AP Calc after Calc

[lmrich]

My son planned on taking a math in the local college for his senior year. The schedule does not work out. He can take AP Calc and AP stats at a once a week hybrid school (Derek Owens is the AP Calc teacher), but does he need AP Calc? He has the highest grade in his calculus class now and loves it. He might be a math major.

 

FYI other course would be Computer Science, Chemistry (at college level) and gov./Econ (high school level)

 

Thanks!

[kiana]

Is he taking calculus at a college now? If he is, I would think that taking the AP calc *class* would be a complete waste of time, although a few people do take the *exam*.

[plansrme]

Calc I is usually roughly the equivalent of Calc AB.  If the class is billed as Calc BC, it will probably cover additional material.  If it is Calc AB only, it should be a piece of cake but probably not cover much additional material.

[lmrich]

He is taking calculus at the high school level. The AP class is AB.

[plansrme]

He is taking calculus at the high school level. The AP class is AB.

 

High school calc, though, is still usually most of the same material as AP Calc AB.  ChalkDust Calc, for instance, which covers only about half of the calc text, missed only one topic that was on the AP exam.  My daughter self-studied that and made a 5 on the AP AB exam.

[lmrich]

That is my concern , that is basically the same class just taught more to the AP test....ideally it would be great to find the Other calculus. He hates online courses.

[kiana]

Then it is going to totally depend on the rigor of his high school calculus class. Some high school calculus classes are very rigorous. However, I also see students in my precalculus and calculus classes at the university, who supposedly had calculus in high school, but the only thing they appear to have learned is how to use the power rule to differentiate polynomials.

 

I would ask the teacher he has now for guidance. If he has covered nearly all of the AP syllabus, self-studying for the test would probably be a better plan than taking the course. If, on the other hand, he has been taking a calculus course aimed at a light introduction to calculus, intended to be followed by a more rigorous class, it might be a good plan.

[lmrich]

Thanks for your help. He might be interested in taking the PA AP homeschool Calculas BC. His current hybrid school is not stem focused, so he is thinking of leaving to pursue more math and science elsewhere. He wants to go to GA tech, and has the SAT scores, but he is worried that he has more history, English and Latin than computer science or other sciences. Is there any reason for him to have 6 English credits when he wants more math?