s/o question on AP Calculus

[Jane in NC]

In another thread a couple of posters mentioned schools that offer AP Calculus AB in 11th, AP Calculus BC in 12th. The BC exam has a subset that reflects AB; hence I was under the impression that credit would not be given for both exams.

 

To the BTDT crowd: has your student taken both exams? How did colleges treat the credits?

 

Thanks,

Jane

[Ria]

By your question, Jane, do you mean that colleges won't give credit for both?

 

I have no idea about this, but it wouldn't deter me from having my son take both classes. He's thinking about biomedical engineering, so he wants as much higher math as possible. Even if he didn't get college credit for passing both AP exams, the material covered would be worth having taken it, kwim?

 

Ria

[kiana]

BC can result in credit for either one or two semesters of calculus. AB can result in credit for only one. If a student, however, scores well on the AB exam and badly on the BC exam, he can still receive credit for calc 1. He will not, in any case, receive credit for the AB exam if he receives credit for BC.

 

They are not different subjects -- calc BC covers everything that AB does, and more. Taking both depends on how the school has it set up -- some organize BC as a one-year class which follows precalculus, and others have students complete AB and then BC. Which approach you take would depend possibly on the texts you use and the mathematical aptitude of your student.

[Jane in NC]

Even if he didn't get college credit for passing both AP exams, the material covered would be worth having taken it, kwim?

 

Ria

 

But as Kiana related, AB and BC are not different subjects. Calc AB is what I call Calc I: Differential Calculus. Calc BC includes both Differential and Integral, i.e. Calc I and II. I'm having trouble visualizing a student who did well in Calc AB repeating the material in BC. Students who go on in Math revisit differentiation techniques in Multivarible anyway. I am also assuming that students who are taking these courses have fairly high math aptitude.

 

It just seems to me that most students would take one exam or the other--not both. Nor do I believe that colleges give credit for both exams.

 

Jane (who tends to get hung up on details sometimes--sorry)

[Ria]

But as Kiana related, AB and BC are not different subjects. Calc AB is what I call Calc I: Differential Calculus. Calc BC includes both Differential and Integral, i.e. Calc I and II. I'm having trouble visualizing a student who did well in Calc AB repeating the material in BC. Students who go on in Math revisit differentiation techniques in Multivarible anyway. I am also assuming that students who are taking these courses have fairly high math aptitude.

 

It just seems to me that most students would take one exam or the other--not both. Nor do I believe that colleges give credit for both exams.

 

Jane (who tends to get hung up on details sometimes--sorry)

 

Ahhhh...I see what you are saying now. Well, in that case perhaps I'll suggest that my son take AP Calc BC as a junior, and AP Statistics as a senior. That's something different!

 

Ria

[MomsintheGarden]

There has been good advice on this, and I just want to let you know what else we've found out. A lot of colleges give credit for the 1st semester calculus course if a student does not do as well on the BC exam. Here's what Virginia Tech (where ds is a freshman in engineering) credits:

 

Calculus AB:

Score of 3, 4, or 5 - credit for Math 1205 (1st semester calculus)

 

Calculus BC:

Score of 3 - credit for Math 1205 (1st semester calculus)

Score of 4 or 5 - credit for Math 1205 & Math 1206 (1st & 2nd semester calculus)

 

You can search for "AP Credit" on potential college websites (or contact the admissions offices) to make sure.

 

If your student wants to major in engineering, keep in mind that the Statistics AP might not result in credit that applies to his degree. A lot of engineering programs require a different statistics course than the AP Stat course. Ds knows someone who did well on the AP Stat exam, but she is required to take Engineering Statistics (a college junior level course). It's a good idea to search potential colleges to determine degree requirements, and work backwards from there to determine your plan.

 

A couple more things:

1. I'm not sure if a year-long gap is a good idea between calculus courses. It might be a struggle to move on to multivariable if your student does Calculus BC in his Jr. hs year, then has that time lapse.

2. Colleges sometimes require students to take placement tests to make sure they are ready to move on to the next math course even if they score high on AP exams. Ds got a 5 on the Calc AB exam but still had to take the test to make sure he was ready for Calc II. You might want to check to be sure.

