Senior Year in High School - AP Calc or Intro to Calc?

[WHSLacrossekid]

I dunno what I'm doing after High School yet....

 

[Angrymarshmello]

AP Calc. That'll make it easier in college

 

[anno]

is intro the same as pre-calculus, or did you have that already?

(we don't have intro to calc here..)

 

[bolomite]

how's the rest of your schedule?

 

If you're going to go into something like English or Political Science, then you'll have zero use for calculus in college, and AP will actually make it harder for you, as you'll have to take a higher level class for your required math class.

I took AP Calc AB in HS, and it was a huge waste of my time now that I'm taking all PoliSci and History classes.

 

[WHSLacrossekid]

I took Alg 3 which I think is PreCalc last year.

My schedule is cake:

1st half
Studio Communications
Business Law
Sociology / Civil Liberties
Intro to Calc

2nd half
English 4
Film & Video History
American Gov't
Zoology

 

Heh, zoology - I should have padded my schedule like that. Instead, I had Humanities (2 hours a day), Calculus AB, Physics, Argumentation (debate), and Newspaper. It sucked.

 

[sman789]

if you love math and your really good at it, go for it....i'm lazy but good in mah and got an A in Math Analysis/Pre-Calc my senior year....

Got approved for Computer Science at Virginia Tech and i'm leaving Friday🙂

 

[anno]

Originally posted by: sman789
if you love math and your really good at it, go for it....i'm lazy but good in mah and got an A in Math Analysis/Pre-Calc my senior year....

Got approved for Computer Science at Virginia Tech and i'm leaving Friday🙂

woo! I spent 2 quarters in computer science at virginia tech nearly 30 years ago.. the whole bein' a gal carryin' 3 boxes of punch cards a mile across campus at 3 in the am for my computer time thing (well.. and the math requirements, back then.. my current theory is that they've learned how to teach calculus since then..) turned me into an econ major after that. you will love blacksburg.. it's a way cool little town and one of the prettiest places in the world.. I may well retire there. well.. odds are I won't, but.. it's high on my list of places I'd like to!

WHSLacrossekid.. my daughter is an electronic journalism major (sophomore).. she took AP calc AB senior year and between that and the required for major statistics met her math requirements even though calculus wasn't required.. it was an acceptable substitute for college algebra (heh.. thank goodness!). she's aiming to graduate from the honors college as well as from the j-school so has to have 2 honors maths too, but was able to honorize the AP with honors logic, which met honors college math requirments but fulfills some other requirement in the j-school.. so it wasn't wasted or redundant. just because you don't want to be an engineer or a scientist doesn't mean it will be a waste of time, provided you have the foundation you need to succeed in it.. I think I'd ask my math teacher from last year for a recommendation rather than us, if I were you.

 

[NoReMoRsE]

Originally posted by: jumpr
Heh, zoology - I should have padded my schedule like that. Instead, I had Humanities (2 hours a day), Calculus AB, Physics, Argumentation (debate), and Newspaper. It sucked.

You have a class called Newspaper? Or do you mean you wrote for the paper?

If it was the former, how was the class?

 

[Beller0ph1]

Take AP Calc. I took the BC class and exam, got me out of a whole year of college math. The hard stuff. At least at UW-Madison. Go for it. High school calc is taught much better than college. Smaller class sizes, more personal attention, all that jazz. It pays to take tha AP class.

 

[sman789]

Originally posted by: anno

Originally posted by: sman789
if you love math and your really good at it, go for it....i'm lazy but good in mah and got an A in Math Analysis/Pre-Calc my senior year....

Got approved for Computer Science at Virginia Tech and i'm leaving Friday🙂

woo! I spent 2 quarters in computer science at virginia tech nearly 30 years ago.. the whole bein' a gal carryin' 3 boxes of punch cards a mile across campus at 3 in the am for my computer time thing (well.. and the math requirements, back then.. my current theory is that they've learned how to teach calculus since then..) turned me into an econ major after that. you will love blacksburg.. it's a way cool little town and one of the prettiest places in the world.. I may well retire there. well.. odds are I won't, but.. it's high on my list of places I'd like to!

