Reply to Calc AB vs Calc BC

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[quote=pettifogger][quote=Anonymous][quote=pettifogger][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous]taking both makes absolutely no sense. [/quote]

Why?  My kid is taking BC this year after AB last year.  I encouraged it.  In math, there is nothing quite like practice and I live that she is reinforcing concepts again.  [/quote]
Most kids would find it quite boring as most of the material in BC is a repeat of AB.[/quote]

But if you are going into stem wouldn't this be better than taking statistics senior year? Or do you take BC over the summer and then linear algebra senior year? Generally curious. My son got a B in Precalc honors so is taking AB this year as a junior but wants to major in STEM.[/quote]
With respect to college/STEM, I would say that learning the material well/getting an A is more important than which class to take. If he doesn't mind seeing the same calculus concepts for at least half a year all over again, then taking BC is fine, but it would be very good to be able to get an A in the class for STEM/college purposes (Something to consider: Would a kid be able to earn an A if he is unmotivated by over half of year of material because he thinks he already learned it and knows it?). Otherwise, taking AP stats instead is also fine, and might be easier to get an A with less effort. I don't think BC is really a requirement as most kids take calc again in college regardless, as others said, especially in STEM majors. AP stats does have more of a reputation for being watered down than BC calc, so there's that as well, but it could also be dependent on who teaches it (a more rigorous college level stats course would definitely make use of calculus to help elucidate statistical concepts, similar to physics... I don't believe AP stats uses calculus). As for your suggestion of taking BC over the summer and linear algebra senior year, that would be the most challenging/aggressive path, but I'd caution it unless your son shows strong interest in putting a lot of effort and is actually interested in doing that (you mentioned B in precalc, which suggests he would have to work very very hard to get A's, especially in linear algebra).[/quote]

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