MATH - Calc AB or BC

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Also perfectly acceptable option to do AB junior year and BC senior year (this is from multiple sources).

My kid took AB as a junior and BC as a senior. Because much of the material is the same/similar, he thought he got a good foundation doing it that way. He is currently a Math/CS double major at William and Mary.

Same. Our district highly recommends taking AB first, then BC. Typically there is only 1 kid out of 40 that didn't take AB first. Because of that, BC is taught differently, with the AB portion "covered" as review the first 4-5 weeks, then moving onto the new material. Unless you have a true budding genius on hand, most kids can benefit from doing it that way. It's much better to have a strong foundation in Calculus if kid is headed into Engineering/Math/a major that actually uses it. My kid is extremely strong in math but BC was the first they struggled with. Finished strong and got 5 on the AP test, so starting in Calc 3 this fall at uni.

How do you know this? Are you stalking the entire class?

This seems very strange to me as well. I am a math teacher in Fairfax County, and the majority of students who earned As and Bs in Honors Precalculus go on to take Calc BC the following year. Taking AB first and then BC second is very repetitive and not for strong math students. (Honors Precalculus mostly covers the "A" section of Calculus.)

+1. Not at my kids school in MCPS. Taking AB then BC is not the best use of time. Time AP Stats instead.

There are colleges which don't recognize AP stats as a strong enough Math to be closing HS education on. UBC for one.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Also perfectly acceptable option to do AB junior year and BC senior year (this is from multiple sources).

My kid took AB as a junior and BC as a senior. Because much of the material is the same/similar, he thought he got a good foundation doing it that way. He is currently a Math/CS double major at William and Mary.

Same. Our district highly recommends taking AB first, then BC. Typically there is only 1 kid out of 40 that didn't take AB first. Because of that, BC is taught differently, with the AB portion "covered" as review the first 4-5 weeks, then moving onto the new material. Unless you have a true budding genius on hand, most kids can benefit from doing it that way. It's much better to have a strong foundation in Calculus if kid is headed into Engineering/Math/a major that actually uses it. My kid is extremely strong in math but BC was the first they struggled with. Finished strong and got 5 on the AP test, so starting in Calc 3 this fall at uni.

How do you know this? Are you stalking the entire class?

This seems very strange to me as well. I am a math teacher in Fairfax County, and the majority of students who earned As and Bs in Honors Precalculus go on to take Calc BC the following year. Taking AB first and then BC second is very repetitive and not for strong math students. (Honors Precalculus mostly covers the "A" section of Calculus.)

+1. Not at my kids school in MCPS. Taking AB then BC is not the best use of time. Time AP Stats instead.

There are colleges which don't recognize AP stats as a strong enough Math to be closing HS education on. UBC for one.

I doubt that but whatever

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Also perfectly acceptable option to do AB junior year and BC senior year (this is from multiple sources).

My kid took AB as a junior and BC as a senior. Because much of the material is the same/similar, he thought he got a good foundation doing it that way. He is currently a Math/CS double major at William and Mary.

Same. Our district highly recommends taking AB first, then BC. Typically there is only 1 kid out of 40 that didn't take AB first. Because of that, BC is taught differently, with the AB portion "covered" as review the first 4-5 weeks, then moving onto the new material. Unless you have a true budding genius on hand, most kids can benefit from doing it that way. It's much better to have a strong foundation in Calculus if kid is headed into Engineering/Math/a major that actually uses it. My kid is extremely strong in math but BC was the first they struggled with. Finished strong and got 5 on the AP test, so starting in Calc 3 this fall at uni.

How do you know this? Are you stalking the entire class?

This seems very strange to me as well. I am a math teacher in Fairfax County, and the majority of students who earned As and Bs in Honors Precalculus go on to take Calc BC the following year. Taking AB first and then BC second is very repetitive and not for strong math students. (Honors Precalculus mostly covers the "A" section of Calculus.)

+1. Not at my kids school in MCPS. Taking AB then BC is not the best use of time. Time AP Stats instead.

There are colleges which don't recognize AP stats as a strong enough Math to be closing HS education on. UBC for one.

