Skipping AB and going straight to BC...your thoughts?

<p>Hello CC!</p>

<p>I am a rising senior and my school does not offer a double blocked ABC course anymore. My middle school did not offer algebra I as a 7th grader, so I fell behind in math a year.My AP stat and precalc teachers recommended I take BC and just skip AB altogether. From people with experience in both, can anyone tell me if this is a good/bad idea? I am a strong math student (5 on AP stat for all that counts lol and an A in all classes in high school), but have been warned by the calc AB students in my grade that I will die next year if I skip AB. My teacher who recommended it actually used to teach ABC and told me that in BC they go over all the AB stuff in full detail again, so I should not worry. Please give me your insight CC students!</p>

<p>Thanks ahead of time</p>

<p>It’s definitely doable, if you work hard. Some people do die if they skip AB but some people excel. Work hard and you’ll be fine. Teachers know best in general.</p>

<p>BC covers everything that’s in AB. It’s not something generally taken in sequence. It’s either one or the other.</p>

<p>Doable, but if you’re worried about it, just self-study limits and derivatives over the summer. Very easy topics, and you won’t be too behind.</p>

<p>I’m not doing AB at all because the curriculum in my school is such that everything that you need for BC is taught as well.</p>

<p>Well, it seems like you’re a very good math student and a hardworking student so I think skipping AB wouldn’t hurt you. </p>

<p>I would just recommend consulting your teachers if you encounter any problems in the AB section.</p>

<p>I think most people skip AB altogether if they plan on taking BC. My school doesn’t even teach BC so I have to take AB next year, but if I switched schools to a school that taught BC, I would definitely take it.</p>

<p>Its doable, if you spend a lot of time getting the AB AND BC concepts down. Either way, good luck to you.</p>

<p>Just note that slightly more than half of the people who take Calc BC have a VERY strong background in Calculus (either they studied really hard, or had gone through a year of Calculus AB/AP and just only need to refresh AB material for the BC exam), so its going to be an uphill climb for you.</p>

<p>if your teacher recommends it, do it!!!
he can obviously see that you can handle it.</p>

<p>In reality, BC=ABC. So, you’ll get all of the AB material in your BC class; you’ll just go through it faster. I think it’s a good decision (that’s what I did this past year as a sophomore) to skip AB. Granted, the AB teacher at our school had only one 5 in all 3 of his classes last year, while the BC teacher (my teacher) had 1/3 of his 2 classes get 5’s.</p>

<p>The point is, know what the AB teacher and BC teacher are like. If your school’s AB teacher is like the BC teacher at my school and your school’s BC teacher is like the AB teacher at my school, you’re much better off taking AB.</p>

<p>It would be a waste of time to take both classes (if you had that option). BC simply covers a few more topics than AB. Frankly, the BC-specific topics aren’t any harder, maybe easier, than the mutual topics.</p>

<p>You’ll be fine to take BC; it’s only a little more work, and in the long run it will (potentially) get you out of twice as many classes.</p>

<p>A lot of kids in my school take BC directly after precalc-honors. It’s what I am doing next year! I heard the teacher just has to move a bit faster to accommodate the unique BC chapters before AP exam time. So it shouldn’t be that harder than AB.</p>

<p>Just take BC. Seriously, about 90% of the BC curriculum is a joke. Only sequences/series and Taylor polynomials are hard, and even those you can understand after some more time studying and practicing.</p>

<p>At our school, you pretty much do one or the other; the really smart people do calc BC junior year and AP stats/calc 3 or calc 3/ diff eq senior year.</p>

<p>I am good at math, but not like a math prodigy. Yet, after much pondering, I decided to take the BC exam between AB and BC. Having taken the BC exam and heard the scores over the phone, I never regret my decision of taking BC.</p>

<p>yeah at my school, they don’t allow you to take both you have to take one or the other. If you switch schools after taking ab like I did though, they allow you to take BC afterwards.</p>

<p>It is definitely doable though</p>

<p>Thanks for the tips…At my school most kids do AB as juniors and BC as seniors (if on the fast track) and AP stat as an elective sometime in those years. After hearing the responses, I feel much better about my choice! thanks!</p>

<p>Is it possible to take the AB class and then take the BC test after self studying the BC material? Is that doable and if so, how difficult?</p>

<p>What are your thoughts on taking the BC exam but only taking the AB class? I started out the year in BC, but for various valid reasons, I dropped down to AB a couple months into the school year. I did fairly well in the class–but not extremely well. Anyway, I wouldn’t receive AP credit for the AB class at my college, so, a couple weeks before the exam, I learned some BC topics and later took the BC exam. I somehow ended up receiving a 5 although I didn’t feel too confident after the exam. I understand the BC exam has a very generous curve though. </p>

<p>So, how common this is? I am trying to persuade future AB students to also take the BC exam since the topics are fairly similar. Thoughts?</p>

<p>Apparently BC covers "all of the topics covered in AP Calculus AB, as well as convergence tests for series, Taylor and/or Maclaurin series, the use of parametric equations, polar functions, including arc length in polar coordinates, calculating curve length in parametric and function (y = f(x)) equations, L’H</p>

<p>AB Calculus shouldn’t even exist…</p>