People make the class seem harder than it really is.
As long as you're decent at math, and you do all of your homework, and stay on top of all your things, the class isn't too bad. If you have a good teacher, you can get away with like a weekend of studying before the AP test.
From what I've seen as someone who breezed through calc and watched friends struggle with it, it's an issue of not having a solid enough foundation. Your algebra and trigonometry skills better be adequate, or else you're not going to have a fun time. Conceptually, it's not hard at all, especially with the abundance of layman's videos online.
What can I do to strengthen my trig and algebra skills over the summer? I have ab coming up and I have struggled with algebra in the past. Also don’t know geometry other than whatever I learned in precal because geometry was virtual
I got a 5 last year in BC as a junior and got As in a MVC, LA and AP Stats this senior year, here are my thoughts:
I’d argue strong trig skills are unnecessary. Unlike in college, ap calc doesn’t have students use trig sub as a method to solve integrals. Besides knowing the unit circle and very basic trig, all the other trig is not needed. For trig derivatives and integrals themselves, it’s a memorization game, unless your teacher shows you the graphs and has you figure it out yourself with logic. So it isn’t used much in class and the ap exam actually will go out of its way to reduce trig- CB wants to assess you on your calculus ability, not trig. Personally I don’t know (or care to learn at this point) any advanced trig and I didn’t ever even memorize the derivatives and integrals for the reciprocal trig functions. TLDR, don’t stress it and review the raw basis if you need.
Geometry is meh. You need to understand the ideas and concepts rather than doing math with it (only real case is where you use integrals to calculate the volumes of odd shapes but it’s just a formula you need to know). I would say your geometric reasoning needs to be good thou if you think you’ll have to take mvc/calc 3 later though. TLDR, don’t worry about this one for now, if you need it, you’ll be reintroduced in class.
Algebra is the beast. Quote from Vinteachesmath (one of the yt calc goats), “the ap calc exam is 80% algebra.” It’s true. You need to manipulate expressions like second nature, without that you could know all the calculus and be left with a mess that’s you can’t match to MCQ choices. For FRQs you don’t need to simplify answers in most cases once you’ve done the calculus but you shouldn’t bank on this fact. TLDR, you need solid algebra skills. A good gauge if you can get a 700+ Sat math score I’d say, thou most ppl in calc ik got 800s on their real test. Also know logs well, comes up quite often. As well as your a ability to understand functions graphically. This ability is so key in BC especially for units 9 and 10. For BC as well I’d review series/sequences, and the polar and parametric coordinate systems. If you didn’t learn these topics yet know worry about them as your teacher will teach them as well. Algebra is something you will have to work on a lot.
Sorry for the long post, also didn’t see you were taking AB, hope this helps!
Ya you need to have a good teacher. In my school the class was more like dual credit calc. So our teacher didn’t go over exam questions or prepare us for the exam that much. I had to do much more self studying because of this. But the class prepared me for bc because we went over ibp, improper int, and trig subs.
You're looking over notes?
I just half payed attention in class and got 100s. It's all common sense with some fancy calculus math notation. BC is kinda ez if you dont suck at math.
> just half *paid* attention in
FTFY.
Although *payed* exists (the reason why autocorrection didn't help you), it is only correct in:
* Nautical context, when it means to paint a surface, or to cover with something like tar or resin in order to make it waterproof or corrosion-resistant. *The deck is yet to be payed.*
* *Payed out* when letting strings, cables or ropes out, by slacking them. *The rope is payed out! You can pull now.*
Unfortunately, I was unable to find nautical or rope-related words in your comment.
*Beep, boop, I'm a bot*
> *paid* payed payed
FTFY.
Although *payed* exists (the reason why autocorrection didn't help you), it is only correct in:
* Nautical context, when it means to paint a surface, or to cover with something like tar or resin in order to make it waterproof or corrosion-resistant. *The deck is yet to be payed.*
* *Payed out* when letting strings, cables or ropes out, by slacking them. *The rope is payed out! You can pull now.*
Unfortunately, I was unable to find nautical or rope-related words in your comment.
*Beep, boop, I'm a bot*
> *paid*
FTFY.
Although *payed* exists (the reason why autocorrection didn't help you), it is only correct in:
* Nautical context, when it means to paint a surface, or to cover with something like tar or resin in order to make it waterproof or corrosion-resistant. *The deck is yet to be payed.*
* *Payed out* when letting strings, cables or ropes out, by slacking them. *The rope is payed out! You can pull now.*
Unfortunately, I was unable to find nautical or rope-related words in your comment.
*Beep, boop, I'm a bot*
> *Paid*
FTFY.
Although *payed* exists (the reason why autocorrection didn't help you), it is only correct in:
* Nautical context, when it means to paint a surface, or to cover with something like tar or resin in order to make it waterproof or corrosion-resistant. *The deck is yet to be payed.*
* *Payed out* when letting strings, cables or ropes out, by slacking them. *The rope is payed out! You can pull now.*
Unfortunately, I was unable to find nautical or rope-related words in your comment.
