I didn’t take AP Calculus, I took Calculus at the community college during my senior year. It was a blast and I highly recommend it. Getting college credit without having to take a big exam at the end is a definite plus.
But I have been teaching and tutoring AP Calculus for a few years. Having taught both AP Calculus AB and AP Calculus BC, I can say with confidence breaking things up into two courses is just the College Board’s way of getting more money.
You can, and should aim to only take the AP Calculus BC exam, and you can take it instead of the AP Calculus AB class if you are willing to invest just a little more time studying.
Here’s why:
The BC exam is 60% review from AB
Calculus BC is mostly a review of Calculus AB and then some extra material. If you took the classes in college, 60% of Calculus AB is considered Calculus 1, and then the rest plus Calculus BC is considered Calculus 2.
So in college, all of Calculus AB and BC is done in a single year.
If you are in Calculus in high school, you are ready for that kind of a pace. You can learn everything in a year, and it won’t take much more time than what you already spend on your homework and studying.
The BC exam gives an AB score and a BC score
Because Calculus BC is mostly special cases of AB with one additional unit on series, you can’t test it without testing Calculus AB.
60% of the tested material on the BC exam is from the AB class. So the Calculus BC exam gives you an AB score.
Because of the way AP exams are graded, if you were to get 50% of the material on the exam correct, you would likely earn a 5 on the exam overall. Being sharp on the 60% of the material taught in the AB course is a good way to do that.
Calculus BC is mostly just special cases
There is a unit towards the end of Calculus BC on sequences and series, but everything else is just a special case on what you have already learned.
As you go through Calculus AB, you can learn the special cases of each unit along the way. You already have the cases and questions that might be asked in your book and prep book. They weave the calculus BC curriculum through the AB books because the information is so dependent on AB.
You already have the material to study
Calculus AB and BC are one year of schooling in college. Because they have split the classes in an awkward way in high school, all your Calculus textbooks cover both AB and BC.
Even the AP specific prep books always have both in the same book. They just highlight the BC specific coursework in each chapter.
Using your book as a guide, you can hit up youtube or other resources to get more examples. Once you are comfortable enough to practice the work on your own, there are millions of worksheets with solutions available online for you to work through.
It saves money and a year of classes
An extra 30 minutes of self-study a week will have you ready to take the Calculus BC exam if you are already in AB.
If you manage to get a decent score on the BC portion of the exam, then you have freed some space in next year’s schedule while still getting credit for the course. This could enable you to graduate early, fit in some more AP classes, or take more advanced math like linear algebra.
Register for and take the AP Calculus BC exam.
It will be a little harder, and a little more studying, but the benefits far outweigh the time commitment.
Who knows, you may be able to skip AP Calculus BC. There is really no downside, and you can always take it again if you fail.
What are you struggling with the most? Let me know in the comments below!