Cool, i'm from a semi big city, virginia beach, and i felt wierd over there. And all the kids are major party heads which i am not....But i think i'll like it there, just scared right now

:Q

 

[Mday]

which ever you think you can pass. you dont want to screw up your grades senior year. you can get un-accepted at colleges for that. pre calculus has nothing to do with calculus. it just teaches certain math skills, such as advanced polynomial manipulation, and proofs.

 

Originally posted by: NoReMoRsE

Originally posted by: jumpr
Heh, zoology - I should have padded my schedule like that. Instead, I had Humanities (2 hours a day), Calculus AB, Physics, Argumentation (debate), and Newspaper. It sucked.

You have a class called Newspaper? Or do you mean you wrote for the paper?

If it was the former, how was the class?

Well, it was a class, but it was working on the school newspaper. I was Editor-in-Chief senior year.</puffs out chest>

 

[NoReMoRsE]

Originally posted by: jumpr

Originally posted by: NoReMoRsE

Originally posted by: jumpr Heh, zoology - I should have padded my schedule like that. Instead, I had Humanities (2 hours a day), Calculus AB, Physics, Argumentation (debate), and Newspaper. It sucked.

You have a class called Newspaper? Or do you mean you wrote for the paper? If it was the former, how was the class?

Well, it was a class, but it was working on the school newspaper. I was Editor-in-Chief senior year.</PUFFS chest out>

Cool! I served as science writer/editor for my HS newspaper. No time to help out at university, since I'm now volunteering in more medical-related activities.

 

[gwlam12]

I took Calc BC and my experience with it wasn't that great. I took it in my junior year of high school so although the class counted as credit for some classes in college, I had to "catch up" as the gap I had without any math put me behind and I had to refresh my memory. So you can either take all your college level math in college sequentially, or suffer the gap (of summer?). I dunno, just my experiences I'm talking about.

 

[brtspears2]

AP Calc, you get to be in a class with well behaved and students that want to learn.

 

[TuffGirl]

Originally posted by: Beller0ph1
Take AP Calc. I took the BC class and exam, got me out of a whole year of college math. The hard stuff. At least at UW-Madison. Go for it. High school calc is taught much better than college. Smaller class sizes, more personal attention, all that jazz. It pays to take tha AP class.

I couldn't agree any more. I had a similar experience taking Calc BC and getting college credit out of it. I scored a 3 on the exam which didn't qualify at my school but I was able to take and pass the Advanced Standing exam for it so I got the credit anyway.

AP Calc was my favorite class senior year HS for me because I had a fun teacher. Perhaps you could take that into consideration, find out who teaches Calc at your school, if s/he's a good teacher and if s/he grades harshly, etc.

 

[DrPizza]

Originally posted by: Beller0ph1
Take AP Calc. I took the BC class and exam, got me out of a whole year of college math. The hard stuff. At least at UW-Madison. Go for it. High school calc is taught much better than college. Smaller class sizes, more personal attention, all that jazz. It pays to take tha AP class.

Exactly the same advice I'd give too. Someone mentioned that it could cause you to have to take a harder (gasp) math class at college... I suppose that advice means spend several thousand dollars to take Mickey Mouse math courses at college so it's easier. Take the calculus in high school and take satisfaction that 1. You're not taking the easiest way out. 2. You're actually learning.

 

[wyvrn]

Depends on if you are good at math. I am not a math genius so I opted to take Elementary Analysis instead of Calc in high school. However in college, I have taken Calc I, II, and Linear Algebra and gotten A's in all three classes. There is nothing wrong with taking a less aggressive approach, it doesn't mean your a wuss or anything. To be truthful, unless you are doing engineering or physics degree then you aren't going to use your calculus classes all that much after college. Most likely your workplace will have software programs to handle those type of calculations, though it is very helpful to know the jist of what is going on. Well for me anyway, I am an MIS major 🙂