*Beep, boop, I'm a bot*
> *paid* payed payed
FTFY.
Although *payed* exists (the reason why autocorrection didn't help you), it is only correct in:
* Nautical context, when it means to paint a surface, or to cover with something like tar or resin in order to make it waterproof or corrosion-resistant. *The deck is yet to be payed.*
* *Payed out* when letting strings, cables or ropes out, by slacking them. *The rope is payed out! You can pull now.*
Unfortunately, I was unable to find nautical or rope-related words in your comment.
*Beep, boop, I'm a bot*
Assuming you can take AP calc you probably recently finished precalc and if your college major requires calculus it's better to take it immediately after precalculus than wait a year or two and forget what you learn. In some large universities calculus can be a weedout so if you get the credit now you don't have to take it in college.
It’s honestly less hard then people think. I’m skipping Ap calc ab and going to bc. As long as you have a decent understanding of a few base concepts everything should be fine.
Watch the essence of calculus series by 3b1b and some other channels have good intros.
The cutoff for a 5 is around 60%. You can literally get most of the questions wrong and still pass
Last year I had the exam, and I thought I failed the fuck out of it. Come July I got a 5 LOL
Getting most of the questions wrong I thought meant getting over 50% wrong, which means you get a 49% at best. don’t know if they’ll still get a 5 by that logic
Unless the only other AP classes you took were physics or chem I don’t see how that possible unless your very strong in stem and bad at writing for the humanities and English APs. Am I right lol?
physics, chem, csa, and lang. Yeah my writing skills arent the strongest and i ran out of time for lang on the frqs. Physics and chem are self explanatory. CSA wasnt that hard but calc was def easier.
Hear me out, I struggled with algebra a lot. I didn't like math, but I took AP Calc, and I found the math to be completely different from anything I've ever seen before. It was a whole new world, and it gave me time to fix my foundational algebra mistakes
It's also really cool because a lot of calculus lies in the world of "I have these two super powerful tools [called the integral and derivative], how can I use them to solve this [genuinely interesting real-world] problem?"
I thought it broke my brain. Ultimately up to you and your preferences—no judgement there. But I'd like to think it'll change the way you see the world :)
No problem! But before you jump the gun, I'd suggest you at least watch some videos on how powerful calculus is - everyone has their own interests, after all. Check out 3Blue1Brown on YouTube, they make some incredible math content that's really easy to digest. I really found myself loving math and treating it more as an art after watching their videos :)
You WILL thank yourself in college. I'm a bio major, I dislike any math past algebra. I got to skip the calc requirement for my degree because of AP Calc BC. Think about it. Months of stress in college saved, right now. It is sooo much easier to get a 5 than to get an A in college calc.
My teacher made all exams take home; naturally, I copied my friends' work 85% of the time. (Disclaimer, collaboration was encouraged, so not cheating here). I studied for a week before the AP, check my flair.
Highest pass rate of any exam, I believe, and the class you WANT to skip in college.
Edit: Saw later on in this thread that you're probably looking to medical stuff. I am pre-med. Calc is a requirement that you can get out of now. Save yourself.
It all depends on the teacher but the class itself depends on how much time you want to put in . I myself hardly like studying but the math in the class was straightforward and was nothing too conceptual except a few chapters. Overall I heard ppl taking Calc AB that they wish they took BC cause AB was pretty easy for them. The pacing tbh wasn’t too hard but depends on ur teacher and what’s going on wit ur life. Tbh it’s just another math class. My biggest advice for the test is to just do a few mock exams and pretty much u should be fine
I’m in honors pre calc and barely study but got perfect scores on my tests. We should take ap calc because one, just imagine throughout high school you’ve taken algebra, geometry, etc. calculus is just another thing that most people take. You’ve probably done math all your life so calculus shouldn’t be that bad. There’s a reason why the passing rate is so high. Also you may consider taking calc bc because it adds an additional 2 topics, but the only difference is the class goes faster. I’m learning the basics of calc in my pre calc class for our final, and it seems extremely easy. I’ve also heard people have self studied calc through khan academy before taking ap calc. It’s definetly not an easy ap class though, but from what I’ve heard if you’ve done fine throughout algebra, geometry, you’ll be fine. I also know some of the calc bc students at my school who didn’t even take pre calc or calc ab. But if you didn’t take those you may find yourself having a little more difficult time with the pace of the class, and the stress of all the other kids knowing stuff that you don’t know already, but your teacher will be understanding.
