AP Calculus AB or BC

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I agree that taking AB in Junior year and BC senior year is a great plan for a strong math foundation for college. My DC is extraordinary at math and a math major at VT and she opted for AB in Junior year to help make it a less stressful year (honors and AP other classes) and it was a very good choice. VT took her credit for the BC calc and she’s doing great with her math major. There’s no need to rush ahead.

The only good part about this plan is that it is meant for slowly stretching one year of math material into two years. She would learn the calculus the first year, but then do almost the exact same thing with just a few additional topics the second year. In my opinion, not a great plan unless one likes to just take it easy the 2nd year.. which I suppose fits well with senioritis.

Yeah, it's a tough call... I was a good enough student to take BC and pass the AP in 11th, but didn't really master it. Then I took MV senior year (DE, MV wasn't offered at my HS) and struggled mightily, partly because of insufficient foundation, and partly due to senioritis. But had no desire to attempt a repeat of MV in college. LinAlg/DiffEq was challenging but doable freshman year. Part of me thinks if I'd gone a bit slower with AB/BC (or BC/stats had it been offered) that would have set me up better for success in college. On the other hand, I would have been a year behind in math and so would have had to give up two other college classes that I enjoyed taking in order make room for more math (was part of my major).

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I agree that taking AB in Junior year and BC senior year is a great plan for a strong math foundation for college. My DC is extraordinary at math and a math major at VT and she opted for AB in Junior year to help make it a less stressful year (honors and AP other classes) and it was a very good choice. VT took her credit for the BC calc and she’s doing great with her math major. There’s no need to rush ahead.

The only good part about this plan is that it is meant for slowly stretching one year of math material into two years. She would learn the calculus the first year, but then do almost the exact same thing with just a few additional topics the second year. In my opinion, not a great plan unless one likes to just take it easy the 2nd year.. which I suppose fits well with senioritis.

Yeah, it's a tough call... I was a good enough student to take BC and pass the AP in 11th, but didn't really master it. Then I took MV senior year (DE, MV wasn't offered at my HS) and struggled mightily, partly because of insufficient foundation, and partly due to senioritis. But had no desire to attempt a repeat of MV in college. LinAlg/DiffEq was challenging but doable freshman year. Part of me thinks if I'd gone a bit slower with AB/BC (or BC/stats had it been offered) that would have set me up better for success in college. On the other hand, I would have been a year behind in math and so would have had to give up two other college classes that I enjoyed taking in order make room for more math (was part of my major).

Actually I think you’re right that slowing down could have helped you because my DD who took AB Junior year and BC Senior year - along with AP Stats- got 5s on both APs and VTech took her credits and started her at Linear her freshman year, which was not hard for her. So slowing down really gave her a solid foundation and didn’t hold her back in college.

[Anonymous]

As an AP math teacher, I would never suggest AB followed by BC for a typical student. It's just unnecessary. Either you have no intention of majoring in math/science fields so you should take AB and be done with it, or you want to do it so you should take BC.

The only situation where I'd recommend AB followed by BC is a weaker math student who was intent on going into a math related major. I have one student this year on that path because he struggled a lot in precalc as a sophomore (C grade) but is intent he wants to be a civil engineer. He's in my AB this year and I will recommend him for BC next year. The rest of my AB juniors are taking stats next year because that is far more useful to their intended majors of psychology/political science/etc.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:As an AP math teacher, I would never suggest AB followed by BC for a typical student. It's just unnecessary. Either you have no intention of majoring in math/science fields so you should take AB and be done with it, or you want to do it so you should take BC.

The only situation where I'd recommend AB followed by BC is a weaker math student who was intent on going into a math related major. I have one student this year on that path because he struggled a lot in precalc as a sophomore (C grade) but is intent he wants to be a civil engineer. He's in my AB this year and I will recommend him for BC next year. The rest of my AB juniors are taking stats next year because that is far more useful to their intended majors of psychology/political science/etc.

So what do you recommend for a student who is on track for AP Pre-Calc in 10th but not interested in doing MV in 12th... just take BC in 11th and then AP Stats in 12th instead? Wouldn't that gap year from advanced math make it more challenging to resume MV in freshman year college?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:As an AP math teacher, I would never suggest AB followed by BC for a typical student. It's just unnecessary. Either you have no intention of majoring in math/science fields so you should take AB and be done with it, or you want to do it so you should take BC.

