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[quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous]Good discussion.  As a high school math teacher, I would question taking both Calculus with Applications and AP Calculus AB.   There is a huge overlap in content.  Students usually don't need a year of limits, derivatives, and integrals, followed by another year of the same general content.  If they are seeking an AP course after 11th grade Calculus with Applications,  then they might better take AP Stat, which is applicable to more career paths in college.  If they see themselves becoming an engineer, physicist, etc., it might be best to take AP Calc AB or BC in 11th and multivariable in 12th.[/quote]

Colleges want to see AP Calculus.  For a student who is not interested in math or STEM taking Calc with Applications gives the student a foundation for taking AP Calc.  MCPS doesn’t have many options for slowing down the math track but this is one possibility. And Honors Precalc is not actually a foundation for AP Calc. [/quote]

Sorry, but I have to kindly disagree on a number of fronts.

Colleges do not want to necessarily see AP Calculus any more than any other course (AP Biology, AP History...).  If a student is vying for a competitive STEM program in college, then AP Calculus might be an important factor; otherwise, colleges are looking at many things, including GPA, overall rigor of a student's high school courses, letters of recommendation, student essays, extra-curriculars, and work/volunteer experiences.  I have written hundreds of college recommendation letters for my students and students who have not taken AP Calculus are accepted to top colleges.

A student not interested in math or STEM does not have to take either Calculus with Applications (an honors math course) or AP Calculus.  There are other pathways to college and career success.  A student who has demonstrated excellence in writing, history, or art, for instance, can still get offers from top colleges - even if their math courses in high school did not include Calculus.  For these students, following up Algebra 2 with, just say, Pre-Calculus and Statistics is a fine path to take.

Taking Calculus with Applications is not just a "foundation" for AP Calculus as it overlaps much of the same content.  It's like saying that on-level U.S. History is a foundation for Honors U.S. History.  In most situations, taking Calculus with Applications and then taking AP Calculus is going to be somewhat wasteful, as so much of the content is the same.  It would be like taking Spanish 3 one year and then Honors Spanish 3 the next.  Although there are some unique student situations out there, taking both the honors and AP Calculus courses is probably not the best path.

I'm not sure how you concluded that Honors Pre-Calculus is not a foundation for AP Calculus.  AP Calculus certainly builds on the skills learned in Pre-Calculus.  It is true that Pre-Calculus is not the ONLY foundation for AP Calculus, as AP Calculus also requires content learned in Algebra and Algebra 2, and to a lesser extent, Geometry.[/quote]

There are no other options if you have a child who takes honors precalc in 10th. I’ve talked to the math resource teacher. What classes do you suggest for 11th and 12th after honors precalc that do not include AP Calc?  [/quote]

Pretty sure others above have recommended regular Calc, not AP, and AP Statistics.  I believe there is also the option of doing Montgomery College math classes[/quote]

My child’s school doesn’t offer regular Calc. Only AP.  [/quote]

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