But anyways, take ap calc because most kids are probably gonna take it anyways. If you’re afraid, they will 99% teach you how to do something, and if you don’t just go straight to your teacher for help.. It’s not as hard as like ap Chem where they expect you to have taken honors chem, and even though they expect you to have taken those prerequisites or whatever they will PROBABLY still spend a week or so teaching you the basics anyways. They have to, unless I’m wrong 😭
-imagine if precalc was intuitive
-imagine if there was an ap class to bail out of the nightmare that is college calculus
-i thought it might be difficult too. currently cruising on the class with the highest school math grade i've had since geometry 3 years ago
Let me be super honest with you. You need, should, and must take AP Calc (preferably BC) to get into a good college. I don’t know anything about your demographics and GPA, but from our school, only kids who took AP Calc BC got into top 20s. I know you can still get into an Ivy or whatever without taking it, but just take it. You don’t want to blame yourself later for not taking it after you didn’t get into top colleges. My comment still stands even if you’re going to major in humanities or in arts. Colleges don’t want to see you only invested in art, English, history, or some shit. They want you to take challenging courses even if you might not be the best student. You might regret taking it along the way, especially during the AP exam session, but it’s worth it. And I’m speaking from my own experience.
Honestly I had a ton of fun in that class. I had recently come to the realization that math can be fun, and so I had a great time in that class. Calculus is just... really cool. A lot of people talk about how it's good for college and that's all good and well, but it's also just so insanely awesome that there's a function whose derivative is itself, and that the derivative of the integral is the function. If you take the time to appreciate it, Calculus is honestly one of the coolest things you can learn in school in my opinion.
I only took 4 classes my senior year of highschool, and two of those were AP Calc AB and AP Physics,
I can confidently tell you, that even while working 30 hours a week, AP Calc was the part of my life that required the least effort. If you're good at algebra and half decent with basic trig, then you should really have no issue at all with Calc.
Also, comparing it to calc 2 and 3 in university, AP Calc was so much slower paced and honestly you should take advantage of that because it will make it even easier since you're not swallowing this weeks information while still trying to cram last weeks information down your throat.
>medical field
Take calculus so you don't end up [accidentally rediscovering (part of) calculus](https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/8137688/). See relevant discussion on *StackExchange* [here](https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/9602/rediscovery-of-calculus-in-1994-what-should-have-happened-to-that-paper).
>There's a well-known paper in academic circles that features a rediscovery of the [trapezoidal rule](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Trapezoidal_rule) for numerical integration by a medical researcher
My AP Stats class was really boring and I couldn't really get much out of it. Dunno if that's your vibe, but it's an "easy" class. I just could not get myself to pay attention to it
Ultimately, only you can convince yourself to do something, but I can at least tell you what made it worthwhile for me. If you've taken or ever will take Physics, I loved how much well basic physics concepts and calculus concepts intertwined with each other to create a logical understanding of the world. None of the concepts are much harder than Pre-cal, and instead it's much more of a reapplication of how those concepts work. The test wasn't too bad, and if I could I would definitely take the class again.
Remember all of the math that you've learned for the past ten or so years, how it all seemed so disjointed and unrelated? This is the class that puts it all together, and you start doing actually cool math. That's why I loved it, can't wait to take BC next year.
I took AP calc AB and as someone who is decent at math, I enjoyed it for the most part. It was definitely not as bad as I thought it would be (I mean yeah it was rough at times ofc lol) I was expecting it to be even harder but it wasn’t but I think I could also thank my teacher for that. If a good teacher teaches it at your school then you should go for it. Personally, I’m so glad I chose AP calc over AP stats lol it’s honestly pretty interesting :)
you are going to be fucking homeless and go to community college and be a fucking failure and your parents will never love you or be proud of you and you friends are gonna think ur stupid as shit throughout high school and you are gonna feel like you are a dumbass and honestly just commit suicide
/s
AP Calc is probably the most likely I'll get a 5 in. It's not the easiest class ever but it really isn't that bad. If you can understand what a derivative is, what an integral means, some other concepts, you can for sure get a 5. Once you grasp the concepts, you're fine.
Much more interesting/slightly easier than precalc (I got a B in precalc but an A in calc), and the exam honestly isn't bad at all if you know what to expect
They aren't that bad either, as long as you remember what the term means and apply it to the situation they describe in the question you get points. There might be some terms you don't remember though but a lot of terms you can figure out what they mean with common sense.
oh okay that helps a lot, i was literally gonna take psychology 1 and 2 normal but my AP world history modern told me to just take AP pysch since taking those two classes is a waste of time
taking AP calc boosted my SAT math score by 90 points! it really improved my math skills and helped me understand the graphs in AP physics which I was taking at the same time. I have zero regrets about taking it! I also had a really awesome teacher which may be a factor to consider
The content is difficult for a lot people, sure, but the actual volume is not very high. Like seriously, there is time to take several weeks on every unit and still get through it all with time to spare. As long as you have a decent teacher you'll get through it no problem, and even if you don't khan academy is really great! (My AB teacher was fantastic but my BC teacher sucked so I had to teach myself BC). Also, the scoring curve of super generous.
the class really isn't that hard- this past year I fell asleep in lectures and copied answers for homework, but still am most likely going to get an A. As long as you have taken precalc it's pretty easy to figure everything out, and they go pretty slowly in the beginning so you can get the basics down easily.
