i am currently a junior in hs looking to possibly complete calculus I over the summer for college credits. i would proceed to take ap calculus bc at my high school senior year. im worried that ill do badly or that six weeks wont be long enough to fully learn the information. im taking honors precalculus now and have a natural affinity for math and am also looking to major in it in college!! is this a good decision?
AP Calc BC is Calculus I and Calculus II.
If you get a 5 in the AP Calc BC, you get credit for both. Hence, it’s not really worth taking Calculus I over the summer for college credits since AP Calc BC will void it.
Exceptions exist (but then those schools like CalTech don’t even accept APs or college credits so…)
I think it’s not a bad idea to “self-study” (look over a bit) Calculus I over the summer. Just note that your AP Calc BC will re-study them so I think it’s honestly a bit waste of money (and time) to go ‘take Calculus I over the summer for college credits’.
Enjoy your summer. Don’t fret too much.
And as for ‘looking to major in it in college’. Sure. Not a bad idea if you have affinity for it. I ended up taking pretty much all of undergrad math (Modern Algebra, Real Analysis, yadada) though I am at the end of the day, a ‘CS’ major. Still, math is a beautiful subject and I highly recommend anyone who has an affinity for it to at least give a try. It’s a very abstract and well worth the journey I feel.
Just be aware math as a math major is very different from math for most engineers, etc. Math as a math major is more abstract and proof heavy.
I think a good mature while entertaining book for Calculus for math majors is honestly Courant’s Introduction to Calculus. (-towards CollegeConfidential Members who would reply otherwise- Yes, I think Apostol is more in-depth but that ‘thing’ is a bit too dry for a simple high school student for many. Spivak I don’t know much about sadly)
But since those books can be ‘a bit’ dry and not-the-most-fun thing over the summer for a junior, I think the AP Calculus BC 5 steps to a 5 is more than enough for the AP.
But if you really want to do some serious studying and see what being a pure/applied math major in college really entails, those books I recommended aren’t that bad to ‘gloss’ over at least over summer.
Overall though, honestly, don’t worry much over summer. ‘Thinking’ of ideas for college essays is already more than enough stress for a high schooler anyways and colleges don’t care at all.
“What Is Mathematics? An Elementary Approach to Ideas and Methods”
also has good reviews. Maybe just ditch Calculus studying all together and just have fun reading ‘fun’ and ‘inspiring’ math books. Cause Calc BC should teach you Calc 1 and Calc 2 in high school anyways.
my issue is that in my school im not sure that im allowed to jump straight into AP calculus BC, but it seems like a better question for my counselor, lol. thank you though, and i will look into what you recommend
Definitely do find a way (even if it could be taxing for you) to take AP Calc BC.
The credits alone one gains from AP Calc BC is more than justifiable to taking it if one is going to major in a math oriented field.
Having stated all that, it is entirely possible (and quite the norm in fact) to take AP Calc BC exam without taking the AP Calc BC course. So if all comes to worst, you can always self study and take the test separately senior year.
However, I think it is in your best interest to do anything to get enrolled into AP Calc BC.
After all, AP Calc BC is after PreCalculus. And AP Calc BC was meant for math, physics, engineering majors (basically for people like you).
Anyways, I spent much of my high school education ignoring what my counselors had said and I regret nothing in doing so. In fact, if I followed many of my advisers’ tips, I’m sure I would have deeply regretted my decisions. So, be courageous and be willing to fight for (not physically of course) enrollment in AP Calc BC.
I mean it was meant for students like you at end of day. Tell your counselor you want to be a math major and I think that should be more than enough.