The only situation where I'd recommend AB followed by BC is a weaker math student who was intent on going into a math related major. I have one student this year on that path because he struggled a lot in precalc as a sophomore (C grade) but is intent he wants to be a civil engineer. He's in my AB this year and I will recommend him for BC next year. The rest of my AB juniors are taking stats next year because that is far more useful to their intended majors of psychology/political science/etc.

So what do you recommend for a student who is on track for AP Pre-Calc in 10th but not interested in doing MV in 12th... just take BC in 11th and then AP Stats in 12th instead? Wouldn't that gap year from advanced math make it more challenging to resume MV in freshman year college?

DP. What major? If your kid is not planning on majoring in math, physics, or engineering, they might not need MV at all. If they are planning on majoring in one of those, I'd either have the kid take MV in 12th, take AP stats in 10th or 11th and then BC in 12th, or take AP Physics C in 12th to stay somewhat fresh with the calc.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:As an AP math teacher, I would never suggest AB followed by BC for a typical student. It's just unnecessary. Either you have no intention of majoring in math/science fields so you should take AB and be done with it, or you want to do it so you should take BC.

The only situation where I'd recommend AB followed by BC is a weaker math student who was intent on going into a math related major. I have one student this year on that path because he struggled a lot in precalc as a sophomore (C grade) but is intent he wants to be a civil engineer. He's in my AB this year and I will recommend him for BC next year. The rest of my AB juniors are taking stats next year because that is far more useful to their intended majors of psychology/political science/etc.

So what do you recommend for a student who is on track for AP Pre-Calc in 10th but not interested in doing MV in 12th... just take BC in 11th and then AP Stats in 12th instead? Wouldn't that gap year from advanced math make it more challenging to resume MV in freshman year college?

And thus the downside of the extreme acceleration. It's great for the kid who wants to keep going forward, but the kid who doesn't hits a wall.

Why don't they want to do MV in 12th if they have to take it in college? My true recommendation absent a really good reason would be to suck it up and take MV.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:As an AP math teacher, I would never suggest AB followed by BC for a typical student. It's just unnecessary. Either you have no intention of majoring in math/science fields so you should take AB and be done with it, or you want to do it so you should take BC.

The only situation where I'd recommend AB followed by BC is a weaker math student who was intent on going into a math related major. I have one student this year on that path because he struggled a lot in precalc as a sophomore (C grade) but is intent he wants to be a civil engineer. He's in my AB this year and I will recommend him for BC next year. The rest of my AB juniors are taking stats next year because that is far more useful to their intended majors of psychology/political science/etc.

So what do you recommend for a student who is on track for AP Pre-Calc in 10th but not interested in doing MV in 12th... just take BC in 11th and then AP Stats in 12th instead? Wouldn't that gap year from advanced math make it more challenging to resume MV in freshman year college?

DP. What major? If your kid is not planning on majoring in math, physics, or engineering, they might not need MV at all. If they are planning on majoring in one of those, I'd either have the kid take MV in 12th, take AP stats in 10th or 11th and then BC in 12th, or take AP Physics C in 12th to stay somewhat fresh with the calc.

This is a solid recommendation too. You could do stats between algebra 2 and precalc and then do AP calc senior year.

Really though, by signing up for algebra in 7th grade you are committing to going beyond calculus. This is what I wish was made clear to parents.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:As an AP math teacher, I would never suggest AB followed by BC for a typical student. It's just unnecessary. Either you have no intention of majoring in math/science fields so you should take AB and be done with it, or you want to do it so you should take BC.

The only situation where I'd recommend AB followed by BC is a weaker math student who was intent on going into a math related major. I have one student this year on that path because he struggled a lot in precalc as a sophomore (C grade) but is intent he wants to be a civil engineer. He's in my AB this year and I will recommend him for BC next year. The rest of my AB juniors are taking stats next year because that is far more useful to their intended majors of psychology/political science/etc.

So what do you recommend for a student who is on track for AP Pre-Calc in 10th but not interested in doing MV in 12th... just take BC in 11th and then AP Stats in 12th instead? Wouldn't that gap year from advanced math make it more challenging to resume MV in freshman year college?

And thus the downside of the extreme acceleration. It's great for the kid who wants to keep going forward, but the kid who doesn't hits a wall.

