<p>My son took Calculus AB freshman year, because his school (an Arts high school; he loves music as well as math) did not offer BC. He received an A in the class. We just learned that they will offer BC for the first time next year. Should he take BC as a sophomore, or AP Stats? </p>
<p>Let me first say that AP Calculus AB as a freshmen is crazy-- he must be very good at math. If he got a good score on the AP exam, you might have an engineer on your hands! =) But yes, BC or Stats would be the next step. It really doesn’t matter which one he takes sophomore/junior/senior year, but he might consider BC sophomore year since his knowledge from AB will still be fresh. </p>
<p>I think BC so he won’t forget anything.</p>
<p>BC; he can take stats as a junior.</p>
<p>BC. Would it be possible for him to take a higher-level class at a local college when he’s a junior?</p>
<p>If he really likes math he could look into taking both Calc BC and Stats at the same time! :D</p>
<p>I’m in the same situation as your son! I absolutely love music (I’m involved in band and choir at my high school, and have been since middle school) and have played piano since I was about six years old. However, I intend to major in engineering, so I have to learn to balance music classes as well as math/science classes at school. This past school year, I took both Calc AB and BC (1 semester each) and took the BC exam. If he has already completed Calc AB, BC should be a good mix between introducing challenging topics to him but also making it reasonable with the other activities he is most likely involved with. I’m taking AP Statistics this coming year, so I can tell you much about that, but if he can manage to fit both into his schedule (I’m not sure how his school works or if, like me, scheduling is often a challenge due to music classes) I would recommend it. If not, have him take BC. It would be better for him, and he can hold off on Stats for future years to relax his course load (Stats is generally regarded as the easier of the two, between that and BC). Good luck!</p>
<p>Agreed. BC will be much, much easier with AB knowledge still fresh on his mind. I’m a senior in high school. My junior year I took AB the first semester and BC the second. I would be dead if I waited a year and forgot my AB stuff! I plan on taking stats this year!
Also, I made the mistake of quitting band and orchestra to take on a really tough load of classes junior year. Don’t let your son do that. Continue music! (although now I’m in choir–gotta have my music)
Good luck to your son, though!</p>