Hi y’all!
So I’m going to be a senior this coming semester and I need help deciding which Calc to take. I’m usually decent in the math department. My past grades have been:
8th- Algebra H B+/B+
9th- Geometry H A-/A
10th- Algebra 2 H B/B+
11th- Pre Cal H A-/A
Also, I want my schedule to be challenging but not overbearing, so for context here is my planned senior schedule (without Calc):
AP Biology (2 periods)
AP English Literature
Orchestra
AP Gov/ AP Macroeconomics
Thanks for the help!
Figure out if they intergrate Ab into BC, meaning if they reteach the topics, or are you expected to know it. If you go with BC, you don’t need to take math again in college, which is nice for you.
For college admission purpose, it makes no difference whether you take AB or BC. Go with AB and be thorough.
HOWEVER, your senior schedule is missing a foreign language. If you didn’t take AP Foreign Language junior year, do so now.
Thanks for all the replies! I actually did take AP Spanish Lang in junior year and decided not to take AP Spanish Lit because I wanted one free period.
In terms of grades, senior year is not too important for college admissions. With that in mind, I would take BC because a) the AP BC exam has 45% 5 rate (vs 21% for AB) and b) you can enter with more college credit/have more background if you end up re-taking.
^i would NOT recommend a student to skip both calc 1&2 (sem) or 1,2,3 (quarters) if they’re going to be STEM majors. They could easily take AB and start at Calc1 to make sure they master the material, too. College is not a race. Skip not because you can get credit, but because you feel you’ve mastered the material and will be comfortable in the next level.
For humanities, no calculus is required, so that Ab would give sufficient math credits and OP would be done with calculus (but would have to take Statistics still).
As for the importance of senior grades for colleges: manypublic universities use only 9-11 or 10-11. They only want senior grades to be 1-C range, that’s it. However for all private and selective programs, first quarter/first semester grade WILL matter and may make the difference between two decisions.
@MYOS1634 AB doesn’t give susfficient math credits at some schools. And you may still need to take Calc 2 anyway. So Bc might be a better bet, depending on the school OP wants. First quarter grades matter as long as you don’t get excessive amounts of B’s or and C’s. As long as you have mostly A’s you should be fine. Why would you not recommend skipping calc 1 &2 for stem majors if they actually master the subject? The OP should make the decision to skip or not, based on how much OP feels he has mastered the material, backed up by AP scores. If you retake Calc 1 in college, your wasting your time and thousands of dollars that could be used for better things.
@dblazer correlation doesn’t prove causation. The AB test also has less people taking it. For example people may be more slef-sellecting in taking BC. Remeber the AB people also include people, who are less good at math., thus bringing down the average. In order to assess difficulty, one needs to consider the curve and the overall difficulty of the questions.
Can you substantiate “AB doesn’t give sufficient math credits at some schools”?
Many top schools don’t give AP credit but most generally recognize AP Calculus scores in complement to placement tests.
Calc 2 is required for specific fields, rarely for biology. But even if OP were to take BC, s/he’d have to “retake” calc2, so it doesnt matter. For most majors, calc1 is sufficient (also for premeds - the new requirements are 1 semester calc, 1 semester stats or biostats, and no longer 2 semesters calc).
And for humanities, no calc class required. Zero.
In my opinion, the free period is more problematic than AB vs. BC (I repeat: no difference for admissions). A free period senior year is frowned upon by adcoms unless the student is taking a crazy load like 5 or 6 APs.
OP: is there a “fun” class you could take? Or another class beside AP Spanish Lit? What about Philosophy 101 at the local community college, which would allow you to keep your free period but would still project rigor?
Is a free period really frowned upon? I am technically taking 5 APs, although they may not be that difficult. I suppose I could take another AP class like AP Stats or AP Environmental Science. The fun classes at my school aren’t really fun in my opinion…
I don’t know…I kind of have been wanting to take stats and I am applying to pretty selective schools so I don’t want to be hindered by a senior release.
*as a side note: I am going to eschool health, most likely second semester of senior year.
Senior release is okay IF you do something with it - can be a job, a cc class, an internship… Can’t be “so that I can be home earlier to play more WoW”.
I found this internship that looks extremely interesting. My only reservation is that it requires 15-20 hours a week from August 26 to December 4. Would it be manageable with my current schedule, taking to account college apps, ACT prep and other extracurricular activities?
Thanks for the insight! I figured it wouldn’t be possible. However, I am still trying to find less demanding opportunities, most likely shadowing a doctor my parents know. If I were take the six periods and the shadowing position, would that be okay for selective schools? Or should I still add another class?