Hello guys, I have a strong desire for math. Right now, I took AP Calc AB on my junior year and will be taking AP Calc BC on my senior year, which is 1-2 years ahead of almost 95% of the students in the rest of my grade level in my school. However, I have been hearing from people from different high schools that they have taken calc bc on junior year and their high schools and/or it even offers multivariable calculus (or even differential equations!) As a math lover, this has making me depressed because my high school goes up to calc bc as its highest. (My high school offers discrete math, only to students concurrently taking calc ab or bc.) Would I be disadvantaged from students taking calc III in terms of college admissions?
Will those students be ahead of me in university later on (or they still need to take college placement tests)? Is calc III and diff equ worth self-studying? Please let me know! Thanks! My high school is private and the environment is pretty competitive in terms of academics.
no! Multivariable is usually the 3rd “calculus” offered in college…do not be worried that you can’t take a sophomore college class as a HSer. You are not disadvantaged because your school doesn’t have it. They may be “ahead”, but all college curriculums for STEM assume you start with calculus 1 freshman year. So if you take Calc 3 freshman year you will still be “ahead”.
Ask your HS counselor if you can take multivariable calculus as an online course. Ask if someone in your HS math department can mentor you; that is, meet with you occasionally to verify your progress in the online course. Then, at the end of the semester, if you pass the online course, your counselor can enter it on your transcript as an extracurricular class.
This is the path that my kid took, because his HS, like yours, only went up through calc BC and statistics. He took calc BC as a junior; statistics and multivariable calc (online) as a senior.
His HS also put on his transcript classes taken at universities. That’s another approach. You could look around for universities in your area, see if any will admit HS students, and take multivariable calc after school.
I don’t think that any admission officer will hold it against you, if you don’t take multivariable calc because your HS doesn’t offer it. But it definitely makes a good impression if you find solutions when you encounter obstacles. It demonstrates initiative.
You won’t be at a disadvantage if you are taking the highest level available in your school. Take BC and do well. The best thing you can do is take what is available to you and do your best.
Many students in my senior class took evening courses at the local CC to get MVC.
No
It depends upon the college. Some colleges will give credit/placement for MVC taken in HS, others {primarily private colleges that don’t dispense credits like candy) will not. But even at the tippy top colleges, the number of freshman taking post-MVC is small. As you’ve said, you’re already on a more advanced track than most students. Don’t worry about it. Just do well in BC.
Well it doesn’t matter because BC is a prereq to MVC and diff eq. Many people who take higher level math take it through dual enrollment because most high schools don’t have MVC or up.