Reply to Bad for students, who apply for CS or engineering, to take AP Calc AB and then BC?

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[quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous]In another thread (and here) people said strong math students don't do that sequence. They cut out Calc AB. And colleges would look at that sequence as weak and not rigorous. [/quote]
Those people were incorrect. There is nothing wrong with taking AB and then BC. Indeed, it is the only route at many, many high schools that do not organize their curriculum in a way that allows a student to go directly to BC from precalc.[/quote]

No those people were not incorrect. The overlap between AB and BC is 80%, essentially it’s the same class with two more chapters in the end for BC out of 10. It’s bizarre to say they organize their curriculum for AB, but not BC.

One can take AB followed by BC but then you waste a full year, which could be used for AP Statistics or other math courses.

If you got A in honors precalculus you should be fine in BC. The problem is that kids that should not be in Calculus are pushed there nevertheless and the school needs to teach again precalculus foundations and go at a slower place.[/quote]

Some high schools teach AB as Calc I and BC as Calc II.

Other high schools teach AB as Calc I and BC as accelerated Calc I-II.

You are apparently familiar with the second type of high school but not the first.

Students at the first type of high school should not skip Calc I. And no college admissions office will hold it against them, that they took the sequence in order. [/quote]

Actually you don’t know what you’re talking about. Calculus I and II, and III (multivariable) are typically taught in colleges with first semester as derivatives and second for integrals.

No school teaches Calculus AB as Calculus I, they teach the curriculum set by College Board, otherwise it wouldn’t be called AP Calculus AB.

https://apstudents.collegeboard.org/courses/ap-calculus-ab
https://apstudents.collegeboard.org/courses/ap-calculus-bc

Its easy to see that the first 8 chapters in BC are the same as the entirety of the AB course.

People opine about the classes but have no idea about what is taught, and instead their only qualification is the university their kid went to. 
[/quote]
NP. High schools in our area organize their math courses such that AB is a prerequisite to BC, hence the PP's reference to Calc I and II. Many high schools do not allow students to go straight to BC - this varies widely. College Board's curriculum does not prevent high schools from doing this.[/quote]

Schools can set their own prerequisites, but can’t change what is actually being taught in the class and still call it AP. Really, stop referencing it as Calculus I and II, either you’re being confused, or you’re confusing others, as the PP who erroneously and hilariously thought there’s a direct correspondence between Calculus I and AB. However students reference it in their jargon is not an accurate description of the class, stick to how it’s called in the course catalogue.

Our school also has AB as a prerequisite for BC, because many mid tier students want to end up with calculus in high school but couldn’t really hack it in BC. If you want to go straight to BC, you just need to ask the math department head and they usually accommodate it without much fuss. Hence the claim that strong students usually go straight to BC.[/quote]
"Strong students usually" is overbroad. There is too much variability.

My student took AB in 9th, BC in 10th, AP Stats in 11th, and dual enrollment Calc 3 at a CC in 12th. Headed to a top 10 university.

Sibling with straight As (different high school) took precalc in 11th, skipped the AB prereq and took BC in 12th, and crashed and burned. Lots of reasons that weren't the teacher's fault, though on top of those, the calc teacher was also terrible. It was a mistake.

Now next sibling is at first kid's high school, where calc teacher is also teaching AP precalc. Teacher suggested kid can skip AB and go right to BC. Kid is planning to take AB as far as I know.[/quote]Which district are you in? Did the first kid take algebra in 5th or what?[/quote]
Yes, first kid took algebra 1 in 5th as part of a special program at a charter school, along with just a handful of other kids. Not in the DMV.[/quote]

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