AP Calc AB or BC?

[Anonymous]

I have a college Freshman at VT who took BC calc in 10th, MVC in 11th and was tapped out of what the school could offer. He declined to take LA or DEQ at nova his senior year. The problem is since he took calculus 2 soooo long ago he has to spend a lot of time reviewing and absolutely had to retake MVC this year as. a freshman because the AP classes do not even compare at all to college rigors. At least not at VT.

with my 2nd kid i absolutely would not let him take calc 2 so early. it really hinders them in college since the material is so old by the time they get there. I would do AB in 10th BC in 11th and MVC in 12th and then retake MVC freshman in college since they will have a very strong and much more fresh calculus background and use that as a GPA booster in college.

BTW my son is a math major and in the honors college and got 780 on his SATs and still had to retake MVC in college due to the lack of rigor that AP offers. If he could do it again i probably would have seen if he could have done all of his calculus HS classes at George Mason. If that had been the case a huge chunk of his college major would already be retired and he probably could have very very easily slipped in a 2nd major.

[Anonymous]

At our school it’s fairly common to take AB one year and then BC the next. Yes I know some super smart kids skip one or the other, but more kids take both, at least at our school.

[Anonymous]

I agree with others above who say take Cal AB, the Calc BC, and finally Multivariable. That will ensure a good Calculus foundation in case your student wants to pursue a math heavy major, and if they don’t they don’t they can reassess and take AP Stats instead which is a useful course for many other majors.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I have a college Freshman at VT who took BC calc in 10th, MVC in 11th and was tapped out of what the school could offer. He declined to take LA or DEQ at nova his senior year. The problem is since he took calculus 2 soooo long ago he has to spend a lot of time reviewing and absolutely had to retake MVC this year as. a freshman because the AP classes do not even compare at all to college rigors. At least not at VT.

with my 2nd kid i absolutely would not let him take calc 2 so early. it really hinders them in college since the material is so old by the time they get there. I would do AB in 10th BC in 11th and MVC in 12th and then retake MVC freshman in college since they will have a very strong and much more fresh calculus background and use that as a GPA booster in college.

BTW my son is a math major and in the honors college and got 780 on his SATs and still had to retake MVC in college due to the lack of rigor that AP offers. If he could do it again i probably would have seen if he could have done all of his calculus HS classes at George Mason. If that had been the case a huge chunk of his college major would already be retired and he probably could have very very easily slipped in a 2nd major.

MVC is not an AP class. It is a high school class or a dual enrollment class at a college.

[Anonymous]

It just depends on how much time he is willing to spend studying. It's easier to accelerated in math in early years when there are fewer other intense demands on a kid's time. In high school you have to choose where to focus.

He has to choose his priorities and decide how much he can handle overall in his schedule.

But he certainly needs to stop trying to be the "top student" . It will hurt his friendships and overtax himself while losing his sense of self. He needs to find something meaningful he cares about to motivate his efforts.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I have a college Freshman at VT who took BC calc in 10th, MVC in 11th and was tapped out of what the school could offer. He declined to take LA or DEQ at nova his senior year. The problem is since he took calculus 2 soooo long ago he has to spend a lot of time reviewing and absolutely had to retake MVC this year as. a freshman because the AP classes do not even compare at all to college rigors. At least not at VT.

with my 2nd kid i absolutely would not let him take calc 2 so early. it really hinders them in college since the material is so old by the time they get there. I would do AB in 10th BC in 11th and MVC in 12th and then retake MVC freshman in college since they will have a very strong and much more fresh calculus background and use that as a GPA booster in college.

BTW my son is a math major and in the honors college and got 780 on his SATs and still had to retake MVC in college due to the lack of rigor that AP offers. If he could do it again i probably would have seen if he could have done all of his calculus HS classes at George Mason. If that had been the case a huge chunk of his college major would already be retired and he probably could have very very easily slipped in a 2nd major.