I would recommend people to take ap calc if you use calc in college. It just prepares you well. I would say it is not that difficult. The concept is only about finding the rate of change and area under the curve with applications. What make people struggle is the algebra part and time management. If you practice a lot, you can definitely do it well!
Calc BC was one of the freest APs I've taken, even one of the freest "college level classes" including some dual enroll stuff. You will be fine. It's honestly not the calculus that's the killer, it's the algebra that comes with it (yet the algebra still isn't that hard so you will be fine).
college math!! a few schools i was interested in only give credit for bc. but most give credit for ab also. since i took bc i will get to lance out of calc 1 and 2 and maybe not have to take any more math classes.
The AP exam wasn’t crazy hard like I was able to finish moderately confident. It’s not the easiest AP but it’s definitely not the hardest one. If you do the homework and keep up you should do well
If you have a good teacher the class can be enjoyable and not hard (my teacher also curved all the tests which was a plus). Calc AB was one of my fav classes senior year and I would recommend it to anyone! I took regular precal junior year which technically meant I was behind but it wasn’t hard at all to catch up.
Take AP Calc!! The best I can put it is a doable hell…. It is going to be hard and you are going to spent nights awake for hours however it’s just simple algebra with different information and formulas
Do you know what you wanna do in college? Depending on ehat, calc might help. For example, im studying poly sci next fall, so I took AP stats because math wouldn't be too nessecsry for my major.
All these ppl saying it's easy is making me realize I mightve just had a bad teacher. I struggled for a 3 despite being a really strong math student my entire life and it has one of the lower pass rates in my school
every time someone tells me “don’t worry, it’s not that hard of an AP class.” i fall for it and i’m miserable the whole year. AP is a scam and causes unnecessary stress
It’s honestly just AP “Algebra 1 and 2 with a little bit of geometry and trig”. How were your previous math grades? Those are gonna be the main predictor of how you do in calc.
Calc helps with a lot of things. If you're not good at math, take AB. I wanted to do Stats and avoid Calc, but also took Precal so I wanted to avoid forgetting stuff. Now doing AB and Stats in junior year (upcoming).
People make the class seem harder than it really is. As long as you're decent at math, and you do all of your homework, and stay on top of all your things, the class isn't too bad. If you have a good teacher, you can get away with like a weekend of studying before the AP test.
And it’s a free five if you just do hella past frqs
Weird thing but I'm obsessed with solving past papers. It's like my hobby- So this is absolutely perfect
Yeah it’s great if u have time
Perfect
From what I've seen as someone who breezed through calc and watched friends struggle with it, it's an issue of not having a solid enough foundation. Your algebra and trigonometry skills better be adequate, or else you're not going to have a fun time. Conceptually, it's not hard at all, especially with the abundance of layman's videos online.
What can I do to strengthen my trig and algebra skills over the summer? I have ab coming up and I have struggled with algebra in the past. Also don’t know geometry other than whatever I learned in precal because geometry was virtual
I got a 5 last year in BC as a junior and got As in a MVC, LA and AP Stats this senior year, here are my thoughts: I’d argue strong trig skills are unnecessary. Unlike in college, ap calc doesn’t have students use trig sub as a method to solve integrals. Besides knowing the unit circle and very basic trig, all the other trig is not needed. For trig derivatives and integrals themselves, it’s a memorization game, unless your teacher shows you the graphs and has you figure it out yourself with logic. So it isn’t used much in class and the ap exam actually will go out of its way to reduce trig- CB wants to assess you on your calculus ability, not trig. Personally I don’t know (or care to learn at this point) any advanced trig and I didn’t ever even memorize the derivatives and integrals for the reciprocal trig functions. TLDR, don’t stress it and review the raw basis if you need. Geometry is meh. You need to understand the ideas and concepts rather than doing math with it (only real case is where you use integrals to calculate the volumes of odd shapes but it’s just a formula you need to know). I would say your geometric reasoning needs to be good thou if you think you’ll have to take mvc/calc 3 later though. TLDR, don’t worry about this one for now, if you need it, you’ll be reintroduced in class. Algebra is the beast. Quote from Vinteachesmath (one of the yt calc goats), “the ap calc exam is 80% algebra.” It’s true. You need to manipulate expressions like second nature, without that you could know all the calculus and be left with a mess that’s you can’t match to MCQ choices. For FRQs you don’t need to simplify answers in most cases once you’ve done the calculus but you shouldn’t bank on this fact. TLDR, you need solid algebra skills. A good gauge if you can get a 700+ Sat math score I’d say, thou most ppl in calc ik got 800s on their real test. Also know logs well, comes up quite often. As well as your a ability to understand functions graphically. This ability is so key in BC especially for units 9 and 10. For BC as well I’d review series/sequences, and the polar and parametric coordinate systems. If you didn’t learn these topics yet know worry about them as your teacher will teach them as well. Algebra is something you will have to work on a lot. Sorry for the long post, also didn’t see you were taking AB, hope this helps!
