Anonymous wrote:First and foremost, what does he want to do? Is he going into Engineering, Computer Science, Physics or Math major?

My firstborn did:
Honors Geo
Honors Alg2/Trig
Honors Precalc
AP Calc AB

and was accepted to Hopkins, 2 Ivies, Georgetown, UVA, WM, Williams.

My second born did:
Honors Geo
Adv Geo and Precalc
AP Precalc w/analysis
AP Calc

similar outcomes.

Did the second one do Calc AB or BC? The second one didn’t take any Algebra or Trig in high school?

Not sure if this is helpful, but my senior is in MV this year and she and her friends have found it a lot easier than BC. It’s a semester long college course, so spread out over the year it’s “pretty chill” according to them.

DD goes to a well known LAC and is a physics major. She did MVC before college, and so did many of her peers, so she started in the sophomore real analysis and differential equations course. It’s helped her a lot with her Quantum Physics classes, but it is not necessary; in fact, the school assumes you begin your degree in calc 1!

One is not clearly better than the other. So, which are his friends taking? Having a study group can be helpful, both socially and academically. Plus, whatever his friends are doing is probably normal enough for his school.

My kid did:

9th - Geometry
10th - Alg 2
11th - Pre-calc
12th - AP BC Calc

Did great with colleges, but he applied for business, not engineering.

I’d do AB and then BC. Could add AP Stats as an elective, if desired. This will build a solid calculus base and be less risky for junior year grades.

Multivariable is very helpful if he’s going into a Math/Physics degree. He will likely move into a linear or intro analysis course with that background as a freshman, freeing space for more electives! However, if he’s not going down that path, it’s sort of useless (always great to get a math education, but it won’t always be the best choice).

depends on the major they may be interested in pursuing in college. Going from BC Calc to Stats will be looked on as a reduced rigor path vs doing AB and then BC, which is still fine for many majors. Ultimately it's not just the path to rigor but being able to excel in the class that will make the difference.

MVC is impressive but you have to do well in the class and only necessary if most of your kid's peers are on the same track. If you're pursuing a math major/ Engineering in a selective program/college then MVC would be a plus.

Or you can pursue the AB-BC route and they can show their math interest by competing and doing well in math programs outside of the school curriculum - math olympiads/AMC10-12 kind of thing.

Anonymous wrote:Essentially repeating the same class will be boring, unless the calculus classes are taught expecting that you'll take both. I would recommend taking calc bc as a junior (if eligible) and then decide on stats or MV. You don't need to decide that now.

Yup. He should take Calc BC next year, then decide whether to do AP Stats or MVC in 12th. Zero reason to decide this now, and zero reason to do the calc AB path (unless the school recommends it).

Do you have to decide now?

This definitely depends on the school. If your high school expects kids in BC to have taken AB (ours does), it would be brutal to just jump into BC like that

First and foremost, what does he want to do? Is he going into Engineering, Computer Science, Physics or Math major?

My firstborn did:
Honors Geo
Honors Alg2/Trig
Honors Precalc
AP Calc AB

and was accepted to Hopkins, 2 Ivies, Georgetown, UVA, WM, Williams.

My second born did:
Honors Geo
Adv Geo and Precalc
AP Precalc w/analysis
AP Calc

similar outcomes.

Essentially repeating the same class will be boring, unless the calculus classes are taught expecting that you'll take both. I would recommend taking calc bc as a junior (if eligible) and then decide on stats or MV. You don't need to decide that now.

Depends on the high school. It is fine to do AB and then BC if that is commonly done at his high school.

Which of these two math paths would look better. I will start by saying I know (and my kid knows) that the most appealing option to colleges would be:

9th - Algebra II Honors
10th - AP Precalculus (where he is now)
11th - AP Calculus BC
12th - AP Multivariable Calculus

But he is starting to freak out about the idea of MV senior year. So he is considering:

11th grade - AP Calc AB
12th grade - AP Calc BC

Or:

11th grade - AP Calc BC
12th grade - AP Stats