Getting a B in AP Calculus

[Anonymous]

Drop down now--if his goal is a B, he's likely in lower territory already. If he does well in honors pre-calc, he could likely go onto BC junior year which is still a great math trajectory over all.

[Anonymous]

I did this back in the day (self-studied pre calc over the summer, tested out and went straight to BC Calc) and I did not feel like I had any knowledge gaps. This was at TJ so presumably the course was tough.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:My DS is a sophomore who decided to skip pre calculus and go straight to taking AP calculus this year. Now he tells me it’s his goal to get a B in the calculus class.

I have not said anything to him about this because he is a motivated student and is taking charge of his own education. Also, he is extremely strong willed. His school counselor advised him against it, but left the final decision up to him.

I am wondering how getting a B in this class will affect his college applications. Is it no big deal? Or will it hurt him?

I don’t want to put pressure on him. But I don’t want him to be making bad decisions. He is an only child, so I don’t have experience with today’s application process.

Is he taking the class to show off or because he wanted a challenge, or because he thought the teachers was better?

If he was taking the class for any reason other than to show off, and he likes it, he should stay in the class, get a tutor and see this as a chance to learn how to handle a challenging class.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:My DS is a sophomore who decided to skip pre calculus and go straight to taking AP calculus this year. Now he tells me it’s his goal to get a B in the calculus class.

I have not said anything to him about this because he is a motivated student and is taking charge of his own education. Also, he is extremely strong willed. His school counselor advised him against it, but left the final decision up to him.

I am wondering how getting a B in this class will affect his college applications. Is it no big deal? Or will it hurt him?

I don’t want to put pressure on him. But I don’t want him to be making bad decisions. He is an only child, so I don’t have experience with today’s application process.

Why would one go directly to AP calculus without pre-Calc?!!?!? That seems like a recipe for disaster. Drop back to precalc and do the groundwork, then take AP calc next year.

[Anonymous]

OP here. Thanks to everyone who replied. DS is extremely strong willed and so have to I pick my battles carefully. If I forced him to drop he would blame me until my dying day for “ruining his life”.

For those who asked, he is taking Calculus AB.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:OP here. Thanks to everyone who replied. DS is extremely strong willed and so have to I pick my battles carefully. If I forced him to drop he would blame me until my dying day for “ruining his life”.

For those who asked, he is taking Calculus AB.

There is literally no reason to take calculus in 10th grade. None. Taking calculus in 11th is fine for STEM fields. Call the school first thing in the morning and have him put in precalculus. Explain he self-studied and is not prepared for this class. Let your kid blame you until his dying day. Parent him, OP.

[Anonymous]

Sucks to be stubborn. This is a stupid decision and will hurt him in college admissions where gpa is impt. I’d make him drop down and let him blame me for life

[Anonymous]

It will be life-altering based on my experience.

[Anonymous]

All i know is my kid got a C+ in AP Calc and it really messed up the transcript and likely impacted the outcome. Do not push your kid in math at the risk of a crappy grade.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I assume this is AB Calculus. A lot of pre-cal is a reinforcement of AlgII-Trig and introduction to Calculus A. So it's not a stretch to skip precalc. If he went into BC then he needs to drop back. Most schools allow it for the first month of school.

He'll need to take BC in a future year.

If he knows the material, sure, he can skip it. But if he knows the material, he wouldn't be struggling to reach a B.

Not always true. Our school curves to a B, even when the class only has 12 kids. Even C students get 5s on the AP exam.

And some old ladies live in a shoe. When someone posts on a public forum, we assume they are operating in a normal, sane environment unless otherwise specified.

[Anonymous]

If that is the way he feels, he should drop down to precal and take AP Calc as a junior.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:OP here. Thanks to everyone who replied. DS is extremely strong willed and so have to I pick my battles carefully. If I forced him to drop he would blame me until my dying day for “ruining his life”.

For those who asked, he is taking Calculus AB.

So you'd rather he ruin his own life?

Absent further evidence, your kid is acting stupid. I wonder in what other ways he walks over you to make bad decisions.

What's his plan for next year and the year after?

If he's going to take BC later, there's no point in doing poorly in AB instead of doing well in precalc and then well in BC.

If he "learned" precalc by himself in the summer, why can't he handle BC?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:OP here. Thanks to everyone who replied. DS is extremely strong willed and so have to I pick my battles carefully. If I forced him to drop he would blame me until my dying day for “ruining his life”.

For those who asked, he is taking Calculus AB.

There is literally no reason to take calculus in 10th grade. None. Taking calculus in 11th is fine for STEM fields. Call the school first thing in the morning and have him put in precalculus. Explain he self-studied and is not prepared for this class. Let your kid blame you until his dying day. Parent him, OP.

This is literally a great reason to take calculus in 10th. The reason is doing well in precalc in 9th. Taking calculus earlier unlocks advanced math and science in college earlier.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Every kid is different as far as studying, commitment, time, etc. My DS goes to a T20 Engineering school and did skip some math. I don't think getting a B is going to knock your child out of the application pool.

What math did they skip and what low grades did they get?

The B is less of a problem than the C it might be if "B is the goal" and the year barely started, and C it might be next year and the year after.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:OP here. Thanks to everyone who replied. DS is extremely strong willed and so have to I pick my battles carefully. If I forced him to drop he would blame me until my dying day for “ruining his life”.

For those who asked, he is taking Calculus AB.

Yeah. Sometimes parents have to make unpopular decisions. Suck it up. You let him try it his way. It didn’t work.

And if he can’t even get an A in the first month of AB, BC & MV are going to be a mess.