<p>Most high schools where I live (MA) offer BC, AB, Physics C, and just about every other relevant AP (usually not Economics or something like that).</p>
<p>But you’re in MA. Lets think about this. The top performing states are probably (dont hold me to this) Massachusetts, Vermont, Marylad, Conneticutt, and some others. That’s about at least 10% of the country. Leaving you at most 90% of the states with a noticeable decline in education.</p>
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<p>Completely false. The average student does not take calculus in high school, you need to wake up to reality.</p>
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<p>Also false, most engineering students at my college including me started with calculus 1, and I am definitely not “behind”. In fact I’m ahead of most students that took AP calc because most of them had to repeat Calc 1 and 2 because they weren’t nearly as prepared as they thought they were.
Feel free to find some statistics that verify what you said though, I guarantee you will be looking for the rest of your life. And I don’t mean just for your school, I mean the average for the entire country.</p>
<p>If we really think AP Calc and Calc in HS is officially normal, someone needs to double check reality. The vast majority of students in college take Calculus I and the entire sequence in their first year. I know some that had credit that do that. </p>
<p>As a math major who researches curricula and math education, I am reasonably confident that you won’t be “behind” in math. Colleges do have plans and paths available for people from different math backgrounds. AP Calc BC is not the norm. AP Calc AB is not the norm. Alg 2/Trig is more of the norm than Pre-Calc is.</p>
<p>@Bl4ke360: I agree with you. But from your points it seem to me you’re saying that taking the AP is basically pointless because sometime students still have to take Cal in college again. Are you saying that taking AP Cal is overblown?</p>
<p>As I interpret it, I think he’s pointing out the difference in preparation levels of students who take AP calc at different places.</p>
<p>It’s pointless for most students because it’s not going to make you graduate any sooner, and most students that take it aren’t prepared for the next math level. In fact most of my classmates in physics and calculus said they wish they didn’t take AP because it ended up being a waste of time.</p>
<p>And why is that? Isn’t the sole purpose of AP courses is suppose to ready you up for college?</p>
<p>It would be a much better idea to take classes at your CC, that would also mean far less time to complete them. From my experience AP classes don’t prepare you nearly enough, and they are dragged out for such a long time that they’re a waste of time for the most part.</p>
<p>It’s definitely more convenient to have the class right at school, though. A lot of people don’t take AP at all and are still okay at college, so I think AP is decent even if you have to study a few things on your own.</p>
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<p>Did you not see the edit to my post? I recognized my error.
However, I don’t think you can deny that you are behind those who do take calc in high school. The number of students that repeat calc 1/calc 2 in college is around 25-30%. The majority are ahead.</p>
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<p>What you’re saying is you’re going to be behind the people that are ahead of you, which is obvious. I’m saying you’re not going to be behind the average student, or behind where you’re expected to be. In college, you’re expected to be taking calculus 1 as a freshman for STEM majors. Anything higher than that means you’re ahead. For any other major it doesn’t matter at all since you’ll only need GE math to graduate.</p>
<p>That’s correct. When you say that AP Calculus is pointless for most students, you’re completely incorrect.</p>
<p>For top colleges (like MIT) you’re required to take calculus in high school.</p>
<p>I’m not talking about MIT, I’m talking about most colleges. MIT doesn’t represent most colleges. And in case you misunderstood what I said, I said you’re expected to be taking calculus 1 as a freshman in college for STEM majors, not as a freshman in high school.</p>
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<p>I don’t think anyone can be that deluded - expecting people to take calc as high school freshmen is ridiculous.</p>
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<p>Well reading some people’s posts in this thread makes me think otherwise</p>
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<p>I don’t know where you got this idea, but it’s false. It’s recommended, but not required. If it was required it would mean MIT wouldn’t offer beginning level calculus classes, which they do. They even offer algebra courses as a matter of fact.</p>
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<p>You might think of it as required, because the vast majority of MIT freshmen have taken calc in high school (> 90%). Precalculus is required, so why would they have algebra courses? (are you sure you don’t mean abstract algebra?)</p>
<p>ecouter11</p>
<p>“I am in Calc III/Linear Algebra right now (taking it from Stanford EPGY) and it’s very practical/mechanical.”</p>
<p>Interesting because at most colleges linear algebra is primarily proof based.</p>
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<p>A second course in linear algebra is always proof-based. In some colleges though, the first linear algebra course is what I’d describe as a semester of solving AX = B.</p>