Hello,
My school has an IB Math HL course that I probably will be taking this fall. Because I am not a diploma candidate, I would be taking the AP Calc BC exam. There is an opportunity at my local community college to take Calculus 3 this fall. I am currently in Calculus 2 at a local university for the summer semester. I am looking into more selective colleges such as Stanford, MIT, Caltech, etc. In regards to their application process, does it look better for me to take the IB Course/AP Exam or the college class? Also note, the Calculus 3 course route could also lead into Calculus 4 for the spring semester.
Thank you for your help!
You can take the HL exam without being a diploma candidate. That’s what you should do. You can look at the websites of the schools you are considering to see what credit you would get for it.
Others may give you different advice, but I would stick with the IBHL . It is a known quantity to the colleges whereas CC classes differ from school to school. And the HL is very rigorous.
If you will already be completing college calculus 2, AP calculus BC or IB math HL will not give you any more advanced placement or subject credit (although IB math adds some additional topics like statistics). College calculus 3 will let you learn more advanced material.
AP calculus BC or IB math HL will look like you are repeating what you already learned (which can look like grade grubbing).