AP Cal A/B vs B/C

[Anonymous]

DC is applying to engineering schools.

From a AO/Academic rigor perspective - Is there a significant difference between seeing Calc A/B vs Cal B/C on the transcript.

DC would prefer to take A/B and honestly avoid getting a B in his senior year (and also would like to pace the math and not rush)

TIA!

[Anonymous]

Calc BC is the most desirable for engineering candidates. Many will have taken it in junior year and be in multivariable as seniors.

[Anonymous]

OP, this is for senior year?

I think it's fine. Maybe not perfectly ideal, but fine. What sorts of schools is he considering?

It's impossible to guess what the mid-year grade might look like, though.

[Anonymous]

OP here: Yes senior.. he took AP stats in Jr (for a variety of reasons) and so now is taking Cal in Sr.

[Anonymous]

He should be fine for a mid/lower range engineering school. But, for example, if he is a Fairfax County student applying for VA Tech engineering, then taking Calc AB would be considered a red flag. He may still get admitted, but it would definitely lower his chances.

[Anonymous]

I think it depends on the selectivity of the schools your DC is applying to. Our DC has gotten into multiple 50-100 ranked schools with AP Calc jr yr and AP Stats sr yr. But, not a STEM major (business). HTH

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:DC is applying to engineering schools.

From a AO/Academic rigor perspective - Is there a significant difference between seeing Calc A/B vs Cal B/C on the transcript.

DC would prefer to take A/B and honestly avoid getting a B in his senior year (and also would like to pace the math and not rush)

TIA!

For engineering majors, yes. If BC is available to your son, he should take it.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:DC is applying to engineering schools.

From a AO/Academic rigor perspective - Is there a significant difference between seeing Calc A/B vs Cal B/C on the transcript.

DC would prefer to take A/B and honestly avoid getting a B in his senior year (and also would like to pace the math and not rush)

TIA!

For engineering majors, yes. If BC is available to your son, he should take it.

+1 and if he's concerned about the pace and the grade, get a tutor at the start of the year so he can ideally report an A for the 1st quarter grade. After 1st quarter, it doesn't really matter.

I totally understand wanting a slower pace to really learn the math. He'll probably want to start with Calc 1 when he gets to college vs. placing out of it with a good AP score.

[Anonymous]

For Engineering, definitely BC. The beginning of BC which would be the grade potentially being shared with a college during senior year is Calc A, spanning into Calc B. Concepts seem to be similar to pre-calc but deeper/a bit harder, taught more quickly, but ones that should have some familiarity already. It doesn't really matter if he gets a B second semester for admissions (unless he is fighting himself off a waitlist).

Also, I would think beyond HS a bit. Especially for Engineering, I think having completed BC prior to college will help more for college math classes. He can retake the calculus series in college (he may have to depending on the school and/or AP test score) and will end up with a really solid math foundation.

[Anonymous]

Keep in mind some Engineering majors will be coming in with Calc BC in 11th and Multivariable/Diff even some liner algebra in 12th.

[Anonymous]

My daughter was admitted to two T50 and several T100 engineering programs with Calc AB. That said, I wouldn’t worry about getting a B senior year if that’s your main reason for avoiding Calc BC.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:My daughter was admitted to two T50 and several T100 engineering programs with Calc AB. That said, I wouldn’t worry about getting a B senior year if that’s your main reason for avoiding Calc BC.

Girls are underrepresented in engineering applicant pools so a boy likely would not have done as well.

[Anonymous]

I have a different take. Doing very well (A) in Calc AB probably looks better to an AO than a lower grade (B) in Calc BC.

I also disagree about the criticality of hyper advanced math for E School. Some form of HS Calculus is really important, but there also are plenty of qualified E School applicants who did not take BC or Multivariable Calc in HS.

Prestige just does not really matter much in the field of engineering, although DCUM is prestige obsessed. ABET means that all E Schools are hard and rigorous, and that they largely have the same curricula.

[Anonymous]

It depends on where he wants to go.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:DC is applying to engineering schools.

From a AO/Academic rigor perspective - Is there a significant difference between seeing Calc A/B vs Cal B/C on the transcript.

DC would prefer to take A/B and honestly avoid getting a B in his senior year (and also would like to pace the math and not rush)

TIA!

A bit to unpack and the choice isn't cut and dried.

What is the normal progression for Math at your child's school? I am assuming that this is an option at your school but I ask because at my child's school this question would not come up because they cannot take B/C without having completed A/B with an acceptable grade.

How are they doing in that progression? Most engineering programs star with Calc I which is a level similar to B/C. Doing well in A/B will probably provide a better foundation than struggling in B/C

What level of school are they shooting for? If you are shooting for MIT higher is better. Same for other elite engineering schools but they are the exception not the rule. And, a core reason is not the subject matter but rather that you will be measured against your peers in your school. Being significantly below them would hurt more than note taking B/C. For very good engineering schools like Rochester, Lehigh, Stony Brook, CWRU, Penn State, etc. as well as VT A/B is fine. Competitive schools in DVM sometimes make us forget that typically on small minority of kids end up taking B/C in high school.

Many on here instinctively say B/C but that is probably the wrong choice unless you are shooting really high.