Which AP Calculus is better?

Test Preparation AP Test Preparation
1

<p>Which test do elite colleges prefer, AP Calculus AB or BC?
And, what's the difference between the two? Is BC significantly harder than AB?</p>

2

<p>Yes and Yes</p>

3

<p>BC calculus is preferred… obviously, since it’s the harder version. I don’t think it’s significantly harder though, but other people seem to think so.</p>

4

<p>BC is definitely preferred. It’s not really that it’s more difficult than AB, it’s just that it covers more material.</p>

5

<p>BC is preferred. It covers more material, probably moves at a faster pace than AB, and covers polar and series–2 concepts that many BC kids absolutely hate.</p>

6

<p>I hate polar more than series to be honest. Polars was like the most unintuitive **** ever. Thank god they don’t make you draw them by hand.</p>

7

<p>If you’re not a math whiz, AB will seem a lot easier than BC. It doesn’t really matter which of the two you take, unless the college you want to attend gives more credit for one over the other.</p>

8

<p>At my school they prefer you take both (AB first semester then BC second), yet you don’t have to. I’m definitely going to take AB over BC because I just got out of Hons. Pre-Calculus and it would probably be better to go to the lower AP-Calculus class. But would they honestly care if you took AP-Calculus AB over BC? I mean most people do not even go up to AP Calculus…</p>

9

<p>^Ya seriously…</p>

<p>I would take BC though if it was me, not because of the admissions advantage but because of the learning experience.</p>

10

<p>I would take both to build a strong base, and just because it would be that interesting.</p>

11

<p>Well, at the school I’m going to, they don’t offer either one, but I’m self studying it.</p>

12

<p>My school offers a class for each of them, with Precalc as a prerequisite. Generally, Precalc students take AB and Precalc Honors take BC, but it doesn’t really matter whether you took Honors or not.</p>

13

<p>For colleges that give AP credits, usually AB is considered 1 semester/quarter of college calc and BC is considered 2 semesters/quarters of college calc.</p>

<p>If you think you can do well in BC, go for it.</p>

14

<p>calc bc ftw!</p>

15

<p>BC. It’s not that much more information (but what there is gets rather annoying), and you place out of two semesters instead of one at most colleges</p>

16

<p>From what I’ve heard, BC also covers topics in Calculus I and Calculus II, whereas AB only covers Calculus I topics.</p>

17

<p><a href=“http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/ap-tests-preparation/927984-guide-self-studying-calculus-bc-while-taking-ab.html[/url]”>http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/ap-tests-preparation/927984-guide-self-studying-calculus-bc-while-taking-ab.html&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;

18

<p>Calculus BC is more prestigious than Calculus AB.</p>

<p>Unlike some people, I find series quite interesting and enjoying to learn.</p>

19

<p>^I was one of those “some people” :)</p>

20

<p>I liked series a lot. Polar and solids of revolution/without rotation, not so much.</p>