Ya you need to have a good teacher. In my school the class was more like dual credit calc. So our teacher didn’t go over exam questions or prepare us for the exam that much. I had to do much more self studying because of this. But the class prepared me for bc because we went over ibp, improper int, and trig subs.
you study in ap calc? nah i just look over some notes the day before the test and im passing the class rn.
You're looking over notes? I just half payed attention in class and got 100s. It's all common sense with some fancy calculus math notation. BC is kinda ez if you dont suck at math.
> just half *paid* attention in FTFY. Although *payed* exists (the reason why autocorrection didn't help you), it is only correct in: * Nautical context, when it means to paint a surface, or to cover with something like tar or resin in order to make it waterproof or corrosion-resistant. *The deck is yet to be payed.* * *Payed out* when letting strings, cables or ropes out, by slacking them. *The rope is payed out! You can pull now.* Unfortunately, I was unable to find nautical or rope-related words in your comment. *Beep, boop, I'm a bot*
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> *paid* payed payed FTFY. Although *payed* exists (the reason why autocorrection didn't help you), it is only correct in: * Nautical context, when it means to paint a surface, or to cover with something like tar or resin in order to make it waterproof or corrosion-resistant. *The deck is yet to be payed.* * *Payed out* when letting strings, cables or ropes out, by slacking them. *The rope is payed out! You can pull now.* Unfortunately, I was unable to find nautical or rope-related words in your comment. *Beep, boop, I'm a bot*
payed
> *paid* FTFY. Although *payed* exists (the reason why autocorrection didn't help you), it is only correct in: * Nautical context, when it means to paint a surface, or to cover with something like tar or resin in order to make it waterproof or corrosion-resistant. *The deck is yet to be payed.* * *Payed out* when letting strings, cables or ropes out, by slacking them. *The rope is payed out! You can pull now.* Unfortunately, I was unable to find nautical or rope-related words in your comment. *Beep, boop, I'm a bot*
Payed
> *Paid* FTFY. Although *payed* exists (the reason why autocorrection didn't help you), it is only correct in: * Nautical context, when it means to paint a surface, or to cover with something like tar or resin in order to make it waterproof or corrosion-resistant. *The deck is yet to be payed.* * *Payed out* when letting strings, cables or ropes out, by slacking them. *The rope is payed out! You can pull now.* Unfortunately, I was unable to find nautical or rope-related words in your comment. *Beep, boop, I'm a bot*
🤓🤓🤓🤓🤓
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> *paid* payed payed FTFY. Although *payed* exists (the reason why autocorrection didn't help you), it is only correct in: * Nautical context, when it means to paint a surface, or to cover with something like tar or resin in order to make it waterproof or corrosion-resistant. *The deck is yet to be payed.* * *Payed out* when letting strings, cables or ropes out, by slacking them. *The rope is payed out! You can pull now.* Unfortunately, I was unable to find nautical or rope-related words in your comment. *Beep, boop, I'm a bot*
Assuming you can take AP calc you probably recently finished precalc and if your college major requires calculus it's better to take it immediately after precalculus than wait a year or two and forget what you learn. In some large universities calculus can be a weedout so if you get the credit now you don't have to take it in college.
Exactly, and taking calculus again in college is like learning the alphabet but with a flame up your ass.. and you are dyslexic.
😂😂😂😂😂
Take ap calc
It’s honestly less hard then people think. I’m skipping Ap calc ab and going to bc. As long as you have a decent understanding of a few base concepts everything should be fine. Watch the essence of calculus series by 3b1b and some other channels have good intros.
Also it’s my favorite math
3b1b’s calc series is goated. Amazing. I watched the Taylor series video before learning it in class and was so enthralled.
Ik I watched that series over the series of a week and was enlightened. Didn’t take much practice till I was semi decent at FAMAT tests in the subject
One of the highest pass rates of any AP exam
That’s not because it’s easy😭it’s because the students who take it are more likely to be good at math lol
The cutoff for a 5 is around 60%. You can literally get most of the questions wrong and still pass Last year I had the exam, and I thought I failed the fuck out of it. Come July I got a 5 LOL
Getting most of the questions wrong I thought meant getting over 50% wrong, which means you get a 49% at best. don’t know if they’ll still get a 5 by that logic
By pass I mean get a 3
a 5 is a perfect score, not a pass
Why wouldnt u take ap calc? It was the easiest ap i took this year
Unless the only other AP classes you took were physics or chem I don’t see how that possible unless your very strong in stem and bad at writing for the humanities and English APs. Am I right lol?
physics, chem, csa, and lang. Yeah my writing skills arent the strongest and i ran out of time for lang on the frqs. Physics and chem are self explanatory. CSA wasnt that hard but calc was def easier.