I don't know why people post nonsense like this.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Also perfectly acceptable option to do AB junior year and BC senior year (this is from multiple sources).

My kid took AB as a junior and BC as a senior. Because much of the material is the same/similar, he thought he got a good foundation doing it that way. He is currently a Math/CS double major at William and Mary.

Same. Our district highly recommends taking AB first, then BC. Typically there is only 1 kid out of 40 that didn't take AB first. Because of that, BC is taught differently, with the AB portion "covered" as review the first 4-5 weeks, then moving onto the new material. Unless you have a true budding genius on hand, most kids can benefit from doing it that way. It's much better to have a strong foundation in Calculus if kid is headed into Engineering/Math/a major that actually uses it. My kid is extremely strong in math but BC was the first they struggled with. Finished strong and got 5 on the AP test, so starting in Calc 3 this fall at uni.

How do you know this? Are you stalking the entire class?

This seems very strange to me as well. I am a math teacher in Fairfax County, and the majority of students who earned As and Bs in Honors Precalculus go on to take Calc BC the following year. Taking AB first and then BC second is very repetitive and not for strong math students. (Honors Precalculus mostly covers the "A" section of Calculus.)

+1. Not at my kids school in MCPS. Taking AB then BC is not the best use of time. Time AP Stats instead.

There are colleges which don't recognize AP stats as a strong enough Math to be closing HS education on. UBC for one.

I don't know why people post nonsense like this.

DP. My daughter’s HS counselor told her exactly this. So check with person who will check the “rigor” box on the transcript before you weigh in. AP Stats, is a nice class but view it as an elective credit, like AP Human Geo. US math education has been completely re-written to get college bound kids through Calculus. Failing to get there, or taking a break from rigor senior year, should at least be a deliberate choice.

[Anonymous]

OP here. Thank you everyone. This was so helpful and I should post more questions on this board.

My takeaway, taking one track lower than BC will give my son more time to pursue his other interests. AB vs. BC is not a deciding factor. And I will need to help him plan his coursework so that he gets the "most rigorous" checked once college applications begin.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Also perfectly acceptable option to do AB junior year and BC senior year (this is from multiple sources).

My kid took AB as a junior and BC as a senior. Because much of the material is the same/similar, he thought he got a good foundation doing it that way. He is currently a Math/CS double major at William and Mary.

Same. Our district highly recommends taking AB first, then BC. Typically there is only 1 kid out of 40 that didn't take AB first. Because of that, BC is taught differently, with the AB portion "covered" as review the first 4-5 weeks, then moving onto the new material. Unless you have a true budding genius on hand, most kids can benefit from doing it that way. It's much better to have a strong foundation in Calculus if kid is headed into Engineering/Math/a major that actually uses it. My kid is extremely strong in math but BC was the first they struggled with. Finished strong and got 5 on the AP test, so starting in Calc 3 this fall at uni.

How do you know this? Are you stalking the entire class?

This seems very strange to me as well. I am a math teacher in Fairfax County, and the majority of students who earned As and Bs in Honors Precalculus go on to take Calc BC the following year. Taking AB first and then BC second is very repetitive and not for strong math students. (Honors Precalculus mostly covers the "A" section of Calculus.)

+1. Not at my kids school in MCPS. Taking AB then BC is not the best use of time. Time AP Stats instead.

There are colleges which don't recognize AP stats as a strong enough Math to be closing HS education on. UBC for one.

I doubt that but whatever

AP stats is definately an easier math course. My kid took AP Calc AB junior year and easily got an A. Took BC and stats senior year. Stats had a 99.5% without any studying/work. BC got a B/B- (teacher makes it difficult but everyone gets 5s) and earned a 5 on AP test. But unless you are going into engineering/hard core stem, I'd argue that Statistics is a more more useful course for anyone, even potential humanities majors. Business/psych/premed/healthcare/etc all typically require stats courses

[Anonymous]

My daughter is a non-STEM major and took AP Calc AB as a junior. She received a A- in the class but only a 3 on the exam (though she was sick and thought she did worse)! Anyway, her counselor recommended BC for senior year over Stats.

