<p>In my school, pre-calc honors is the hardest math class in the school (not b/c of the material but the teacher is extremely hard). I am planning to take it next year but people who are currently in it tell me not to b/c even the number one student in the junior class is getting a C+. Anyway....i was wondering if I should take the course over the summer at a certain school and get credit for pre-calc and go straight to AP Calc AB (which i hear is much easier than pre-calc honors) my junior year. In my senior year i would have no math but i would replace it with another AP class. Is this a good idea and do med schools and other colleges look down upon doing this?</p>
<p>not to mention....taking the actual pre-calc honors would lower my gpa and probably my rank also. I am also not considering taking average pre-calc b/c i need honors classes to keep my gpa up.</p>
<p>I don't know too much about how colleges would see it, but I can say that I would recommend taking AP Calculus AB in your Junior year, and then going for the gold with AP Calculus BC in your Senior year. I'm stuck with AB in my senior year and I would have loved to have the opportunity to take BC for college credit, because I hear that AB isn't acceptable as actual college credit. As a parent lives his dreams through his child, I say go forth and do me one better! However, that's just my personal opinion.
I believe that if you have a chance, you should always take advantage of what you can do. I personally think, but can't confirm, that colleges want 4 years of Math so BC can be a good bet.</p>
<p>Ehh.. on a side note.. I heard that AP Calculus AB isn't acceptable for most colleges for actual college credit. Could someone verify that?</p>
<p>I would def. recommend to take a summer course to skip honors pre-calc to go to AP calc AB. However, I probably wouldn't take any other calculus (e.g. BC) after that in school; I'd get other APs in. If you want to take the BC exam, which I highly recommend, I'd suggest you study on your own for it the year you take AP calc or the next year or go straight to BC calc.</p>
<p>AB covers 1st semester Calculus, BC covers 2nd semester. 3rd and 4th semester are often called Differential Equations, Linear Algebra, and or Multivariable Calculus. So, to test out of "calculus", yeah, you need BC, because otherwise you won't have half of the calculus you need to know. If you just take AB, you should be able to test into 2nd semester calc.</p>
<p>Hate to say it but I think you should stick it out. If you think thats bad wait until college, you will have many hard classes, but you will learn to deal. I currently am in honors pre-calc, the class started out with 30 and is down to 10. Teachers try to scare off some ppl in the beginning. I'd at least give it a try yourself before skipping it.</p>
<p>I don't think you should skip. You have to learn to deal with things being hard. Because I think if you're able to go to AP Calc, then Precal shouldn't be hard.</p>
<p>that kid is probably having trouble with precalc because he had such an easier time with traditional math. calculus is very different from algebra or geometry, so you actually have to study a little bit. i wouldnt get scared off by the difficulty of the class, as college classes arent likely to be easier.</p>
<p>princeton grants one semester for 4 on AB, two semesters for BC. if you get a 5 on either, youd be placed the same, it seems.</p>
<p>i decided to take pre-calc honors, hopefully i'll atleast get a B-. And AnOnymous5, that kid thats number one averaged an A+ for the year in both ALG 2 honors and Geometry Honors (better than i got) and he studies more than anyone i know, so i dont really think its him. About the college classes, calc in our school is easier than pre-calc in our school not b/c of the material, but b/c of the teacher and his tests. Like, we have easy teachers for calc in our school, so it is technically the same difficulty as ALG 2 Honors in our school, even though its harder material.......i think how i phrased that makes sense......anyway.....thanks to everyone for their input</p>
<p>im gonna be doing precalculus over the summer ( i'll be getting a tutor ) so that I could do calculus honors or AP calc AB this fall ( junior year ) ... If I were in your place, I would have done precalculus in the summer ( not because the precalc course in your school is hard, but do it so that you could do AP calc ab in fall and AP calc BC in next..)</p>
<p>lol AB is a prerequisite for BC at ur school? we just go straight to either AB or BC, depending on skill level.</p>
<p>well not sure if its a prerequisite but am pretty sure that my math teacher wouldnt recommend me for BC .. she'd want me to do AB first and then do BC .....</p>
<p>i have another problem.....my GC screwed up my schedule fopr next year and i have to chose between latin 3 and pre-calc honors....which should i take. does taking 4 years of a language make that big of a difference on college apps. how much do colleges favor kids who take 4 yrs of a lauguage....does it really matter....what should i take?....lol, a lot of questions</p>
<p>I'm sorry, but this is just my opinion...ENJOY your summer! Ur only a kid once..try being more than JUST a student and live a little</p>
<p>do both. enjoy your summer and also do something constructive like take a course or do volunteer work. colleges - especially very selective ones - look very favorably upon students that used their summer time wisely. However, don't forget to enjoy your summer as well!!</p>