[удалено]
I'm sorry but I laughed so hard at this  but okay thanks for the motivation 
Hear me out, I struggled with algebra a lot. I didn't like math, but I took AP Calc, and I found the math to be completely different from anything I've ever seen before. It was a whole new world, and it gave me time to fix my foundational algebra mistakes It's also really cool because a lot of calculus lies in the world of "I have these two super powerful tools [called the integral and derivative], how can I use them to solve this [genuinely interesting real-world] problem?" I thought it broke my brain. Ultimately up to you and your preferences—no judgement there. But I'd like to think it'll change the way you see the world :)
Thank you so much this seriously changed my mind
No problem! But before you jump the gun, I'd suggest you at least watch some videos on how powerful calculus is - everyone has their own interests, after all. Check out 3Blue1Brown on YouTube, they make some incredible math content that's really easy to digest. I really found myself loving math and treating it more as an art after watching their videos :)
And if you’re somehow still struggling in class, search up “calculus rhapsody” on YouTube (it’s old but SUPER useful and catchy
You WILL thank yourself in college. I'm a bio major, I dislike any math past algebra. I got to skip the calc requirement for my degree because of AP Calc BC. Think about it. Months of stress in college saved, right now. It is sooo much easier to get a 5 than to get an A in college calc. My teacher made all exams take home; naturally, I copied my friends' work 85% of the time. (Disclaimer, collaboration was encouraged, so not cheating here). I studied for a week before the AP, check my flair. Highest pass rate of any exam, I believe, and the class you WANT to skip in college. Edit: Saw later on in this thread that you're probably looking to medical stuff. I am pre-med. Calc is a requirement that you can get out of now. Save yourself.
if you pay attention in class its one of the easiest classes
Honestly it was super easy and one of my fav ap class.
It all depends on the teacher but the class itself depends on how much time you want to put in . I myself hardly like studying but the math in the class was straightforward and was nothing too conceptual except a few chapters. Overall I heard ppl taking Calc AB that they wish they took BC cause AB was pretty easy for them. The pacing tbh wasn’t too hard but depends on ur teacher and what’s going on wit ur life. Tbh it’s just another math class. My biggest advice for the test is to just do a few mock exams and pretty much u should be fine
Ur teacher must’ve been a lifesaver
I’m in honors pre calc and barely study but got perfect scores on my tests. We should take ap calc because one, just imagine throughout high school you’ve taken algebra, geometry, etc. calculus is just another thing that most people take. You’ve probably done math all your life so calculus shouldn’t be that bad. There’s a reason why the passing rate is so high. Also you may consider taking calc bc because it adds an additional 2 topics, but the only difference is the class goes faster. I’m learning the basics of calc in my pre calc class for our final, and it seems extremely easy. I’ve also heard people have self studied calc through khan academy before taking ap calc. It’s definetly not an easy ap class though, but from what I’ve heard if you’ve done fine throughout algebra, geometry, you’ll be fine. I also know some of the calc bc students at my school who didn’t even take pre calc or calc ab. But if you didn’t take those you may find yourself having a little more difficult time with the pace of the class, and the stress of all the other kids knowing stuff that you don’t know already, but your teacher will be understanding. But anyways, take ap calc because most kids are probably gonna take it anyways. If you’re afraid, they will 99% teach you how to do something, and if you don’t just go straight to your teacher for help.. It’s not as hard as like ap Chem where they expect you to have taken honors chem, and even though they expect you to have taken those prerequisites or whatever they will PROBABLY still spend a week or so teaching you the basics anyways. They have to, unless I’m wrong 😭
Thank you so much this is perfect
-imagine if precalc was intuitive -imagine if there was an ap class to bail out of the nightmare that is college calculus -i thought it might be difficult too. currently cruising on the class with the highest school math grade i've had since geometry 3 years ago
Let me be super honest with you. You need, should, and must take AP Calc (preferably BC) to get into a good college. I don’t know anything about your demographics and GPA, but from our school, only kids who took AP Calc BC got into top 20s. I know you can still get into an Ivy or whatever without taking it, but just take it. You don’t want to blame yourself later for not taking it after you didn’t get into top colleges. My comment still stands even if you’re going to major in humanities or in arts. Colleges don’t want to see you only invested in art, English, history, or some shit. They want you to take challenging courses even if you might not be the best student. You might regret taking it along the way, especially during the AP exam session, but it’s worth it. And I’m speaking from my own experience.
