Please post where your DC is headed and the highest math course taken in HS

[Anonymous]

Precalc or precalc honors jr year
Statistics AP senior year
(No Calculus at all)

Got into Georgetown, Northeastern, and U of Michigan

(Not my kid, my kid's friend)

From FCPS

Moral: you don't necessarily need calculus

[Anonymous]

Accepted at W&M and Va Tech. AP Stats. No calculus.

[Anonymous]

This whole math thing is so overblown (and indeed so over). Admissions to elite colleges requires a vastly different approach. Very hard for those who have invested in rigorous courses etc to digest, but that is the reality of today.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:BC calc
Multivariable calc

Harvard of the mid-west

Which is?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:AP Calc AB as junior
AP Calc BC as senior
Princeton as CS major

This is atrocious. Must be an athlete (or fake)

Why? What comes after calc in high school these days? When I graduated, it was the highest level.

At my DC well known west coast private school the highest math offered is BC Calculus which is taken after honors pre calculus in senior year which is not an easy class at their school. (Go to either AB Calc or BC Calc - don’t take both during HS) They do NOT let the kids advance. The only differentiation is honors path starting in middle school and some are only taking Algebra 1 in 9th grade. Every year at least 5% of the class goes on to HYPSM and much more to T20.

As others suggest, colleges probably evaluate students within the context of their school and offerings.

Actually plenty of kids do take both AB and BC. Take AB first, then BC the next year. Given that BC is a full year of college calculus (not a single semester course like most AP courses are), we've been in two districts that highly recommend you do AB and then BC (or reg calc then BC which is silly and pointless, might as well do AB then BC)

None of what you said is universal to high school or colleges. You need to know the curriculum where you are and follow what you are advised to do.

Some high schools cover these courses in a semester, some in a year, some in three semesters (because they include things they deem necessary that are not in the AP curriculum). Some colleges teach the equivalent of BC in a year, others in a semester, others in 8 or 10 weeks if they follow a quarter system (so you can take four full math courses in one year).

[Anonymous]

DS nearly failed his AP Calc BC class in 12th grade. He's a humanities major (international affairs), and instead of worrying all year over so much math he couldn't handle, he should have taken AP Stats instead, which would probably have come in more useful for his line of study. Alas, we did not advise him correctly (he had successfully taken AP Calc AB the year before, but in hindsight, it was virtual during the pandemic, and it wasn't at the right level).

So unless your child is a strong math student, maybe take AP Stats instead. Depending on what he wants to do, he can add data science to his major and AP Stats will give him an introduction to that.

[Anonymous]

^ so to answer your question:
AP Calc BC, going to George Washington Elliott School of International Affairs.

[Anonymous]

IB Math Studies (math was not a strength) — was in at UVA with Echols, W&M, and several others (privates in the USNWR 40-60 range, UT Austin). Ultimately had to take a semester of calculus and had no issues and got an A.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:What is the difference between AB and BC Calculus? Can you chose whether to take AB or BC Calculus at most schools? My DC goes to a private school and I don’t think you can do BC Calculus unless you are on the advanced math track. Confused.

Same here. My kids
My kids' "top" private school heavily gate-keeps calc BC. You really can't take it unless you're in the group of 10 kids who started down the honor math track in 8th grade.
I have one kid on this track and one kid not on it.

It doesn't effect Ivy or other top30 admits. Plenty of top 30 admits this year from our school of kids who maxed out at non-AP calc or calc AB (and even pre-calc).
Every school is not Thomas Jefferson.

A year or so ago I read that the colleges really don’t want the kids to advance past (or even to) BC. They want them to take it at the college so they can be sure the rigor is there. The professor who wrote the piece talked about kids advancing too quickly just to advance and not having a deep understanding. I can’t remember where I saw it. It could have been posted here.

This is very important. Many kids advance too fast and struggle in college. Much better to just get to reg Calc or AB calc in HS but have a strong foundation, especially if you will need advanced math.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:AP Calc AB as junior
AP Calc BC as senior
Princeton as CS major

This is atrocious. Must be an athlete (or fake)

Why? What comes after calc in high school these days? When I graduated, it was the highest level.

At my DC well known west coast private school the highest math offered is BC Calculus which is taken after honors pre calculus in senior year which is not an easy class at their school. (Go to either AB Calc or BC Calc - don’t take both during HS) They do NOT let the kids advance. The only differentiation is honors path starting in middle school and some are only taking Algebra 1 in 9th grade. Every year at least 5% of the class goes on to HYPSM and much more to T20.

As others suggest, colleges probably evaluate students within the context of their school and offerings.

Actually plenty of kids do take both AB and BC. Take AB first, then BC the next year. Given that BC is a full year of college calculus (not a single semester course like most AP courses are), we've been in two districts that highly recommend you do AB and then BC (or reg calc then BC which is silly and pointless, might as well do AB then BC)

At my kids private they do NOT do AB one year and then BC the next. It’s either or after precalculus. But yes, I understand at many schools it is common to take AB for a full year and BC the following.

It is public schools that I'm aware do AB then BC. Perhaps because they want to ensure kids actually learn the material and learn it well/deep understanding. My own natural math student did well in AB and found it easy (junior year). BC was the first course they ever struggled with or got a B in (first semester). But they learned the material because it was so rigorously taught, got A- 2nd semester and easily got a 5. Teacher has a 10+ year track record of 99.8% earning 4 or 5s on the test and 100% with 3+. They would have struggled if they had gone straight to BC junior year (and would not have had any class to take senior year).

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:AP Calc AB as junior
AP Calc BC as senior
Princeton as CS major

This is atrocious. Must be an athlete (or fake)

Why? What comes after calc in high school these days? When I graduated, it was the highest level.

