would be left at our school after the Calculus classes would be AP Statistics.
What do you think? Both AB and BC as a junior? Both of them as a senior (and taking AP Statistics as a junior)? Or AB as a junior and BC as a senior? Thanks in advance for any advice and input.
If there’s any possibility of it and he’s up to it, he could take AB and BC as a junior, then take Multivariable or Calc 3 at a community college, then AP Stat second semester junior year. Best of luck!
@johncocktoasten our son had same problem, decided to take BC in junior year, then Calc III at a local community college. Good life experience and I firmly believe taking a few CC courses before going to university helps set them up for success. He’ll take Diff Eq. in the coming spring. Our student is very strong in math, so he is getting a solid A at CC. (btw we love Fletch too!)
Are you sure that AB calculus is a prerequisite for BC Calculus. Some schools it is, and some schools it isn’t. My at our school, kids go right from precalculus H to BC Calculus. We don’t have block scheduling though.
Precalc H is harder than AB Calculus but not quite as hard as BC Calculus.
BC Calculus teaches a year of calculus equivalent at most top colleges. Some schools it’s a little less than a years worth. AB calculus teaches the equivalent of a semester’s worth of calculus at most top colleges.
AP Statistics is designed to be equivalent to a semester course, and is really an AP class designed for less mathematically inclined students. For some students, it’s the last math class they will ever take because AP credit relieves them from taking any math at college. In some schools, the AP Statistics class is made much more challenging by the teacher, and it might be worthwhile for a good math student, but it’s not the way the AP committee designed it. I think after completing BC Calculus, AP Statistics would be a let down for a good math student.
If your S finishes BC Calculus, the next logical courses would be Multivariable Calculus and Linear Algebra. These may be offered at a local college, or may be available online. These would also be the prerequisites to a much more thorough and much more advanced statistics course at college, which a good math student will get a lot more out of than AP Statistics.
First, check that at your school the progression is Precalc H-> AB-> BC, and not Precalc H-> AB OR Precalc H-> BC.
If it’s Ab-> BC, the choices are:
1° Take AB Spring Junior Year, BC Fall Senior Year
2° Take AB Fall Junior Year, BC Spring Junior Year, Multivariable Fall Senior Year
If it’s AB OR BC, it’ll likely depend on his grade at the end of Precalc. A Junior who takes BC would be expected to take a further math course if they plan on majoring in anything requiring math (ie., STEM, business, economics…)
Would it be possible to take BC right after pre-calculus and then take a higher-level math course at a local college? (This isn’t logistically possible for everyone, and it’s not expected or required by colleges, and he certainly shouldn’t do it if it doesn’t interest him—but it’s good to be aware of all your options.)
My kids’ school has 4x4 schedule. The school combines precal and cal AB into 1 year. There is no option to take precal and cal AB separately. The teachers spend about half of semester for precal then move on to calculus. Cal BC is taught in 1 semester.
Many schools allow to skip cal AB to go on cal BC. But those schools have a year long class schedule.
I would not recommend skipping calc AB in a 4x4 schedule.
Community college math classes are not very rigorous.
If your son has the math ability to skip cal AB in junior year then I would recommend he take calc AB this year.