[Anonymous]

My kid (non stem) took BC Calc junior year and was recommend for multivariable as she got a 5 on the exam, though a B in the class. But that seems like overkill to me for a kid who wants to major in English.

[Anonymous]

Take either one depending on how well they think they will do in it. Despite what some say, I think an A in AB is better than a B in BC. Fwiw, my kid got into top 20 national university engineering having "only" taken AB.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Also perfectly acceptable option to do AB junior year and BC senior year (this is from multiple sources).

My kid took AB as a junior and BC as a senior. Because much of the material is the same/similar, he thought he got a good foundation doing it that way. He is currently a Math/CS double major at William and Mary.

Same. Our district highly recommends taking AB first, then BC. Typically there is only 1 kid out of 40 that didn't take AB first. Because of that, BC is taught differently, with the AB portion "covered" as review the first 4-5 weeks, then moving onto the new material. Unless you have a true budding genius on hand, most kids can benefit from doing it that way. It's much better to have a strong foundation in Calculus if kid is headed into Engineering/Math/a major that actually uses it. My kid is extremely strong in math but BC was the first they struggled with. Finished strong and got 5 on the AP test, so starting in Calc 3 this fall at uni.

How do you know this? Are you stalking the entire class?

This seems very strange to me as well. I am a math teacher in Fairfax County, and the majority of students who earned As and Bs in Honors Precalculus go on to take Calc BC the following year. Taking AB first and then BC second is very repetitive and not for strong math students. (Honors Precalculus mostly covers the "A" section of Calculus.)

+1. Not at my kids school in MCPS. Taking AB then BC is not the best use of time. Time AP Stats instead.

There are colleges which don't recognize AP stats as a strong enough Math to be closing HS education on. UBC for one.

This is more complicated that that: You are correct that a kid who takes pre-calculus and then AP stats won't be considered "most rigorous", even for non-stem. You need calculus (but not necessarily BC Calc) at some point. But fine to take calculus junior year and then stats senior year, particularly if you are loading up on rigorous core subjects -- foreign language, history, english, science, etc.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Also perfectly acceptable option to do AB junior year and BC senior year (this is from multiple sources).

My kid took AB as a junior and BC as a senior. Because much of the material is the same/similar, he thought he got a good foundation doing it that way. He is currently a Math/CS double major at William and Mary.

Same. Our district highly recommends taking AB first, then BC. Typically there is only 1 kid out of 40 that didn't take AB first. Because of that, BC is taught differently, with the AB portion "covered" as review the first 4-5 weeks, then moving onto the new material. Unless you have a true budding genius on hand, most kids can benefit from doing it that way. It's much better to have a strong foundation in Calculus if kid is headed into Engineering/Math/a major that actually uses it. My kid is extremely strong in math but BC was the first they struggled with. Finished strong and got 5 on the AP test, so starting in Calc 3 this fall at uni.

How do you know this? Are you stalking the entire class?

This seems very strange to me as well. I am a math teacher in Fairfax County, and the majority of students who earned As and Bs in Honors Precalculus go on to take Calc BC the following year. Taking AB first and then BC second is very repetitive and not for strong math students. (Honors Precalculus mostly covers the "A" section of Calculus.)

+1. Not at my kids school in MCPS. Taking AB then BC is not the best use of time. Time AP Stats instead.

There are colleges which don't recognize AP stats as a strong enough Math to be closing HS education on. UBC for one.

I doubt that but whatever

AP stats is definately an easier math course. My kid took AP Calc AB junior year and easily got an A. Took BC and stats senior year. Stats had a 99.5% without any studying/work. BC got a B/B- (teacher makes it difficult but everyone gets 5s) and earned a 5 on AP test. But unless you are going into engineering/hard core stem, I'd argue that Statistics is a more more useful course for anyone, even potential humanities majors. Business/psych/premed/healthcare/etc all typically require stats courses

Stat is a different math then Calc.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Also perfectly acceptable option to do AB junior year and BC senior year (this is from multiple sources).

My kid took AB as a junior and BC as a senior. Because much of the material is the same/similar, he thought he got a good foundation doing it that way. He is currently a Math/CS double major at William and Mary.