At my DC well known west coast private school the highest math offered is BC Calculus which is taken after honors pre calculus in senior year which is not an easy class at their school. (Go to either AB Calc or BC Calc - don’t take both during HS) They do NOT let the kids advance. The only differentiation is honors path starting in middle school and some are only taking Algebra 1 in 9th grade. Every year at least 5% of the class goes on to HYPSM and much more to T20.

As others suggest, colleges probably evaluate students within the context of their school and offerings.

Actually plenty of kids do take both AB and BC. Take AB first, then BC the next year. Given that BC is a full year of college calculus (not a single semester course like most AP courses are), we've been in two districts that highly recommend you do AB and then BC (or reg calc then BC which is silly and pointless, might as well do AB then BC)

At my kids private they do NOT do AB one year and then BC the next. It’s either or after precalculus. But yes, I understand at many schools it is common to take AB for a full year and BC the following.

+1. It’s either AB or BC, after pre-calc. Stupid to take both.

It's not stupid to take both. AB is first semester /calc 1. BC is Calc 1 and Calc 2. In schools where the path is AB first, BC is taught so that the AB material is covered/reviewed in 3-4 weeks in Sept and then onto the new material. Many districts have found this helps ensure a deeper understanding of the material. Most other AP courses are "1 college semester taught over a full HS year", whereas BC is the full college year covered in 1 year---it's advanced and challenging.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:What is the difference between AB and BC Calculus? Can you chose whether to take AB or BC Calculus at most schools? My DC goes to a private school and I don’t think you can do BC Calculus unless you are on the advanced math track. Confused.

Same here. My kids
My kids' "top" private school heavily gate-keeps calc BC. You really can't take it unless you're in the group of 10 kids who started down the honor math track in 8th grade.
I have one kid on this track and one kid not on it.

It doesn't effect Ivy or other top30 admits. Plenty of top 30 admits this year from our school of kids who maxed out at non-AP calc or calc AB (and even pre-calc).
Every school is not Thomas Jefferson.

A year or so ago I read that the colleges really don’t want the kids to advance past (or even to) BC. They want them to take it at the college so they can be sure the rigor is there. The professor who wrote the piece talked about kids advancing too quickly just to advance and not having a deep understanding. I can’t remember where I saw it. It could have been posted here.

This is a big issue for math reformers right now, advocating for kids to wait until college to take calculus. They also note that since some kids opt to repeat calculus in college anyway, why bother take it in high school. However, their same studies show that kids that retake calculus in college do better than peers who are taking calculus for the first time in college. Also, calculus can be taken at a slower pace in high school with more direct teacher contact, so others would argue that it's best to see calculus the first time in high school. Math reformers also interview colleges and report that calculus is not required for admissions. However, when people look at the stats of kids entering competitive colleges, the overwhelming majority have had calculus. So while it may not be required, most have taken it.

Especially if you will need to take a Calc course in college. It's hard (especially if you are not a math person). Similarly, I encouraged my kids who were stem majors to take the AP science courses they would need in college---even if you don't get/take credit for AP Chem or AP Bio or AP physics, it would really suck to hit college physics and have only taken an algebra based Regular physics back in 9/10th grade. So if you are able, you take the APs as prep for the college courses. For my kids it worked out, they got 5s on the tests and took the college credit. But many just use it as prep for the harder college course.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:
DS nearly failed his AP Calc BC class in 12th grade. He's a humanities major (international affairs), and instead of worrying all year over so much math he couldn't handle, he should have taken AP Stats instead, which would probably have come in more useful for his line of study. Alas, we did not advise him correctly (he had successfully taken AP Calc AB the year before, but in hindsight, it was virtual during the pandemic, and it wasn't at the right level).

So unless your child is a strong math student, maybe take AP Stats instead. Depending on what he wants to do, he can add data science to his major and AP Stats will give him an introduction to that.

As a future humanities major, yes, AP stats will be much more useful than Calc BC, especially if you have already taken AB.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:OP, I get what you're trying to do here, but I don't think it really is all that helpful. There are so many things that go into a college's admission decision (ECs, recs, gpa, etc.) that is really is impossible to know how any one math class is going to affect your student's situation. There will be students who take an AB Calc/Stats math path who end up at Harvard and students who take MVC+ who end up at a much lower-ranked school.

+1

Also depends what courses are available to students at different schools. Colleges take that into account.

+1 also depends on what kind of school or program a kid wants or can afford. Sometimes people on here act as though a kid going to a school ranked 52 applied to and was rejected from the 51 schools listed above it on a web page, when in fact it is a certainty that the student did not apply to all of them and is possible that the student didn't apply to any of them. Example: My DC took the highest math available at the high school, but did not apply to any public universities, nor any private universities in the top 20, nor any of a certain size limit he chose, nor any that required a plane ride, etc. etc.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:
DS nearly failed his AP Calc BC class in 12th grade. He's a humanities major (international affairs), and instead of worrying all year over so much math he couldn't handle, he should have taken AP Stats instead, which would probably have come in more useful for his line of study. Alas, we did not advise him correctly (he had successfully taken AP Calc AB the year before, but in hindsight, it was virtual during the pandemic, and it wasn't at the right level).

So unless your child is a strong math student, maybe take AP Stats instead. Depending on what he wants to do, he can add data science to his major and AP Stats will give him an introduction to that.

If a student wants to minor in data science in college, they will likely need to take calculus. Stanford's data science minor requires either multi-variable calculus and linear algebra or vector calculus.
https://statistics.stanford.edu/academic-programs/undergraduate-programs/data-science-minor
(Under course requirements, linear algebra tab)