<p>Hey everyone. So, my school does not offer a Calculus BC - only AB. I was wondering if it would be better for self study for BC, or not risk it and jsut take AB?</p>
<p>This is my first year taking AP tests, but yes I'm a senior. The other tests I'll be taking is Statistics and Physics B.</p>
<p>I do pretty well in mathematics. For the first quarter of the year, I recieved an A+ in Calculus (though, it's only the first quarter, so I'm not really relying on this figure.) I really really want to score high on my Calc AP exam though, so should I risk it by taking the BC instead of AB? I'm also kind of worried that since this will be my first experience with takin an AP test, even if I am familiarized enough with the material, the format or something of the test might be what I'm not sued to and that may throw me another challenge.</p>
<p>I’m going to bump this one and add my own question on to it -</p>
<p>My school only offers an AP Calc AB class, but with a twist - if you take the highest math classes available each year, the class you take junior year is essentially spent on pre-calc the first half of the year and the beginning of AP Calc the second half (almost all of derivation). That means that by the beginning of senior year, you’ve already taken approximately half of the entire AP Calc AB course, so the first third of senior year is review, followed by the rest of the material for the remaining two-thirds.</p>
<p>I am interested in self-studying for the BC exam, as it doesn’t seem to be too much more information; my goal is to convince a friend or two to attempt it along with me. I have two questions before we put that effort in, however:</p>
<p>First, is it truly worth it? I plan on majoring in engineering, so I know that it might have more application than elsewhere, and one of my friends is looking into mathematics, which would obviously be worth it, but the third friend wants to major in English - would this be pointless for him? (All three of us are either taking or have finished the AB course at this time).</p>
<p>Alesteors: Taking the BC exam also gives you an AB subscore, so, for example, you may do poorly on the BC exam, but at least on the AB you could still do well. So from this perspective, I would say go for it. Also, I’m not sure how much you AP scores will matter after College admissions (in which case your exam is being taken too late to have an effect) so in this case I would also say go for it. On the side of workload and such, in my class (I arrived three weeks into the class, and was behind) we were REALLY behind by the end of the year, and didn’t get to do much series and sequences stuff, so I studied that myself (and ended with a 5). And since you’re taking AB anyways, if you have any problems, you could ask your teacher for help, as I’m sure he/she probably can help you. tl;dr: Go ahead, you do not have much to lose.</p>
<p>tonysdg: I have heard that engineering and mat related majors want you take their math courses at college, but for a major in like English they may accept your math credits (I may be wrong though - someone else should verify this). And your books are fine, newer editions are generally just error free and re-structured.</p>
<p>Self-studying BC is doable, but note that the BC exam is an upgraded version of the AB exam (more topics, exam is a bit more difficult)</p>
<p>Self-initiative is the key here. You’ll be running into some BC topics that will make you go “what the (censored)?” Taylor and MacLaurin Series is the major killer here. You also have to learn what the series tests are. Some example of series tests include the nth term test, integral test, Direct Comparison test, Limit Comparison test, root test, ratio test, alternate series test, alternate convergence test, power series, interval of convergence, ratio of convergence, and more. Don’t forget Euler’s Method, integration by parts, trig substitution, L’Hopital Higher Order…</p>
<p>…and you will also need to know your AB stuff cold. Majority of the people who earn excellent scores on the BC exam know their AB stuff without hesitation. </p>
<p>Those are the majority of the BC topics that I listed. I know that I’m missing a few topics here and there (I’m a current BC student myself, and those are the things that I know so far that are confirmed BC topics). But my point is - and I hate to be brutally honest to others - is that you will need to know your calculus and your algebra very, very well, AND take it many steps above refining the math skills that was listed. I know you desire to succeed, but don’t charge head on without thinking about this thoroughly. Last thing you really want is to sink your foot into a quagmire of misery. </p>
<p>Thanks for the responses everyone. Yeah, tony, that’s what kind of stinks about my school as well, Calc AB is the highest mathematics class offered.</p>
<p>Will - you mentioned that the BC portion is much harder etc. and you need to know your AB materials cold. Is this referring to the AB portion as well? By this I mean, is the portion which contributes to your AB subscore on the BC exam more difficult then the AB material on the AB exam?</p>
<p>And don’t worry, I will think this through very much, and there are other factors I’m going to be taking into consdieration, I just wanted to hear some opinions from you guys. Keep 'em coming!</p>
<p>Some of the AP Calculus AB questions are used in the AB Calculus BC exam. Therefore, the difficulty of the Calculus AB questions on the BC exam is at the same level with the questions found on the AB exam. Those questions are not hard if you 1) had previous exposure, or 2)you’re strong with your math skills. </p>
<p>And heck, the BC exam has 50% AB questions, 50% BC questions. The meaning behind knowing your Calculus AB material cold is because you should be able to tear through the AB-level questions, and earn easy points towards your total raw score for your BC score as well as the AB subscore. </p>
<p>The BC questions is where it gets nail-biting. If you know your AB material well, that could help offset potential losses that will come from incorrectly answering BC questions.</p>
<p>very interesting, Willdasnail had really helpful info, I am taking alg 2 and trig as a sophomore, and taking World Online Olympiad Training, as well as self studying calculus BC, then some people told me to do AB instead, I think I will stick with BC since it’s a challenge and Calculus so far doesn’t seem hard, and I am confident about my math skills. </p>