<p>You might want to look at the descriptions of Calculus AB and BC on the College Board web-site. Calculus AB is basically one semester of Calculus spread over one year. Their site says that it is designed for students who don’t have a strong Pre-Cal background.</p>
<p>Calculus BC is two semesters of college calculus taught in two semesters. It is supposed to be a good class for a student who has already had a year of Pre-Cal. </p>
<p>In other words, a student who goes directly into BC is not “skipping” any content. They are just going to get 2 semesters of college calculus in two semesters of high school.</p>
<p>Now, whether individual high schools follow these recommendations is another question!</p>
<p>Our high school does something unusual. A community college teacher teaches Calculus at the high school. The grade goes on the college transcript, not the high school. It is two semesters of college calculus. Many juniors take this class. Their senior year they take two more semesters, Linear Algebra in the fall, and the spring is called Discrete Math. Just to add to the confusion, there is also a high school class called discrete math, which is different, much lower level, which some students take instead of Calculus.</p>