Why don't they want to do MV in 12th if they have to take it in college? My true recommendation absent a really good reason would be to suck it up and take MV.

It really does depend on what major the kid will have in college. My DD is thrilled to be accelerated so she can take both AP Calc (in 11th) and AP stats (in 12th) without having to waste an elective slot on the AP Stats. She's planning on majoring in Bio or Psych, though, so the stats is important and post-AP Calc is pretty meaningless.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:As an AP math teacher, I would never suggest AB followed by BC for a typical student. It's just unnecessary. Either you have no intention of majoring in math/science fields so you should take AB and be done with it, or you want to do it so you should take BC.

The only situation where I'd recommend AB followed by BC is a weaker math student who was intent on going into a math related major. I have one student this year on that path because he struggled a lot in precalc as a sophomore (C grade) but is intent he wants to be a civil engineer. He's in my AB this year and I will recommend him for BC next year. The rest of my AB juniors are taking stats next year because that is far more useful to their intended majors of psychology/political science/etc.

So what do you recommend for a student who is on track for AP Pre-Calc in 10th but not interested in doing MV in 12th... just take BC in 11th and then AP Stats in 12th instead? Wouldn't that gap year from advanced math make it more challenging to resume MV in freshman year college?

DP. What major? If your kid is not planning on majoring in math, physics, or engineering, they might not need MV at all. If they are planning on majoring in one of those, I'd either have the kid take MV in 12th, take AP stats in 10th or 11th and then BC in 12th, or take AP Physics C in 12th to stay somewhat fresh with the calc.

DC doesn't know what major yet, possibly STEM, possibly non-STEM. They have a lot of interests. They do love math so may want to take a couple more classes of it in college regardless of where they eventually land on major. They are just trying to keep options open, but also don't want to overload their senior year academically. I personally found MV a significant order of magnitude more challenging than BC in high school, and I'm sure have mentioned my experience before, so that may be contributing to their aversion to taking it in 12th. They're definitely pushing/challenging themselves (in a healthy, manageable, responsible way) to do their best in 9th-11th to have their best shot at top schools, but they also want to "take their foot off the gas" and have a slightly more academically relaxed year in 12th before heading off to college. I like the two possibilities suggested here, of taking Physics C in 12th alongside Stats so that they're still doing/using some Calc that year without needing to jump to MV necessarily, or if they don't want to take Physics C senior year they could just move AP Stats earlier in the sequence so that BC is in 12th (which would also help ease things a bit in 10th and/or 11th). Appreciate the suggestions.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:There is a *big* gap between AP Pre Cal and Calc BC.

Can you expound on this further?

My kid has always done well in math (Always Adv Pass on SOLs; A or A- in all math classes up to Alg 2; maxed out math score on PSAT -760). However, now in AP precalc ( which is actually Trig/Precalc Hns -- not following AP Precalc curriculum) DC is getting about a C. I had him take the AP Precalc practice exam questions fir the material they've covered so far and DC got 24 out of 25 Qs right. The teacher says you can't sign up for AP Calc BC unless you have an A in the class.

It seems odd to me that DC has top notch math scores up to this point, he knows the College Board's material fir precalc, he got a perfect score on PSAT Math...and yet he is told he shouldn't be taking Calc BC because he has a C in the FCPS curriculum for trig/precalc hns.

So help me understand why acing the College Board's gateway class (AP Precalc) is not a reliable indicator of being ready to take AP Calc BC.

Thx

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I agree that taking AB in Junior year and BC senior year is a great plan for a strong math foundation for college. My DC is extraordinary at math and a math major at VT and she opted for AB in Junior year to help make it a less stressful year (honors and AP other classes) and it was a very good choice. VT took her credit for the BC calc and she’s doing great with her math major. There’s no need to rush ahead.

The only good part about this plan is that it is meant for slowly stretching one year of math material into two years. She would learn the calculus the first year, but then do almost the exact same thing with just a few additional topics the second year. In my opinion, not a great plan unless one likes to just take it easy the 2nd year.. which I suppose fits well with senioritis.

