My kid placed into a higher level math. The school’s guidancr was that if you’re not sure, do the higher one because it’s easy to drop down and hard to catch up if you move up.
About half the class dropped down. He should have but did not – he loved the teacher and high level of engagement in the class. (He may have loved the "prestige " of being in the class.) Pretty sure he killed himself for a C and ended up with a less strong foundation that probably plagued him throughout his “math career”. While he did ratchet down a notch the next year, this seemed really regrettable. And yes, it did impact his confidence.
I recommend you follow the school’s guidance and really stay dialed in to your gut at the beginning. And ask for help if you hit material that assumes you know something you don’t! I marvel, with kids coming from so many different math programs, that they get everyone slotted in where they should be.
I understand that kids from public schools may see big mismatch between their math level vs BS level. They have to retake algebra 2 for example. Are kids from rigorous private schools have the same issue, or is their path much smoother going into BS?
It is not that simple, and it varies. It really depends on what was covered in their previous curriculum and their mastery of it. Some kids may also have been doing math activities outside of school.
Many private schools, because of size, have less ability to differentiate than large public middle schools. I don’t think that public/private is the differentiator.
If a student is prepared for a higher level of math, that’s where they’ll be placed. These schools like students to be challenged AND to master the material. Having the right building blocks to do that is essential.
My kid at an artsy totally not cutthroat prep school took Calculus at a university (Boston) last summer, aced it, and I’m so glad I insisted that kiddo retake it this year at BS. Kid earned an A for the course, but it was not an easy A.
So can only guess what the rigor is like at the more competitive schools.
Not to pile on, but Sunnykid took Geometry in 8th grade, placed into Algebra II/Trig at boarding school, did okay in it freshman year, then hit a wall in the higher level precalc class this year about 3 weeks in as a sophomore. Dropped down to the lower level precalc class which is much better fit (lots of other kids dropped down to this class too). Comparing notes with friends “back home” - Sunnykids lower level precalc class at boarding school still waaaaaaaaay more rigorous than what friends back home are doing in precalc.
In my humble opinion, “rigor” is challenging to define. There are some teachers/school who will give a massive quantity of problems or frequent long papers. The better question to ask imo is whether the additional problems or papers are teaching anything or are they just reps? Are those reps adding to their understanding? Are the students given timely feedback on the coursework that furthers their development? Are classroom discussions engaging? Are the students encouraged to grow not only as a class, but independently as well? Are students taught the material from the angle of the discipline it is being taught in, but also through the lens of other disciplines and applications? If it were me, I might not look to rigor as my yardstick, but instead how much students who are similar to your child grow from their experience at a given school. Brilliant kids will thrive anywhere, but will they grow? And that might look different for each child since we all have different needs, motivations, and ambitions. The student who thrives at textbook math may need more exposure to applied math or pure math. The student who sits there quietly may need instruction on how to engage around the harkness table. Etc.
I read a few years ago that the many overseas BS students come with extremely strong math backgrounds. For instance, the top 5% of math students from US high schools would only be in the top 50% of Japanese high school students. The overseas kids are very strong in math from years of hard work.
My day school kid spent two years intimidated by the Chinese boarding school students at his high school. But by junior year he’d caught up. But he did spend algebra 2/precalc catching up to them.
Hi,
My daughter is attending SYA in Rennes this coming fall. Any advice? We are worried how it will translate from a competitive standpoint on her college applications. She is at an independent day school that offers AP’s and SYA doesn’t. With that being said we recognize that this experience will be an amazing one for her.
Not an issue in my view. The program has been around for 60 years and is currently headed up by Thomas Hassan, former head of college counseling and Head of School at Exeter. Colleges know the program very well and college placement has historically been great.
This has been an interesting conversation about rigor. We applied and were accepted to a bunch of rigorous schools, however some we noticed while rigorous see themselves as more than just this while others hold/flaunt their rigor as their badge of honor. I think rigor can be defined and embraced so many ways. I think it comes down more to how the culture balances the rigor. You can get to the same place at many of the schools but what was the journey.
I was just thinking about Deerfield, where my daughter has been for 2 years (started as a repeat Junior). They changed their schedule after Covid, and she LOVES it. I think it’s a great way to make the rigor more manageable. They have 5 graded classes per trimester with the option to take a 6th ungraded, or with special permission as a graded class. They have each class every other day on a rotation. Each class is 1.5 hours. Except I think every Wednesday is all school meeting (so it’s only 2 morning classes I think). Anyway, so the most you would have is 3 classes per day. Then you have time to dig into it and focus and do the homework.