A lot of people on here have been telling me that I need to take AP Calc, but both my counselor and my math teacher last year said it would be better to take College Calc (because I did not take pre calc). I am going to be a senior this year and I want to take the right math so I will be prepared for college. What should I do?
Check your precalculus knowledge with these placement tests:
http://www.math.buffalo.edu/rur/rurci3.cgi
http://math.tntech.edu/e-math/placement/index.html
https://math.berkeley.edu/courses/choosing/placement-exam
If you have difficulty with more than small bits of the precalculus material that you can self-review, then you should take precalculus before taking calculus (whether in high school or college).
Many engineering students take calculus in college. Do not take it in HS if you are unprepared for it.
If you are not prepared for AP Calc then take College Calc. Don’t set yourself up for failure. Most engineering students repeat calculus freshman year anyway.
In an ideal case most engineering schools we have visited strongly advised taking AP calc in High School even though the student likely would take it again in college, simply so that you could hit the ground running. Howver, not every case is ideal, in fact few are, so if your school thinks college calc is more fitting for you, then take that and it will get you from where you are now, with no pre-calc, up to where you need to be for starting college-level calc in college. Taking something that you don’t have the background preparation for this year would hurt far more than help.
Is the question whether to take pre-calc or calculus in HS?
What are math are you taking senior year?
@rhandco yes it’s what math I should take senior year. Right now I’m signed up for college calc
I’m assuming that your school has:
- pre-calc but you have not taken it - you have taken algebra 2 and trigonometry though?
- college calc which is “not AP” but will cover derivation and integration
- AP calc (AB and/or BC?)
My recommendation, if you were strong in algebra 2 and trigonometry, is to take AP Calc AB, if your school offers it.
The issue is what different high schools call different classes. “college calc” would be interpreted as an actual college course, not “college prep calc” which would be non-honors non-AP calculus at a high school level.
I know kids who took “regular calc” in high school and did well on the AP Calc AB test with some studying and little extra learning. So I think if you are planning to be an engineer, take AP Calc AB and see how you do.
If they only have AP Calc BC, I would suggest taking college calc and see if the teacher will help you self-study to take the AP Calc AB exam.
I hope that makes sense - different high schools have different names for classes.
Why not take AP Calc but not take the AP test?
College calculus should be like BC in terms of material covered, unless it is for business majors. So AB should be easier.
Try the precalculus quizzes in reply #1 to see how ready you are for any calculus course.
If your counselors and math teacher recommend you take precalc - take precalc. You’ll be taking calculus again in your freshman year.