Yeah, it's a tough call... I was a good enough student to take BC and pass the AP in 11th, but didn't really master it. Then I took MV senior year (DE, MV wasn't offered at my HS) and struggled mightily, partly because of insufficient foundation, and partly due to senioritis. But had no desire to attempt a repeat of MV in college. LinAlg/DiffEq was challenging but doable freshman year. Part of me thinks if I'd gone a bit slower with AB/BC (or BC/stats had it been offered) that would have set me up better for success in college. On the other hand, I would have been a year behind in math and so would have had to give up two other college classes that I enjoyed taking in order make room for more math (was part of my major).

Actually I think you’re right that slowing down could have helped you because my DD who took AB Junior year and BC Senior year - along with AP Stats- got 5s on both APs and VTech took her credits and started her at Linear her freshman year, which was not hard for her. So slowing down really gave her a solid foundation and didn’t hold her back in college.

Congrats on VT. What major with this math track?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I agree that taking AB in Junior year and BC senior year is a great plan for a strong math foundation for college. My DC is extraordinary at math and a math major at VT and she opted for AB in Junior year to help make it a less stressful year (honors and AP other classes) and it was a very good choice. VT took her credit for the BC calc and she’s doing great with her math major. There’s no need to rush ahead.

The only good part about this plan is that it is meant for slowly stretching one year of math material into two years. She would learn the calculus the first year, but then do almost the exact same thing with just a few additional topics the second year. In my opinion, not a great plan unless one likes to just take it easy the 2nd year.. which I suppose fits well with senioritis.

Yeah, it's a tough call... I was a good enough student to take BC and pass the AP in 11th, but didn't really master it. Then I took MV senior year (DE, MV wasn't offered at my HS) and struggled mightily, partly because of insufficient foundation, and partly due to senioritis. But had no desire to attempt a repeat of MV in college. LinAlg/DiffEq was challenging but doable freshman year. Part of me thinks if I'd gone a bit slower with AB/BC (or BC/stats had it been offered) that would have set me up better for success in college. On the other hand, I would have been a year behind in math and so would have had to give up two other college classes that I enjoyed taking in order make room for more math (was part of my major).

Actually I think you’re right that slowing down could have helped you because my DD who took AB Junior year and BC Senior year - along with AP Stats- got 5s on both APs and VTech took her credits and started her at Linear her freshman year, which was not hard for her. So slowing down really gave her a solid foundation and didn’t hold her back in college.

Congrats on VT. What major with this math track?

She is a double major in math and physics. Thanks.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:There is a *big* gap between AP Pre Cal and Calc BC.

Can you expound on this further?

My kid has always done well in math (Always Adv Pass on SOLs; A or A- in all math classes up to Alg 2; maxed out math score on PSAT -760). However, now in AP precalc ( which is actually Trig/Precalc Hns -- not following AP Precalc curriculum) DC is getting about a C. I had him take the AP Precalc practice exam questions fir the material they've covered so far and DC got 24 out of 25 Qs right. The teacher says you can't sign up for AP Calc BC unless you have an A in the class.

It seems odd to me that DC has top notch math scores up to this point, he knows the College Board's material fir precalc, he got a perfect score on PSAT Math...and yet he is told he shouldn't be taking Calc BC because he has a C in the FCPS curriculum for trig/precalc hns.

So help me understand why acing the College Board's gateway class (AP Precalc) is not a reliable indicator of being ready to take AP Calc BC.

Thx

Teacher sounds to be reasonable by requiring students to get an A in precal, before going for the higher level BC.

Put aside enrolling in Calc BC. The immediate priority is addressing why your child is receiving a C in the current pre-calculus class. Have you spoken with the teacher to address this concern? You can go put your kids through a hundred other tests, the teacher could care less. Teacher can only grade their own class test, and that grade is what what they are allowed to record in kid's grade book. It's possible many other students in the same class are performing better with a A or B. Consider discussing with the teacher to understand what specific challenges your child may be facing in "understanding" pre-calculus.

[Anonymous]

Pp. To be accurate, the teacher says you SHOULDN'T (not that you can't) sign up for BC unless you have an A in precalc. I know that AP Precalc in this school is not equivalent to a true AP Precalc curriculum. The real AP version does not cover as much.

The question I have is whether acing the true AP precalc curriculum is a good indicator of readiness/success in BC. If not, why does College Board think it is or why do they set it up to be the gateway course. The PP said it wasn't enough...so I would like more info on that.

[Anonymous]

Fwiw, I know that BC IS taught according to the College Board's curriculum at this school.