Applying to selective schools- AP Calc?

[Anonymous]

Background: DD (jr) has mostly As in all honors/APs. She's very strong in science. Applying as pre-med. She has ECs to match. She'll take AP Bio next year.
Applying to selective schools. She'd also be psyched to go to her safety (Binghamton U. We're in NY.)
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DD has an option to take AB or BC Calculus AP. Math is not her favorite, she will be taking many other APs, the BC teacher is way tougher. etc. She is leaning towards AB, thinking it will be a lot more manageable. I have heard that for the competitive schools, they want to see BC calc, especially for certain majors. Is pre-med or Bio one of those majors? Or is that more for physics, engineering? Thank you!

[Anonymous]

I don't think there is a huge difference between AB and BC with respect to the strength of a transcript. At UMD, both earn credit and satisfy 2 gen ed credits. https://www.transfercredit.umd.edu/plc/APGenEd.pdf
I would have her take AB so that she can be strong in it and earn a 5.

[Anonymous]

For pre-med she should be fine with AB. If she was going into Engineering she'd need BC.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:For pre-med she should be fine with AB. If she was going into Engineering she'd need BC.

+1 The only kids in BC at the school where I work are planning to major in math/engineering.

[Anonymous]

If she’s going for medicine she needs a strong math background.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:If she’s going for medicine she needs a strong math background.

And AB in HS will be fine for that. You want a good foundation, not rush through it as fast as possible.

Agree with PPs that BC would be more important for engineering applicants.

[Anonymous]

DS took AP Calc AB as a junior, received all As, and then got a 2 on his exam, after seriously preparing for it. We wondered if the teacher had been particularly lenient. As a senior, he's taking AP Calc BC (because he wants to study economics in college), and his teacher this year is SUPER RIGOROUS and he's struggling with a C average, ***even though the beginning of the year of AB and BC are supposed to be the same material!*** His teacher said that 80% of his students get a 5 on the exam - we understand this to mean that a portion drop out or choose not to take it!

This makes me wonder how colleges can compare the rigor of each student's profile, if students don't take or report AP exam scores (or SAT/ACT scores for that matter). Even in an AP class, teachers can present easy or hard versions of the same material, graded accordingly, and if the student doesn't show an AP score at the end, there's nothing the college can do to verify what it really means.

So...?

[Anonymous]

If she won’t get an A, I would do AB. She’ll have a lot on her plate with applications and it’s not worth derailing over this.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:For pre-med she should be fine with AB. If she was going into Engineering she'd need BC.

+1 The only kids in BC at the school where I work are planning to major in math/engineering.

Not in DD’s school, Many of her friends going to pre-Med took BC, DD undecided about major also took BC jr year

[Anonymous]

I think most take AB before BC. I could be wrong about that. Is "pre-med" an actual major? Or a list of recommended classes?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:DS took AP Calc AB as a junior, received all As, and then got a 2 on his exam, after seriously preparing for it. We wondered if the teacher had been particularly lenient. As a senior, he's taking AP Calc BC (because he wants to study economics in college), and his teacher this year is SUPER RIGOROUS and he's struggling with a C average, ***even though the beginning of the year of AB and BC are supposed to be the same material!*** His teacher said that 80% of his students get a 5 on the exam - we understand this to mean that a portion drop out or choose not to take it!

This makes me wonder how colleges can compare the rigor of each student's profile, if students don't take or report AP exam scores (or SAT/ACT scores for that matter). Even in an AP class, teachers can present easy or hard versions of the same material, graded accordingly, and if the student doesn't show an AP score at the end, there's nothing the college can do to verify what it really means.

So...?

Right.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:For pre-med she should be fine with AB. If she was going into Engineering she'd need BC.

Even if engineering, if not "strong" in math, then start with AB try to earn credit for Calculus 1 and proceed to Calc 2 in college. Much better to learn the material solidly for engineering, as you will be using that foundation for much of engineering.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:DS took AP Calc AB as a junior, received all As, and then got a 2 on his exam, after seriously preparing for it. We wondered if the teacher had been particularly lenient. As a senior, he's taking AP Calc BC (because he wants to study economics in college), and his teacher this year is SUPER RIGOROUS and he's struggling with a C average, ***even though the beginning of the year of AB and BC are supposed to be the same material!*** His teacher said that 80% of his students get a 5 on the exam - we understand this to mean that a portion drop out or choose not to take it!

This makes me wonder how colleges can compare the rigor of each student's profile, if students don't take or report AP exam scores (or SAT/ACT scores for that matter). Even in an AP class, teachers can present easy or hard versions of the same material, graded accordingly, and if the student doesn't show an AP score at the end, there's nothing the college can do to verify what it really means.

So...?

My kid had BC with a teacher who took the same approach--very challenging course, but literally 98%+ of her students earn a 5 and the others earn a 4 (teacher has taught BC for 10+ years so a long track record). My kid got a B- (first non A ever) in 1st semester (and it was really a C+ but got bumped the 0.1% by the teacher)---this was first time my kid ever had to work in a math class. Kid got an A- 2nd semester and easily got a 5 on the AP BC test. Taking Calc 3 now and is doing well. Obviously extremely well prepared for it and they did learn the material.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:DS took AP Calc AB as a junior, received all As, and then got a 2 on his exam, after seriously preparing for it. We wondered if the teacher had been particularly lenient. As a senior, he's taking AP Calc BC (because he wants to study economics in college), and his teacher this year is SUPER RIGOROUS and he's struggling with a C average, ***even though the beginning of the year of AB and BC are supposed to be the same material!*** His teacher said that 80% of his students get a 5 on the exam - we understand this to mean that a portion drop out or choose not to take it!

This makes me wonder how colleges can compare the rigor of each student's profile, if students don't take or report AP exam scores (or SAT/ACT scores for that matter). Even in an AP class, teachers can present easy or hard versions of the same material, graded accordingly, and if the student doesn't show an AP score at the end, there's nothing the college can do to verify what it really means.

So...?

This is essentially what MIT said when they reinstated the SAT requirement, that SATM was a better indicator of ability to succeed at MIT than whether the word “calculus” appears on a transcript.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:DS took AP Calc AB as a junior, received all As, and then got a 2 on his exam, after seriously preparing for it. We wondered if the teacher had been particularly lenient. As a senior, he's taking AP Calc BC (because he wants to study economics in college), and his teacher this year is SUPER RIGOROUS and he's struggling with a C average, ***even though the beginning of the year of AB and BC are supposed to be the same material!*** His teacher said that 80% of his students get a 5 on the exam - we understand this to mean that a portion drop out or choose not to take it!

This makes me wonder how colleges can compare the rigor of each student's profile, if students don't take or report AP exam scores (or SAT/ACT scores for that matter). Even in an AP class, teachers can present easy or hard versions of the same material, graded accordingly, and if the student doesn't show an AP score at the end, there's nothing the college can do to verify what it really means.

So...?

My kid had BC with a teacher who took the same approach--very challenging course, but literally 98%+ of her students earn a 5 and the others earn a 4 (teacher has taught BC for 10+ years so a long track record). My kid got a B- (first non A ever) in 1st semester (and it was really a C+ but got bumped the 0.1% by the teacher)---this was first time my kid ever had to work in a math class. Kid got an A- 2nd semester and easily got a 5 on the AP BC test. Taking Calc 3 now and is doing well. Obviously extremely well prepared for it and they did learn the material.

PP you replied to. I really hope DS will have that sort of outcome!