Anonymous
Post 09/24/2023 15:11     Subject: Re:Getting a B in AP Calculus
Anonymous wrote:My son also doing Pre-calc now in 10th. IHe's always made As in math but says pre-calc is a challenge for sure.

He does know some sophomore kids who are taking Calc BC and MV Calc/LA. I guess those kids are the true math prodigies. I wonder what the advantage is though of being that far ahead. Is it to stand out from peers for college admissions? Do they intend to be math majors?

Wondering if anyone out there has kids that were/are this far ahead and what their overall goal is/was?


Part of the reason students take BC is they like it or at least can handle it, either in their own opinion or their math teacher the prior year.

The other part is comparison to other classmates. My student in BC is a stem kid and feels strongly that his college applications will be strengthened with BC instead of AB. Especially since over 80 students in his school take BC. Does not want to be up against them in the application pile with AB instead of BC. Not the only factor but that is part of the thinking.
Anonymous
Post 09/24/2023 14:16     Subject: Re:Getting a B in AP Calculus
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:My kid (who is a Math tutor!) made a B in AP Calculus.
Got a 5 on the AP exam.
Was accepted to his ED school.
Got 6 hours worth of college credit and already satisfied the Math requirement.



Congrats on in your kid!

What did your student do for the next 2 years of math, as in OP's case?

Your example shows that a B in calculus is a good way to end college math, not start it.


DP, our kid got a B as well, attends an open curriculum college, and as a sophomore is currently on math class number 7. A B does not end anyones career. There are a ton of non academic reasons a teenager gets less than perfect grades.
Anonymous
Post 09/24/2023 13:55     Subject: Re:Getting a B in AP Calculus
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:My kid (who is a Math tutor!) made a B in AP Calculus.
Got a 5 on the AP exam.
Was accepted to his ED school.
Got 6 hours worth of college credit and already satisfied the Math requirement.



Congrats on in your kid!

What did your student do for the next 2 years of math, as in OP's case?

Your example shows that a B in calculus is a good way to end college math, not start it.


Thank you for the congrats.
My kid took AP Calc AB in 11th grade. Could have taken AP Calc BC in 12th but took AP Stats instead, wgicj made more sense for career path.

I'll also mention that my kid took Honors Algebra 2 during the first pandemic summer. Took Pre Calc during the pandemic school year and worked very hard to earn a B-.

Even with those 2 Bs, they still graduated with a 4.4 GPA. Now that they are a freshman, it's good to look back with a better perspective.

Anonymous
Post 09/24/2023 12:48     Subject: Getting a B in AP Calculus
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:This sequence doesn't make sense. It's common for students to go from honors pre-calc to BC (skipping AB). It's not common or advisable to skip pre calc and then do AB->BC. You end up the same place junior year, so why do it the 'wrong' way?


To try to sace face in front of frenemies.


At my DC’s local private, the sequence is honors pre-calculus to AB Calculus. The prerequisite for BC Calculus is AB Calculus or Advanced track Pre-calculus which (I think?) includes a semester of calculus.
Anonymous
Post 09/24/2023 09:43     Subject: Re:Getting a B in AP Calculus
My son also doing Pre-calc now in 10th. IHe's always made As in math but says pre-calc is a challenge for sure.

He does know some sophomore kids who are taking Calc BC and MV Calc/LA. I guess those kids are the true math prodigies. I wonder what the advantage is though of being that far ahead. Is it to stand out from peers for college admissions? Do they intend to be math majors?

Wondering if anyone out there has kids that were/are this far ahead and what their overall goal is/was?
Anonymous
Post 09/24/2023 01:35     Subject: Getting a B in AP Calculus
My son is taking Hon Precalculus this year in 9th. At the back to school night, the teacher said that Precalculus is the hardest course because it’s the first introduction to real math with standard terminology. My son always had As in math, but I am seeing a couple of Cs on exit tickets and am looking for a tutor. He will take calculus AB in 10th, there is no way I would let him skip precalculus. Also, a couple of his friends who took precalculus over the summer are struggling in Calculus.
Anonymous
Post 09/23/2023 23:53     Subject: Re:Getting a B in AP Calculus
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:It will be life-altering based on my experience.


Thanks, chicken little. As a counterpoint, at my DC’s private HS, the bottom 1/3, all of whom probably have multiple Cs (GPA’s sub 3.25), almost all got into top 100 or top 150 colleges. Including VT, UVM, Colorado-Boulder, Indiana, Clemson, Fordham, RIT, WPI.

Look, was skipping pre-Calc the best move? No. Almost certainly not. Not sure why people thing they need to get beyond Calc in HS. But getting a B (or even a C or 2) will not inalterable change your DC’s life trajectory, unless a big part of that trajectory was being dead set on being a member of The Harvard Club of DC. Which, let’s all face it, is the reason people want to go to Harvard, much more than the actual education.

But in the end if OP’s DS attends a college at all well known and dies well there, he will be more than fine in the long run.


A high school like yours would never have permitted this kid to skip precalc in the first place.

This kid does not have the foundation he needs to go forward in math. That is the potentially life-altering problem, not which college he goes to.


It depends how the school sets up the curriculum nat my high school, in parent times, precalc was for the kids who had problems with math. Students who were good at math went straight from trig to calculus.
Anonymous
Post 09/23/2023 21:51     Subject: Getting a B in AP Calculus
Anonymous wrote:This sequence doesn't make sense. It's common for students to go from honors pre-calc to BC (skipping AB). It's not common or advisable to skip pre calc and then do AB->BC. You end up the same place junior year, so why do it the 'wrong' way?


To try to sace face in front of frenemies.
Anonymous
Post 09/23/2023 21:50     Subject: Re:Getting a B in AP Calculus
Anonymous wrote:My kid (who is a Math tutor!) made a B in AP Calculus.
Got a 5 on the AP exam.
Was accepted to his ED school.
Got 6 hours worth of college credit and already satisfied the Math requirement.



Congrats on in your kid!

What did your student do for the next 2 years of math, as in OP's case?

Your example shows that a B in calculus is a good way to end college math, not start it.
Anonymous
Post 09/23/2023 21:48     Subject: Re:Getting a B in AP Calculus
Anonymous wrote:Are there HSs that still offer Calc AB > Calc BC?

The college board site shows that they are virtually the same, with Calc BC having 2 additional units. Maybe I'm missing something though. Does anyone know the difference between the 2 classes other than the 2 additional units?


Yes, always have been. There are many options for speeding up and slowing down progress through the math curriculum.

The difference is explained on the website. 2 extra units and extra topis is in 2 other units.
Anonymous
Post 09/23/2023 21:39     Subject: Re:Getting a B in AP Calculus
Anonymous wrote:My kid (who is a Math tutor!) made a B in AP Calculus.
Got a 5 on the AP exam.
Was accepted to his ED school.
Got 6 hours worth of college credit and already satisfied the Math requirement.



Anonymous
Post 09/23/2023 21:08     Subject: Re:Getting a B in AP Calculus
My kid (who is a Math tutor!) made a B in AP Calculus.
Got a 5 on the AP exam.
Was accepted to his ED school.
Got 6 hours worth of college credit and already satisfied the Math requirement.

Anonymous
Post 09/23/2023 19:04     Subject: Getting a B in AP Calculus
Anonymous wrote:Get a tutor!


+1. That’s what I would do.