Should I take Pre-Calculus or just go straight into AP Calculus AB next year (junior year)?Answered
My school is letting me take AP Calculus AB next year without having to take Pre-Calculus, but I want to know if I should. I'm pretty smart and I'd have a friend who is doing the same thing as me to depend on. I just want to know if the things covered are similar like with Pre-AP World History and AP World History (I took both classes and found them both similar, just one was a little harder and has more work). I also want to know what type of things you learn in Pre-Calc that makes it so essential to AP Calculus AB if you think it is a needed class. I also want to know if taking AP Calculus AB without any Pre-Calc would look better on college applications. I plan on being a premed, so would what I do with my math make any difference. Should I take AP Chemistry in junior year instead of AP Calc? I was planning on taking AP Chem in senior year, but my sister said to take it in junior year.
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2 answers
If you believe you can handle it I suggest you just go for it and take AP Calc next year. However, Pre-calc does have some information that is fundamental to AP-Calc so I would suggest learning this information over the summer (through a program like khan academy). As to your question about AP Chemistry the more AP classes you take the better your application, but if you would like to limit the amount of AP courses you take in one year you should take it your senior year. (Keep in mind colleges only really look at your first senior semester in initial application).
Take AP Calc. I took Honors Precalc in my sophomore year and the two have absolutely no connection. Just learn trig identities and the unit circle. I used a book called Advanced Mathematics by Saxon. It explains Pre-Calc clearly and it should be good enough to prepare for AP Calc.
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