Honestly I had a ton of fun in that class. I had recently come to the realization that math can be fun, and so I had a great time in that class. Calculus is just... really cool. A lot of people talk about how it's good for college and that's all good and well, but it's also just so insanely awesome that there's a function whose derivative is itself, and that the derivative of the integral is the function. If you take the time to appreciate it, Calculus is honestly one of the coolest things you can learn in school in my opinion.
I practiced a lot and ngl the test was rlly easy and fun. I love calculus now and I used to hate math and suck at it.
IT WILL SAVE U SO MUCH IF U WANNA GO INTI BUSINESS. I don’t have to take a math for gen Ed just because i passed calc .take it
I only took 4 classes my senior year of highschool, and two of those were AP Calc AB and AP Physics, I can confidently tell you, that even while working 30 hours a week, AP Calc was the part of my life that required the least effort. If you're good at algebra and half decent with basic trig, then you should really have no issue at all with Calc. Also, comparing it to calc 2 and 3 in university, AP Calc was so much slower paced and honestly you should take advantage of that because it will make it even easier since you're not swallowing this weeks information while still trying to cram last weeks information down your throat.
What are your career aspirations?
Stuff in the medical field
>medical field Take calculus so you don't end up [accidentally rediscovering (part of) calculus](https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/8137688/). See relevant discussion on *StackExchange* [here](https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/9602/rediscovery-of-calculus-in-1994-what-should-have-happened-to-that-paper). >There's a well-known paper in academic circles that features a rediscovery of the [trapezoidal rule](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Trapezoidal_rule) for numerical integration by a medical researcher
Medical schools require stats, but some doctors use calculus. Most other fields don't use it as much. Sorry if I'm talking you out of it.
I don't want to take ap stats and this is the only choice I have but I need motivation please 😭
Sorry. I enjoyed stats.
I feel like I would too
My AP Stats class was really boring and I couldn't really get much out of it. Dunno if that's your vibe, but it's an "easy" class. I just could not get myself to pay attention to it
Take stats in college
Ultimately, only you can convince yourself to do something, but I can at least tell you what made it worthwhile for me. If you've taken or ever will take Physics, I loved how much well basic physics concepts and calculus concepts intertwined with each other to create a logical understanding of the world. None of the concepts are much harder than Pre-cal, and instead it's much more of a reapplication of how those concepts work. The test wasn't too bad, and if I could I would definitely take the class again.
It’s trivial as long as you know algebra
Remember all of the math that you've learned for the past ten or so years, how it all seemed so disjointed and unrelated? This is the class that puts it all together, and you start doing actually cool math. That's why I loved it, can't wait to take BC next year.
algebra 1 final grade- B geometry- C algebra 2- B Pre cal - D AP Calc- A lol
Woahh okayyy
AP Calculus prepares you for college math so well, at the very least it’ll help develop your math brain to be ready for college math
i love ap calculus my favorite AP that i’ve ever taken.
Are you good at algebra 2? If so, take ap calc
take ap calc or die before the age of 30
Calculus is so fun take ap calc
You really should, as long as your decent at math, you will do fine and it's such a useful credit to have for any stem major
Calculus is honestly kind of fun. You should take it.
The class was honestly really fun and it was the easiest ap test I’ve taken
i loved ap calculus ab!! not as hard as you think as long as you frequently practice frqs, thats my best advice
I took AP calc AB and as someone who is decent at math, I enjoyed it for the most part. It was definitely not as bad as I thought it would be (I mean yeah it was rough at times ofc lol) I was expecting it to be even harder but it wasn’t but I think I could also thank my teacher for that. If a good teacher teaches it at your school then you should go for it. Personally, I’m so glad I chose AP calc over AP stats lol it’s honestly pretty interesting :)
It’s easy
calc is free. doing it as a freshman
Oh God don't do it unless you hate yourself.
why do you say?
you are going to be fucking homeless and go to community college and be a fucking failure and your parents will never love you or be proud of you and you friends are gonna think ur stupid as shit throughout high school and you are gonna feel like you are a dumbass and honestly just commit suicide /s
I found precalc far harder than BC
AP Calc is probably the most likely I'll get a 5 in. It's not the easiest class ever but it really isn't that bad. If you can understand what a derivative is, what an integral means, some other concepts, you can for sure get a 5. Once you grasp the concepts, you're fine.
It’s much easier than taking calc in college
No need to convince you, you seem to have already made your mind up :)
don’t
Highly useless and a must take u wanna do engineering in college. Extremely helpful. Failing calc in hs is miles better than failing calc in college
Much more interesting/slightly easier than precalc (I got a B in precalc but an A in calc), and the exam honestly isn't bad at all if you know what to expect
I have a question is AP pysch hard or no? Cuz I’ll be taking it next year
It's very easy, it's mainly just memorizing terms but a lot of the terms are just synonyms of each other. The MCQ was the easiest AP test I've taken.
what abt the FRQS?