Same. Our district highly recommends taking AB first, then BC. Typically there is only 1 kid out of 40 that didn't take AB first. Because of that, BC is taught differently, with the AB portion "covered" as review the first 4-5 weeks, then moving onto the new material. Unless you have a true budding genius on hand, most kids can benefit from doing it that way. It's much better to have a strong foundation in Calculus if kid is headed into Engineering/Math/a major that actually uses it. My kid is extremely strong in math but BC was the first they struggled with. Finished strong and got 5 on the AP test, so starting in Calc 3 this fall at uni.

How do you know this? Are you stalking the entire class?

This seems very strange to me as well. I am a math teacher in Fairfax County, and the majority of students who earned As and Bs in Honors Precalculus go on to take Calc BC the following year. Taking AB first and then BC second is very repetitive and not for strong math students. (Honors Precalculus mostly covers the "A" section of Calculus.)

+1. Not at my kids school in MCPS. Taking AB then BC is not the best use of time. Time AP Stats instead.

There are colleges which don't recognize AP stats as a strong enough Math to be closing HS education on. UBC for one.

I doubt that but whatever

AP stats is definately an easier math course. My kid took AP Calc AB junior year and easily got an A. Took BC and stats senior year. Stats had a 99.5% without any studying/work. BC got a B/B- (teacher makes it difficult but everyone gets 5s) and earned a 5 on AP test. But unless you are going into engineering/hard core stem, I'd argue that Statistics is a more more useful course for anyone, even potential humanities majors. Business/psych/premed/healthcare/etc all typically require stats courses

Stat is a different math then Calc.

^ LOL "than" time to sign out DCUM

[Anonymous]

I would have thought Calc BC was important for top engineering programs. In our case though, in senior year mine took AP Calc AB but also took AP Physics C. Stronger Physics student than Math - has to work hard to do well in that. Strong GPA, test scores, ECs etc. Feeling the Physics C helped. Attending a great university - top whatever. Good luck!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Also perfectly acceptable option to do AB junior year and BC senior year (this is from multiple sources).

My kid took AB as a junior and BC as a senior. Because much of the material is the same/similar, he thought he got a good foundation doing it that way. He is currently a Math/CS double major at William and Mary.

Same. Our district highly recommends taking AB first, then BC. Typically there is only 1 kid out of 40 that didn't take AB first. Because of that, BC is taught differently, with the AB portion "covered" as review the first 4-5 weeks, then moving onto the new material. Unless you have a true budding genius on hand, most kids can benefit from doing it that way. It's much better to have a strong foundation in Calculus if kid is headed into Engineering/Math/a major that actually uses it. My kid is extremely strong in math but BC was the first they struggled with. Finished strong and got 5 on the AP test, so starting in Calc 3 this fall at uni.

How do you know this? Are you stalking the entire class?

This seems very strange to me as well. I am a math teacher in Fairfax County, and the majority of students who earned As and Bs in Honors Precalculus go on to take Calc BC the following year. Taking AB first and then BC second is very repetitive and not for strong math students. (Honors Precalculus mostly covers the "A" section of Calculus.)

+1. Not at my kids school in MCPS. Taking AB then BC is not the best use of time. Time AP Stats instead.

There are colleges which don't recognize AP stats as a strong enough Math to be closing HS education on. UBC for one.

I don't know why people post nonsense like this.

The UMD BC website specifically states "*Your mathematics program of study should include Algebra I, Geometry, and Algebra II. Additionally, you are expected to be enrolled in an eligible mathematics course in your senior year of high school study." Guessing you could take pre-calc but perhaps not AP stats - kid not looking at this school so I can't say for certain. But the PP was being purposefully obtuse insinuating you needed calculus for this school bc you do not.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I would have thought Calc BC was important for top engineering programs. In our case though, in senior year mine took AP Calc AB but also took AP Physics C. Stronger Physics student than Math - has to work hard to do well in that. Strong GPA, test scores, ECs etc. Feeling the Physics C helped. Attending a great university - top whatever. Good luck!

The OP specifically said her kid was interested in "language arts and writing" No BC needed for that.