Anonymous
Post 11/06/2025 13:51     Subject: AP PreCalc
Anonymous wrote:This is going to depend on your district. Around the country, it's very common to apply to college without having taken Calculus or to have taken it senior year. However, that's because it's the norm in their districts.

In the DMV, or at least in MCPS and FCPS, the "norm" is that smart kids take Calculus junior year. I think it's ridiculous but it's the rat race.


seemed common in baltimore county as well. ap stats and ap calc ab junior year. bc senior year or multivariable calc
Anonymous
Post 11/06/2025 13:47     Subject: AP PreCalc
Smart kids at my DC’s private school take AP Calc AB in 12th. You can’t go from pre-Calc to BC because you have to take AB first. The really advanced kids (10-12 kids?) take Calc BC in 11th and MV/linear in 12th, but they almost all come from MCPS or FCPS where they were pushed forward in math in middle school. This is not common for kids at private school where Algebra 1 is taught in 8th.
Anonymous
Post 11/06/2025 13:35     Subject: AP PreCalc
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:I listened to YCBK this morning on my commute and they were basically saying AP precalc is a joke. Ugh. This is the junior year class and AP test my kid did - and we were so psyched w a great score. Doing calc now.

Do other kids applying to CWRU and BC-level colleges have AP Calc done in junior year?


Stop listening to this garbage.

Precalc isn't a legit "college-level" course. That's fine, because your child is in HIGH SCHOOL.



All they were doing is discussing the APs in terms of difficulty/impressiveness.

I don’t think anyone would disagree that Calc BC is a high tier AP class and AP Pre Calc is a lower one.

Nothing earth shattering was said. Just an affirmation of what is already known and accepted.
Anonymous
Post 11/06/2025 13:28     Subject: AP PreCalc
There are a lot of AP classes that aren't actually college level -- CS principles, physics 1, precalc. But the college board has to make money and students have to chase weighted GPAs!
Anonymous
Post 11/06/2025 13:18     Subject: AP PreCalc
what is 'YCBK"
Anonymous
Post 11/06/2025 13:17     Subject: AP PreCalc
Anonymous wrote:I listened to YCBK this morning on my commute and they were basically saying AP precalc is a joke. Ugh. This is the junior year class and AP test my kid did - and we were so psyched w a great score. Doing calc now.

Do other kids applying to CWRU and BC-level colleges have AP Calc done in junior year?


Stop listening to this garbage.

Precalc isn't a legit "college-level" course. That's fine, because your child is in HIGH SCHOOL.

Anonymous
Post 11/06/2025 12:51     Subject: AP PreCalc
Anonymous wrote:AP Precalc has replaced honors precalc at many high schools. It doesn't look good or bad, it just is. It's not as though the choice were AP Precalc vs calc; the choice is AP precalc vs whatever the less-rigorous course is called at that high school (and there is a lot of variety; college algebra, precalc and trig, etc.). I haven't listened to the podcast, but I don't understand what they might be trying to imply. Yeah, we know it's not college level math, and we know it won't be among the rigorous APs that colleges care about, but so what? You still have to take it on the road to calc. Take the course and be glad for the GPA weight.


I think the point of the YCBK discussion was that just because there now is an AP exam to back the high school precalc course, kids should not assume that taking it checks the math AP box for college admissions if their high school also offers AP Calc AB and/or AP Calc BC. School context matters.

And there is a hierarchy of rigor of AP exams — AP Precalc does not pass muster if a kid has choice to take something more challenging. They were much more focused on calling to task the College Board for creating the AP Precalc exam in the first place.
Anonymous
Post 11/06/2025 12:48     Subject: AP PreCalc
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:It’s the norm now for “good but not great” math students. It’s fine for most colleges, especially if they’re ending at Calc AB. It’s actually a tough class for kids who are good, not great. Many struggle to get A’s for the first time.

It's also now the norm for great math students, who still take a precalc course in between algebra 2 and calc.


At our school, Honors Pre Calc is the link between Alg2H and CalcBC for the strongest math students.

It doesn’t quite make sense that Honors Pre Calc is more advanced than AP Pre Calc, but I think admissions readers are familiar with that.

Interesting. I agree that doesn't make sense. It's odd to even offer both; seems like most high schools simply replaced honors precalc with AP.
Anonymous
Post 11/06/2025 12:43     Subject: AP PreCalc
Anonymous wrote:I don’t think it’s that it is an “easy” class, but it should have never been made an AP class. Precalc is not college level math. Higher level students are taking precalc anywhere from 8th-10th grade. I would say precalc as a jr is standard pathway for non-competitive college.


