My school district offers (pre-AP only) pre-calculus over the summer for $650. I’m currently a junior in Algebra 2, which I find quite embarrassing. I badly want to take Calculus before I go to college, especially because I’m seeking a STEM degree.
Is it worth the price? I’m not concerned about the potentially rigorous workload, I just don’t want to strain my parents’ budget since they’re already paying for my SATs and AP exams. I cannot skip directly to Calc or double-up with Calc, but I could take AP Stats instead.
Depends on your fiancial situation but I would say its worth it bc you wouldn’t have to take as much calculus in college and STEM degrees can be very challenging and have a lot of required classes. It could help make sure you graduate college in 4 years, saving money in the long run.
Have you thought of taking college Dual Credit Pre Calculus? Top schools expect you to have calculus under your belt if you’re going into a STEM field.
On the dual credit topic, you may or may not be able to test into Pre Cal. I’d taken up to Algebra II and had to take College Algebra to start my dual credit experience (and I’m pretty good at math).
To directly answer your question: yes you should take the course to get into Calculus your senior year.
After doing some further research, I found out that I can a Credit-by-Exam in either May or June to skip (regular) Pre-calc. That will require intense studying since I have no background in Pre-calc, but it seems better than paying $650.