 

HTH,

GardenMom

[Heather in VA]

I'm wondering why someone would take both? I took only BC Calculus in high school. Why would someone take AB first?

 

Heather

[Jane in NC]

I'm wondering why someone would take both? I took only BC Calculus in high school. Why would someone take AB first?

 

Heather

 

Yup, that is what I was wondering while reading the "Link to the Top School" thread. There were a couple comments about students taking Calc AB one year, Calc BC the next. A student who takes AB and does well should probably move on to a Calc II course at a CC or university. I think that would make more sense.

[Heather in VA]

Yup, that is what I was wondering while reading the "Link to the Top School" thread. There were a couple comments about students taking Calc AB one year, Calc BC the next. A student who takes AB and does well should probably move on to a Calc II course at a CC or university. I think that would make more sense.

 

If it helps any, the school in the link I posted to the "Link to the Top School" thread (not the original school - I posted one from our area) doesn't even offer AB Calculus. It's only their 'offered class' list but I know from those who go there that in reality they expect kids to either do BC Calculus or no Calculus at all (although very few do none - pretty much everyone takes BC).

 

Heather

[kiana]

Many engineering schools use a Statistics course which requires calculus as a prerequisite. AP Statistics (as far as I've seen) doesn't. I wouldn't expect it to transfer as anything worthwhile for most engineering majors, although it may be useful as a general overview before taking engineering statistics.

[Sharon in MD]

test with either the AB or BC tests. Please don't misunderstand me, I'm not against AP testing. But, we decided not to take the tests for a couple reasons. 1. All the schools that DS applied to have mandatory in-house placements tests for their math courses. So, it seemed to me like it was just going to add more stress to our year to get through the material in time to work on the test prep. 2. We decided that we don't mind if ds places into the first level calc class, because it should be a relatively easy A for him and a good confidence builder as a new freshman. If he strongly places into their second level calc class, he can go for it, but if he doesn't, I'd rather he take the intro class and be rock solid on it than flounder on the 2nd level course.

 

I do think that AP can be a great thing to have on your transcript, particularly if you don't have the benefit of an oversight academy that is backing your student and providing "credibility". (I hate to even say that by the way). But, for us, we decided it just wasn't worth it to take the tests.

 

We decided that we didn't want to try to have ds graduate from college early by benefit of AP credits. I think that is a fine way to go, depending on you kid and your family's needs, but for us, it looked like it was just going to add un-needed extra stress to our lives.

 

HTH someone.

[Pam "SFSOM" in TN]

In another thread a couple of posters mentioned schools that offer AP Calculus AB in 11th, AP Calculus BC in 12th. The BC exam has a subset that reflects AB; hence I was under the impression that credit would not be given for both exams.

 

To the BTDT crowd: has your student taken both exams? How did colleges treat the credits?

 

Thanks,

Jane

 

Jane, my ds took honors pre-calc with extra topics (to reflect the content in the "A" part of A/B) in 11th, then B/C in 12th. His college offered credit for B/C, but only after he passed Abstract Algebra (I think? Anyway, the college class after Calc III at his school, whatever that is).

 

All the colleges seem so different. Reed, for example, will give credit for either A/B or B/C with a score of 4 or 5, but not both. And then placement is based on an entrance placement test, not the passing of either.

[kiana]

His college offered credit for B/C, but only after he passed Abstract Algebra (I think? Anyway, the college class after Calc III at his school, whatever that is).

 

All the colleges seem so different. Reed, for example, will give credit for either A/B or B/C with a score of 4 or 5, but not both. And then placement is based on an entrance placement test, not the passing of either.

 

 

Probably Linear Algebra. Also, one reason universities use placement tests in addition to or instead of AP grades is that many university math departments feel that in a standard high school AP calculus course, computation with the calculator is overdone and computation by hand is insufficiently covered. If you're planning on having your child take the credit and move on, ensuring adequate computational abilities both with and without the calculator is of pretty high importance.