Hello! I am an 8th grader who is taking Algebra 1, which is offered at my school for accelerated students. I currently have plans for high school to do Precalculus in the summer after my sophomore year, so I can do AP Calc AB my junior year and AP Calc BC my senior year. I found a nearby community college that offers high school-friendly classes in the summer to high school students, including Precalculus. However, I’m not entirely sure if that means I’ll be able to get high school credit for that and quickly move on to AP Calc AB since it says completing these classes can reward you with college credit. Do I need to worry about that at all?
That’s a question for your high school. It is highly unlikely unlikely that you are the first student looking to accelerate. The math department undoubtedly has suggestions- all of which can wait until you are actually in HS
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You need to worry about summer going too fast and then falling behind in the next class. No college requires you to take BC.
And depending on your planned major, you might not take the credit anyway. Many in STEM are advised to repeat core classes.
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I guess I could wait until we start talking about high school third quarter. All students at my middle school will go to a single high school down the road from us (besides maybe a few students who are moving away), so I’ll probably ask the high school when we start registering for classes.
I am aware that it’s risky, and doing well, let alone surviving Precalc in a relatively small time period is a huge challenge, but I am preparing for the rigorous coursework I’ll be tasked with completing. And yes, I am not required to take BC, not even AB or precalc (CA college standards), but I am aiming for a good CS college, like maybe MIT, Stanford, UC Berkeley, or just any college with a good bachelor CS program, and I’d in turn have to compete with other applicants to get in those colleges.
Yes, I do plan to go through a STEM program in CS, like I mentioned earlier, so if what you’re saying is true about college credit, that’s fine. By the time I got into college, I would’ve already had to familiarize myself with concepts that college math classes go over, like limits, derivatives, integrals, and other concepts like functions. If what you say isn’t true, that’s also fine. There will be math courses covering more than what I know, like college probability, linear algebra, etc. I’ll just have to hope I can understand the curriculum taught in those classes as I’ve done previously.
Again, I’m still in junior high, and I probably don’t know much about college, even though I’ve been searching for answers to my questions about college, so I’ll take this into mind when accelerating/taking AP classes. Thanks 
It’s good to think but you can get into those schools even without.
It’s good to start thinking but it’s early. Get into hs. See how it goes.
Those schools don’t require BC ( or even AB).
It’s too early to throw this on yourself…
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Wait until you get to HS and seek out advice from your math teacher and guidance counselor.
Also agree that if you complete Calc AB in HS you will be fine.
A better solution may be to combine Geometry&Algebra2H, then take Precalculus H sophomore year. This may not be possible depending on your grade in algebra1 or your HS policy.
You are currently an 8th grader. Please please take the time to enjoy your high school years without feeling the need to be competitive for those tippy top three schools.
There are a LOT of good CS programs in this country, and many are not as competitive as the three you mentioned where acceptance rates are VERY low.
In addition to accelerated math, you also need excellent grades in your other HS courses, and for colleges that require the SAT or ACT a great score on that.
And you need to have a life!
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I am going to give you a different take on this then most. My sons high school has pre Calc in Sophomore(after freshman year) summer year. It’s fast but only pre approved students can accept this summer class. My son didn’t think it went too fast at all or the other students. They all finished high school at Multivarite Calc senior year. But this is the norm at his school. They even have further math classes now. As stated you need to check with your high school to see what’s allowed first.
Saying this the 3 schools you mentioned you probably won’t get into. I can say this for about any student since the acceptance rates are so low. Concentrate on your studies but make sure to have some fun. If your good at math and you could probably teach yourself to code just for fun. Do that first. Do some fun code things. Look at Codefy and other sites https://www.codefycs.org/
Some CS students will come in at Calc 1 and some more advanced. Probably more important to learn some coding then what math you will end up at. Some high schools have coding clubs, competitions, etc.
Yeah, I agree, learning to code is probably more important in my case. I actually have coded a lot for the past two years, in JavaScript (especially Node.js), and Python, and I’m learning C/C++ & Java. I am a part of my school’s robotics club and plan to continue that in high school. I’m not sure if I don’t wanna care about what math I end up in or not, but it’s probably fine in the end. It doesn’t do too much to my chances, that’s something I know. In the end, it’s all based on a variety of factors, and my math level is a small factor. These schools typically want people who are well-rounded and match their mission. It’s always worth a shot though, but I can’t say for sure, I haven’t stuck my head that far.
No US university requires BC for frosh admission. Only a small number specify any kind of calculus at all for frosh admission.
Whether your high school will include it on your record is up to your high school. However, when you apply to colleges for frosh admission, all high school and college courses must be included in your application, so it does not really matter whether a college course is also included in your high school record.
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Well that’s impressive. I figured you knew the basics of coding. So something that can be useful for college apps is how can you use your coding skills for a socal justice good or for something important to you? So how can you use your knowledge to help others? Engineering is used to improve people’s lives. How are you going to contribute to improve the world?
How’s that?
This will probably be more useful then what math your in BUT if your an advanced math student you don’t want to be bored also. Talk to the high school and see what options you have. Maybe your middle school teacher can help guide you?
AB versus BC is a small difference, and AB is already advanced (+1 math track).
That your high school has AB and BC as a two year sequence (instead of one year for BC including AB immediately after precalculus) indicates that the +2 math track is being overused by students who probably best belong in the +1 math track (and forcing +2 math track students to take calculus over two years slows them down to effectively +1).
Be aware that math in college during a normal semester covers material faster than you will see in high school (calculus in college is like BC including AB in one year or faster). An 8-week summer course in college will cover material faster than in a regular 15-week semester.
S24 took Precalc in summer after Junior year, so he can take AP Calc AB in Senior year. It actually worked out very well. He got an A in the class, and he is currently getting an A in AP Calc. The Precalc got him prepare for SAT. Which he took right after the summer and got 780 in Math. Additionally, because of the extra summer course, he got 5 years of Math in high school which is recommended by Cal Poly. To OP, instead of taking Precalc in summer to accelerate Math, some others took Geometry in summer. Good Luck.