MVC is not an AP class. It is a high school class or a dual enrollment class at a college.

yes i am aware, he took it in high school via NoVA and it was very very watered down. He got an A extremely easily. He said his AP and DE classes were noting close to the rigors at university. For starters all of his homework needs to be turned in using LaTeX, which he was given exactly 2 days to learn at the start of the semester.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

So I suppose the next question is: how does it look for college admissions to have a B in Calc BC, rather than an A in Calc AB?

If you want to study math/STEM/engineering in college, and your school offers BC, you should take it.

This is accurate.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:At our school it’s fairly common to take AB one year and then BC the next. Yes I know some super smart kids skip one or the other, but more kids take both, at least at our school.

It’s common at our school as they don’t offer multivariable. My kid is doing bc in 10th. They will do statistics senior year.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:OP here. Thanks. The thing is, DS doesn't know what he wants to do in college, or for a career. That's why I want to keep all options open. He's a great writer too, draws as a hobby and plays an instrument. I am very grateful to have such an academically successful kid, BTW. But I am concerned with balancing his mental health with his desire to always be the top student.

Why’s that fool?

[Anonymous]

I would discuss with the math dept chair at your school. Do students take AB and then BC or do they only take one or the other? If BC is a considered a follow-up course to AB, then taking AB is the obvious choice. If the answer is that students take either but not both, then it depends on how much your child likes math and wants to work at a faster pace.

[Anonymous]

Does your son think he can learn at a college pace as a 10th grader? BC Calculus teaches the material as fast as if you were learning it in college (each semester in BC is equivalent to a semester of calc in college). AB stretches an entire semester of calculus over a year.

I second the idea of talking to the math department chair. They will have an idea of how well honors pre-calc prepares kids for the faster pace of BC.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I have a college Freshman at VT who took BC calc in 10th, MVC in 11th and was tapped out of what the school could offer. He declined to take LA or DEQ at nova his senior year. The problem is since he took calculus 2 soooo long ago he has to spend a lot of time reviewing and absolutely had to retake MVC this year as. a freshman because the AP classes do not even compare at all to college rigors. At least not at VT.

with my 2nd kid i absolutely would not let him take calc 2 so early. it really hinders them in college since the material is so old by the time they get there. I would do AB in 10th BC in 11th and MVC in 12th and then retake MVC freshman in college since they will have a very strong and much more fresh calculus background and use that as a GPA booster in college.

BTW my son is a math major and in the honors college and got 780 on his SATs and still had to retake MVC in college due to the lack of rigor that AP offers. If he could do it again i probably would have seen if he could have done all of his calculus HS classes at George Mason. If that had been the case a huge chunk of his college major would already be retired and he probably could have very very easily slipped in a 2nd major.

MVC is not an AP class. It is a high school class or a dual enrollment class at a college.

yes i am aware, he took it in high school via NoVA and it was very very watered down. He got an A extremely easily. He said his AP and DE classes were noting close to the rigors at university. For starters all of his homework needs to be turned in using LaTeX, which he was given exactly 2 days to learn at the start of the semester.

Computer programmer here. The bolded is insane.

And I would argue kids should dual enroll in MVC at GMU since it's easier, versus NVCC.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

OP here, thank you.

I didn't know AP classes differed between privates and publics. My son is in public school.

So I suppose the next question is: how does it look for college admissions to have a B in Calc BC, rather than an A in Calc AB?

Not great. But I’d still have him do BC and have a tutor lined up to make sure he gets an A. The only reason to take AB is if he doesn’t plan on going into a stem career and doesn’t want to take any math above calculus.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

OP here, thank you.

I didn't know AP classes differed between privates and publics. My son is in public school.

So I suppose the next question is: how does it look for college admissions to have a B in Calc BC, rather than an A in Calc AB?

Not great. But I’d still have him do BC and have a tutor lined up to make sure he gets an A. The only reason to take AB is if he doesn’t plan on going into a stem career and doesn’t want to take any math above calculus.

Thought I’d add: it would also be fine to take AB, then BC, then one of his other choices senior yr. Many kids do this.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Assuming the school is following the AP curriculum and not going rogue, AB will not prepare as well for multivar. Take BC.

This. If he takes AB, he runs out of classes