AB vs BC Calculus to prepare for college

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I'm seeing some interesting opinions that I would assume admissions people would make the final decisions. Is there actually anyone posting who is indeed an admissions person for a college/university? Or at the least a college counselor in a high school? No pretenders.

Otherwise, it's just speculation.

It's not speculation if we have or know kids who made these choices and then we see the results. I posted above. My DC is a liberal arts student, did Calc AB and got into the dreaded "top ivy." So there's a datapoint suggesting the most selective universities are looking for very challenging classes like Calc AB, but if you're a prospective liberal arts student then you don't need Calc BC.

There are maybe 1-2 people on DCUM with admissions experience at the very top colleges, and they may not be reading this thread. If you still doubt, try College Confidential instead.

[Anonymous]

Anyone who uses the term "top ivy" has no experience with this kind of school and is BSing you. It doesn't even make any sense. What is a "bottom ivy"? Cornell or UPenn? Dartmouth?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I would suggest she take the BC and drop the Lit. That is what a math/science kid would take. However, is there a better teacher? At our high school the BC kids' lives were better in part because the BC teacher was so much better than the AB.

I don't think - for top 25 schools the AB vs BC is a deal breaker. I would consider her happiness and stress a more important decision than which calc. I would drop the Lit. For a math/science kid, AP Lit will be such a chore.

But isn't college very writing heavy, and wouldn't Lit help her get ready for all of it? Would this especially be the case at a SLAC?

[Anonymous]

AP English Language and Composition is typically an 11th grade course, so student probably has taken it. Or not. Every writing intensive class will help prepare for college writing. More is alway more. OP, I'm guessing though that you want to find a balance re what is a reasonable workload.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Anyone who uses the term "top ivy" has no experience with this kind of school and is BSing you. It doesn't even make any sense. What is a "bottom ivy"? Cornell or UPenn? Dartmouth?

Honey, you are so sad! Listen up, and learn.

For some, "top Ivy" = Columbia. Harder to get into than Princeton in most recent admissions cycles. Yet the widely understood "HYP" reference to 7% admissions rates is obviously no use here if, for some bizarre reason in DCUM-world, you find yourself talking about the specific ways your kid beat 7% admissions odds and you don't want to completely out your kid. So "top Ivy" it is.

For others, "top Ivy" is a way to avoid the snotty-sounding "HYP" without encouraging that stupid troll who always comes around to sneer that Ivy=Cornell with it's 15% admissions rate (the shame!). (Note to the rest of you: I LOVE Cornell, Dad and many relatives went there. It's a GREAT school.)

[Anonymous]

^^^ its, not it's.

[Anonymous]

Can you we please keep the dumb ivy debating to the quarantine thread?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I would suggest she take the BC and drop the Lit. That is what a math/science kid would take. However, is there a better teacher? At our high school the BC kids' lives were better in part because the BC teacher was so much better than the AB.
I don't think - for top 25 schools the AB vs BC is a deal breaker. I would consider her happiness and stress a more important decision than which calc. I would drop the Lit. For a math/science kid, AP Lit will be such a chore.

She needs to have four years of English, so I would suggest keeping the AP Lit. She appears to be a high-achieving student so probably wouldn't be happy in the regular level English class. Colleges want to see the most rigorous schedule, it would look odd to drop back from the AP level in English.
One of my children took AB senior year, earned As in the class, got a 5 on the AP exam and went to UVa. This child's senior course load was all APs and included two sciences.

[Anonymous]

But if the question is about workload - that the workload may be too much, if that is the concern - what good is it to suggest: well, my child took all AP's and that included 2 sciences.

goody-for-you

[Anonymous]

I agree with the advice to take BC and drop AP Lit if workload is a concern. My DC took 5 APs this year and it was one too many when combined with sports, activities and college applications. AP Lit would have been a good one to drop as it had a pretty heavy workload and while DC got an A in AP Lang she got a B in AP Lit the first semester which was not a good calling card for college applications. Honors English would have been totally fine particularly since DC has plenty of APs already from previous years and 4 APs this year would have been plenty. Given the math/science focus of the OPs DD I think taking honors English will look totally normal.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Can you we please keep the dumb ivy debating to the quarantine thread?

Happy to. But we do need to somehow educate that ignoramus that we don't all have to admissions officers to provide credible advice on DCUM.

[Anonymous]

AB calculus will not be less work/time than BC calculus. The difference is that the math-smart kids will be BC, so the grading will be harder. Also, regardless of the AP test result, your kid is going to have to take Calculus again at most colleges.

I worked in the admissions at a large local school for a while - we spent about 30 seconds looking at transcripts per application. We did not look at individual classes as much as the overall record. For example, we looked to see if a kid is taking science and language classes each year. If your kid is taking 6 AP classes with AB calculus, the transcript will look fine and will not be distinguishable from another kid taking similar classes but BC calculus.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I would suggest she take the BC and drop the Lit. That is what a math/science kid would take. However, is there a better teacher? At our high school the BC kids' lives were better in part because the BC teacher was so much better than the AB.
I don't think - for top 25 schools the AB vs BC is a deal breaker. I would consider her happiness and stress a more important decision than which calc. I would drop the Lit. For a math/science kid, AP Lit will be such a chore.

She needs to have four years of English, so I would suggest keeping the AP Lit. She appears to be a high-achieving student so probably wouldn't be happy in the regular level English class. Colleges want to see the most rigorous schedule, it would look odd to drop back from the AP level in English.
One of my children took AB senior year, earned As in the class, got a 5 on the AP exam and went to UVa. This child's senior course load was all APs and included two sciences.

But if the question is about workload - that the workload may be too much, if that is the concern - what good is it to suggest: well, my child took all AP's and that included 2 sciences.

The question was whether to take AB or BC. I noted that my child was accepted at a top 25 school after taking AB senior year. I've gone through the college application process with my kids three times and my observation has been that AB is fine with top colleges because they like kids to take their own Calc anyway when they get there. Top colleges do like to see high levels in the four core courses. The OP is asking for experiences with top 25 schools, which is what I wrote about.

She is concerned about the overall workload being too much if she chooses BC.

[Anonymous]

yes, many of us have experience with top 25 colleges, have children who are in college, even UVA. It was your tone pp.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:yes, many of us have experience with top 25 colleges, have children who are in college, even UVA. It was your tone pp.

Oh please. Drop it, already.