Agree. But I would add that if you are ending at Calc AB then that’s fine for all colleges - even the most selective ones.

It’s not the journey, it’s the destination lol.
Anonymous
Post 11/06/2025 12:34     Subject: AP PreCalc
Anonymous wrote:I'm confused about the classes mentioned. So, the order is AP Pre Calc, AP Calc AB and the AP Calc BC.

There is BC Pre Calc AP and you can skip AP Calc AB?


The order isn’t set. Some schools make you take calc AB before BC. Some don’t. Some schools have honors precalc, some call it AP precalc, some have something called AP precalc BC.

Our school has honors precalc, then you must take calc AB before BC, and they also have an advanced calc that is more/less equivalent to a calc III or multivariable calc. My student had precalc in 9th and that will be their pathway.
Anonymous
Post 11/06/2025 12:32     Subject: AP PreCalc
Anonymous wrote:I don’t think it’s that it is an “easy” class, but it should have never been made an AP class. Precalc is not college level math. Higher level students are taking precalc anywhere from 8th-10th grade. I would say precalc as a jr is standard pathway for non-competitive college.


Right. AP Pre-Calc and AP Research (or whatever they are calling that) are just a replacement for Honors classes now that Honors classes are out of style for equity reasons. It's indeed a cash grab by the College Board, but the market space was opened up by schools aggressively detracking all students in ways that make no sense.
Anonymous
Post 11/06/2025 12:29     Subject: AP PreCalc
I don’t think it’s that it is an “easy” class, but it should have never been made an AP class. Precalc is not college level math. Higher level students are taking precalc anywhere from 8th-10th grade. I would say precalc as a jr is standard pathway for non-competitive college.
Anonymous
Post 11/06/2025 12:19     Subject: AP PreCalc
Anonymous wrote:AP Precalc has replaced honors precalc at many high schools. It doesn't look good or bad, it just is. It's not as though the choice were AP Precalc vs calc; the choice is AP precalc vs whatever the less-rigorous course is called at that high school (and there is a lot of variety; college algebra, precalc and trig, etc.). I haven't listened to the podcast, but I don't understand what they might be trying to imply. Yeah, we know it's not college level math, and we know it won't be among the rigorous APs that colleges care about, but so what? You still have to take it on the road to calc. Take the course and be glad for the GPA weight.


In your case, they will read the school profile and see your course offerings.
Anonymous
Post 11/06/2025 12:17     Subject: AP PreCalc
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:It’s the norm now for “good but not great” math students. It’s fine for most colleges, especially if they’re ending at Calc AB. It’s actually a tough class for kids who are good, not great. Many struggle to get A’s for the first time.

It's also now the norm for great math students, who still take a precalc course in between algebra 2 and calc.


At our school, Honors Pre Calc is the link between Alg2H and CalcBC for the strongest math students.

It doesn’t quite make sense that Honors Pre Calc is more advanced than AP Pre Calc, but I think admissions readers are familiar with that.
Anonymous
Post 11/06/2025 12:04     Subject: AP PreCalc
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:I listened to YCBK this morning on my commute and they were basically saying AP precalc is a joke. Ugh. This is the junior year class and AP test my kid did - and we were so psyched w a great score. Doing calc now.

Do other kids applying to CWRU and BC-level colleges have AP Calc done in junior year?

Not all AP Precalc courses are alike. The college board curriculum provides 4 units, but only 3 are on the exam. So the true value of this course will *very much* depend on who it is taught/who is teaching it, even though this difference probably won't be visible on your child's transcript.

For that reason, some FCPS schools offer two versions of AP Precalc: AP Precalc "AB" and "BC", with the latter the version being the one that's more intense and covers all 4 units. Other districts provide DE/AP Precalculus which extends the CB curriculum with some additional items to match a DE curriculum, though it's not much.

So you need to carefully ask how it's taught. The barebones, 3 units version to just meet the College AP test is more of a joke than a fuller version would be that includes all the material traditionally taught in an honor precalc course, particularly one that prepares student to take Calc BC directly without spending another semester or year on Calc AB.


But CWRU isn’t going to know any of this granular detail. People just do the best they can at their high school, and it works itself out.

DP. I think they do have access to some of the info, particularly to the course catalog, but I would agree that they aren't paying that close attention. They are reviewing the transcript, and attaching whatever rigor ratings/calculations that they systematically use, in just minutes.