<p>Just wondering.</p>
<p>Yes, I am a freshman.</p>
<p>Calc BC is like "Honors" Calc AB (you move through it faster), with additional material.</p>
<p>Calculus AB is usually first year of AP Calculus and Calculus BC is usually second year of AP Calculus.</p>
<p>AB consists of derivatives and integrals
BC consists of derivatives and integrals and parametrics and series and..</p>
<p>AB is usually 2 semesters of college calculus
BC is usually 3.</p>
<p>oh yeah and some schools have it so you can skip AB and go to BC because BC is just a review of AB and has even more concepts, my school you have to take one before the other</p>
<p>At many schools you choose one or the other - you don't take AB and then BC.</p>
<p>As a BC student here is my input.</p>
<p>I learned AB material in a university course in about 6 weeks, it was a 4 univ credit class and I got an A</p>
<p>When I enrolled in BC for my school (which i just finished, and took the test today >.<), I must say I had to catch up with a tiny bit of material that my univ class didnt go over.</p>
<p>Overall there isn't much difference, except maybe 2 weeks of more material</p>
<p>new things that comes to mind is mostly:</p>
<p>Series/Sequences (taylor, lagrange, limit ratio rules etc)
Integration by parts uv-int(vdu)</p>
<p>We learned this in one semester (wow.) and this semester we basically only reviewed for AP test, nothing else</p>
<p>Take AB, then BC, both 5.0 classes. I consider my BC class a free period</p>
<p>BC is basically AB with some more material added:
-Series
-Polar & Parametric Coordinates
-Integration by Parts
-Partial Fractions
-L'Hopital's Rule
It's really not that much stuff. The only thing that is somewhat difficult is series.</p>
<p>At my school, the same teacher teaches BC and AB, so we cover all the BC topics during AB. BC is basically 8 months of multivariable calc with a month of review of the BC topics.</p>
<p>I think BC is much easier than AB since once you cross the AB ramp then anything else is fine</p>
<p>BC stuff like series and polar were definitely not as new and challenging as what I experienced when I was first exposed to Calc AB stuff</p>
<p>I'm in AB, </p>
<p>we learned L'Hopital's Rule though ;)</p>
<p>the ap exam yesterday WAS AWFUL</p>
<p>AB is covers what's in a typical first semester calc class and BC covers the second semester. If you take both you should be able to skip a year's worth of math and go straight into multivariate calc. Knowing calc freshman year is a huge advantage if you're going into a technical field, as you generally start using concepts from it within the first few days of your other classes.</p>
<p>There's no difference. They both have ridiculous curves, BC only changes some AB questions to make it look "different."</p>
<p>BTW, have I said it before? Precalc is the biggest waste of a year in school math.</p>
<p>Piccolojunior, if precal is a huge waste of time, could I skip straight from Algebra II to Calculus.</p>
<p>I didn't take advantage of the advanced math thing in middle school (I was already in all Pre-AP and gifted/talented) so, my school does math like this:</p>
<p>Normal:
9th- Algebra I
10th- Geometry
11th- Algebra II
12th- Precalculus</p>
<p>Advanced:
9th- Geometry
10th- Algebra II
11th- Precal
12th- Calc</p>
<p>My school has:
Normal:
9th: Math I (Honors)
10th: Math II (Honors)
11th: Math III (Honors)
12th: Pre-Calc (Honors) or Calculus</p>
<p>Advanced:
9th: Math II (Honors)
10th: Math III (Honors)
11th: Pre-Calc (Honors)
12th: Calculus (or AP Calculus AB)</p>
<p>So someone can skip pre-calculus and go straight to Calculus if they take Math III as a junior, but it's only recommended for those in Math III Honors. Sophomores in Math III/III Honors have to take a pre-calc course if they continue Math.</p>
<p>What is pre-calculus anyway?</p>
<p>^ at my school, pre-calc is an incoherent, yet useful course with topics like limits, polar graphs, matrices, and a brief introduction to calculus.</p>
<p>Kidwithshirt is right about the differences.</p>
<p>We learned taylor polynomials and maclaurin series in 1 day.. and I wasn't there.</p>
<p>Skip pre-calc by any means necessary.</p>
<p>I remember precalc being a pretty easy math class, and I wish they had covered a bit more material with it. That said, having spent half a year learning the unit circle and trig identities, I'm still the only one of my friends here in grad school that still knows them by heart.</p>
<p>if you are going to skip pre calc, make sure your good at math... im skipping pre calc to go straight to ab calculus. it varies with schools but usually they dont let you skip pre calc unless ur "special"</p>
<p>Long story short: Calculus BC is hard as heck. (I'm taking it right now) We covered all the AB material before winter break. That shows you how fast we move.</p>
<p>As somebody who skipped pre-calc. DON'T DO IT! It seems like a waste at the time, but it really does set down basic trig things you NEED to know in calc.</p>
<p>My class already learned about unit circles and trig identities because they're on our Math III Regents. As a sophomore, I can't go straight to AP Calculus (or regular) because that's the last Math class there is. I have to take pre-calc. The juniors in my class can go straight to Calculus though.</p>