Should I drop AP Calc AB?

Pre-College Issues High School Life
1

<p>AP Calc makes me want to bang my head against the wall. So far we've done 1 1/2 units and my grade in the class is barely a C-. I study a lot for the tests and quizzes, but so far I'm doing really badly on them. I also have the harder AP Calc teacher at my school, so that doesn't help. </p>

<p>I talked to my teacher about if I should drop the class after we got our first test back, but he just told me that I shouldn't because it's "only" the first test, but that test was on easy stuff (limits, introduction to calculus) and I did really bad. I'm worried that the class will only get harder and harder, and I won't be able to get at least a B in the class. </p>

<p>Any tips on how to improve my grade/performance on exams? Is there any good study aids online or any good calculus books? I know about Khan Academy, but that's pretty about it. If any of you have resources that could help me with AP Calc, that would be great. Also any tips on catching mistakes would be great also, since I tend to do that a lot.</p>

2

<p>Patrickmjt on youtube is really good</p>

3

<p>I usually try to watch all the videos on Khan Academy about a certain topic before our teacher goes over it, so that instead of my teacher introducing me to the idea, he’s really just doing a review - for instance, I watched all the videos on Limits and took notes, and then for two weeks in class, I just listened to my teacher “teach” limits when I already understood 85-100% of what was being said. </p>

<p>I’m trying to do that today with Derivatives since that’s what we are on.</p>

4

<p>i would drop it it it’s stressing you out this much. but it depends on your goals for college. if you plan to go to a top university like ivy leauge schools, i would try to keep it, but if that’s not important to you, i would drop it. it’s not good for your gpa either, and that’s important for college admissions.</p>

5

<p>Would you be dropping into a standard-level Calculus class or be taking no math at all? </p>

<p>If the former, then I say drop it. If the latter, I say stick with it and follow the advice of preamble1776</p>

6

<p>I would be taking “no math” if I dropped, but right now I’m also taking AP Stats. So if I drop, I’ll still have a math class, just not calculus-related.</p>

7

<p>I would drop it, not only is it stressing you out but also it can bring down your cumulative GPA if you get a C or lower.</p>

8

<p>In that case, I say drop it. This is a very common practice for students on the “advanced track” of mathematics in my school (because they don’t want to take calculus as seniors). AP Stats will still look good to colleges.</p>