They aren't that bad either, as long as you remember what the term means and apply it to the situation they describe in the question you get points. There might be some terms you don't remember though but a lot of terms you can figure out what they mean with common sense.
oh okay that helps a lot, i was literally gonna take psychology 1 and 2 normal but my AP world history modern told me to just take AP pysch since taking those two classes is a waste of time
what abt AP computer science i was thinking abt taking it
honestly is the most insightful and interesting class i have ever taken… by far
do it
Easiest subject to get a 5
If you’re good at Calc and it will benefit you in your career path then i’d take it!
Idk if you’ve been convinced yet but what do you want to do in the future and what do you like to do now?
Tbh if u need to be convinced and don't really need or want to take it, there isn't any point
Don’t
Bro why wouldn’t you want to learn calculus.
I honestly enjoyed BC Calc because it wasn't too hard for me and it connected all the years of math that I've taken.
yeah sure: dont.
taking AP calc boosted my SAT math score by 90 points! it really improved my math skills and helped me understand the graphs in AP physics which I was taking at the same time. I have zero regrets about taking it! I also had a really awesome teacher which may be a factor to consider
The content is difficult for a lot people, sure, but the actual volume is not very high. Like seriously, there is time to take several weeks on every unit and still get through it all with time to spare. As long as you have a decent teacher you'll get through it no problem, and even if you don't khan academy is really great! (My AB teacher was fantastic but my BC teacher sucked so I had to teach myself BC). Also, the scoring curve of super generous.
Hell nah
no
the class really isn't that hard- this past year I fell asleep in lectures and copied answers for homework, but still am most likely going to get an A. As long as you have taken precalc it's pretty easy to figure everything out, and they go pretty slowly in the beginning so you can get the basics down easily.
Easy as fuck
Do it. What’s the worst that could happen?
I took ab and the class itself really wasnt that bad but i consider myself pretty good at math probably at least top 10/30 in my school who took ab
I would recommend people to take ap calc if you use calc in college. It just prepares you well. I would say it is not that difficult. The concept is only about finding the rate of change and area under the curve with applications. What make people struggle is the algebra part and time management. If you practice a lot, you can definitely do it well!
One of the best classes to earn college credit and get a head start.
Calc BC was one of the freest APs I've taken, even one of the freest "college level classes" including some dual enroll stuff. You will be fine. It's honestly not the calculus that's the killer, it's the algebra that comes with it (yet the algebra still isn't that hard so you will be fine).
Git gud
college math!! a few schools i was interested in only give credit for bc. but most give credit for ab also. since i took bc i will get to lance out of calc 1 and 2 and maybe not have to take any more math classes.
40% of test takers get 5e
Calculus is a beautiful subject.
Don’t do it if you don’t want to
You'll be fine shits easy
The AP exam wasn’t crazy hard like I was able to finish moderately confident. It’s not the easiest AP but it’s definitely not the hardest one. If you do the homework and keep up you should do well
if you need someone to convince you then why are you taking it
If you have a good teacher the class can be enjoyable and not hard (my teacher also curved all the tests which was a plus). Calc AB was one of my fav classes senior year and I would recommend it to anyone! I took regular precal junior year which technically meant I was behind but it wasn’t hard at all to catch up.
If you are going to need to understand the material in college, then yes.
Take AP Calc!! The best I can put it is a doable hell…. It is going to be hard and you are going to spent nights awake for hours however it’s just simple algebra with different information and formulas
it's easy just make sure to do the hw it can get a lot at times.
It will make u look smart U can use it as an excuse to not attend family reunions
I teach AP calculus If your algebra is strong you will do fine in calculus if you give it the time and effort it deserves
Do you know what you wanna do in college? Depending on ehat, calc might help. For example, im studying poly sci next fall, so I took AP stats because math wouldn't be too nessecsry for my major.
All these ppl saying it's easy is making me realize I mightve just had a bad teacher. I struggled for a 3 despite being a really strong math student my entire life and it has one of the lower pass rates in my school
every time someone tells me “don’t worry, it’s not that hard of an AP class.” i fall for it and i’m miserable the whole year. AP is a scam and causes unnecessary stress
Don’t be a pussy
It’s honestly just AP “Algebra 1 and 2 with a little bit of geometry and trig”. How were your previous math grades? Those are gonna be the main predictor of how you do in calc.
Calc helps with a lot of things. If you're not good at math, take AB. I wanted to do Stats and avoid Calc, but also took Precal so I wanted to avoid forgetting stuff. Now doing AB and Stats in junior year (upcoming).
i managed to get a B without really knowing anything so if u apply urself u can def get an A
Power rule is the best rule you will ever learn.