Many people on DCUM have kids at high schools that don't require AB as a prerequisite to BC. Those schools often offer multi-variable calculus and differential equations. And possibly courses like linear algebra and discrete math. Their suggestions may not apply if your school offers more limited math options.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote: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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

I know this is an old thread, but just wanted to add this. Our school encourages AB then BC. I pushed for mine to skip AB because I knew the curriculum and the BC teacher was a much better teacher. But most did both. Several admitted to T20 schools. Stem magnet program.

Our school requires AB before BC. His friends going into CS or Engineering did fine in admissions. A few didn’t even take BC at all and got in to NCState, VA Tech, etc.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote: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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

Anonymous wrote:It's totally fine to do AB+BC, that's the most common path for advanced math students at DS's HS and I know several admitted UVA and VT for engineering last year. DS also did that and is at VT in a math-heavy major. IMO, it's better to do that than jump to BC. No reason to rush through calculus vs. learning it at a slower and more thorough pace.

+1.

AB is for the weak, BC is for the strong.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote: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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

You get an AB sub score when taking BC, because BC covers all AB material plus a little more.

If your kid needs to slow down and do AP+BC, that’s fine, but it’s a little silly to claim it’s because they want a strong foundation. Literally tens of thousands of strong students end up with a 5 after going straight to BC.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote: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.

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.

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.

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.

Anonymous wrote:A thread on another board brought me here to ask: Do college admissions look down on kids, who apply for CS or engineering, that took AP Calc AB and then AP Calc BC?

I understand that those who skip AB and jump right to BC will be looked upon more favorably. But my question is, is it bad or a red flag for a student who wants to major in CS or engineering to do AB junior year and BC senior year? I'm not asking from an MIT or Ivy perspective, but what about good school like UVA? VA Tech? What about schools good schools not as highly ranked as those, like JMU, VCU, or GMU?

No. It is perfectly fine for any of these schools.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote: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.

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.

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.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Depend on your school, in our school
Low math track kids take Calc AB then done
High math track kids take Calc BC directly

Ditto. Seems like a waste of time to take Calc AB and then repeat the same curriculum during the first semester of BC

Does it? Do you also think there is no value in re-teaching addition year after year with more depth and complexity thrown in? Or do you think that we should show you addition once in your high powered rigorous preschool and call it quits? Math is learned through practice and struggle with concepts and problems. You can take Calc AB after being a Prof for many years and should be able to get some new insight from it.

Sued you can retake all the math classes multiply times for practice, but it won’t look good for college, that’s what OP is asking

Almost every class reviews and extends previous class.

Skipping a class and the taking AB and BC is no worse than not skipping a class and taking BC.
Colleges don't care about hyper acceleration because they like teaching their elite college versions of courses, not students skipping them via watered down basic courses. The few students who actually studied advanced calculus at the elite college level are identified not by their coursework but by extracurricular mathematical achievement.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:It's totally fine to do AB+BC, that's the most common path for advanced math students at DS's HS and I know several admitted UVA and VT for engineering last year. DS also did that and is at VT in a math-heavy major. IMO, it's better to do that than jump to BC. No reason to rush through calculus vs. learning it at a slower and more thorough pace.

I know kids at TJ that did this as well.. AB in 10th, BC in 11th, multivar in 12th, etc. and are at top CS schools like UIUC and Michigan.

They are URMs.

You are an underrepresented moron.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Depend on your school, in our school
Low math track kids take Calc AB then done
High math track kids take Calc BC directly

Ditto. Seems like a waste of time to take Calc AB and then repeat the same curriculum during the first semester of BC

The goal of anyone and everyone should be the following, if possible at your chosen college:

1. Get out of Freshman English/Writing. Usually means a 4 or 5 on AP Lang (or Lit some places).

2. Get out of Calc 2. This is much harder and typically requires a 4 or 5 on the BC exam. But if taking AB then BC ensures it (and my guess is more AB/BC will get a 4/5 than Prealc/BC) its worth it. Calc 2 is usually the worst class anyone takes.. They are out to get you not teach you.

Some colleges won't let you skip this, even with a 5 on the AP test. DS is at VT and had 5s on both AB and BC Calc tests. It let him skip Calc 1 only. For his major, Calc 2 on campus was required. But it made his first semester easier to be mainly reviewing and then he was ready to move on to more advanced math and stats classes. Has gotten As in all his math classes so far.