I am currently taking Honors Geometry and was wondering if I should try and accelerate/skip a math class. On this track, in my Sophmore year I will take Honors Algebra 2 with trig and Junior year I will take Honors Pre-Calc and Senior year first semester I will take AP Calc AB and second semester I will take AP Calc BC. However, many students at my school will take Calculus 3 as a senior and are one level above me. From my old school district, the highest you could go was Honors Geometry as a freshmen because of the limited amount of options for classes, and at my new school you could go higher, so many students are at a higher level of math than me. I do have an option of testing out of Algebra 2 by taking the final at the beginning of the school year my sophomore year, and can self-study the material on my own. What do you think I should do? I know that studying on my own will never be as in depth as a full year class and algebra is an important part of the SAT/ACT. But will this hurt me in the college aspect because other students are at higher levels of math classes? I am interested in going into the medical field or doing something in science. Anything helps.
Being on the +1 track (calculus in 12th grade) is fine for science or engineering.
My kid got her undergrad degree in engineering…and never took calculus in HS.
You are fine.
My nephew is entering his last semester at Brown as a CS major. He had quite a few job offers and has a job lines up starting I August. He took AP Calculus AB his senior year and wasn’t behind at all starting college.
Thanks for your response! I’m glad that this track is good to prepare me for college. However, my concern is that since I am competing against my peers at school, will I be at a disadvantage? Won’t selective colleges choose kids at the highest math classes/levels?
No. Calculus BC as a.senior will not be held against you. Moat important is getting good grades in those classes.
You’re not competing with kids from your school. You’re competing with other kids who apply to the same colleges you do.
What’s important is getting a solid foundation in math,not piling on coursework.
When you accelerate too much you are at a disadvantage for the math on the ACT/SAT when the timing maybe right for you to do best in the other areas. Better to have strong grades and a strong math score than to rush through something fundamental. I have a BS in math (and comp sci) from a competitive tech program. I did calc in 12th.
So much good information above. Do not rush through any math just because others are ahead of you. Be sure you have a rock solid foundation, not just merely passing any class you try to test out of. As above, you are competing with all students in the country, not your HS classmates, for college admissions. btw- once you get into calculus it is wise to review the precalc math that is on all SAT/ACT tests.
Do not do like my son did when he stated they were reviewing precalc math in AP calc- he should have done more review before SAT math 2 (long story- he retook the SAT instead and got a perfect score, did not change his college acceptances).
Son’s school district offered 8th grade algebra and had some students repeat it as HS freshmen as they found a solid math back\ground was needed to succeed in future math classes. Son did his HS math sequence which topped out at the first AP calculus class. He did A work in honors calculus at a top tier U and got an honors math degree including grad level classes. You will not be at a disadvantage by learning the material instead of skimming over it to take more classes. You will have the needed good foundation for college STEM classes.
I can also site anecdotes of those rare students who di skip courses. Highly gifted in math of course. btw- those AP math courses only offer average college calculus. Some schools therefore give no college credits for them while others may do so but require starting at the beginning of calculus sequences for most students as they find students are not well enough prepared for the second calculus course (UW).
Life is not a race. Getting to a point sooner is not useful. Stellar mathematicians do not need to be uber accelerated in HS.
I recall seeing a University of Wisconsin study (seems to be no longer on the web at its old URL https://apir.wisc.edu/admissions/AP_Analysis_2015_v2.pdf ) that found that students with 5 on AP calculus did better in the next course at Wisconsin than those who took the course that those with 5 on AP calculus skipped (probably not a surprise, since those with 5 on AP calculus tend to be stronger students in math), while those with 4 did similar or marginally worse (University of Wisconsin specifies a 4 as the minimum to take advanced placement in math). So it is not a given that students should automatically assume that they should repeat their AP credit. Trying the college’s old final exams for the course to be skipped would be a more reliable way of determining the best placement.
Also, those who complete AP calculus BC in 11th grade or earlier commonly take more advanced math at a local college, and no one here suggests that they start calculus over in calculus 1.
I agree with everyone that there is no particular need to accelerate. That said, if you love math, if you find it very easy, and if you don’t have a better way to spend your summer you might want to take the trig/pre-calc course in the summer if that is a possibility. At my son’s school a handful of kids did this to join the three kids who were already on the +2 track. They were at a bit of a disadvantage in calculus because mostof the precalc classes finished their curriculum a couple of months early and had already started on calculus, but that wasn’t possible in the summer class. In our pretty average suburban school only 1% of the kids were on the +2 track. Around the country many high schools don’t even offer calculus. If you are at all concerned your GC could mention that you came from a school system that did not allow the acceleration your fellow students have had, but I honestly think you’ll be fine.
As of 2011-2012, around half of public high schools in the US do not offer calculus, but the set of public high schools includes continuation/reform schools, schools in juvenile halls, and alternative schools, which may be small schools with low-performing-in-math students. So the percentage of students in high schools that do not offer calculus may be different. See https://www2.ed.gov/about/offices/list/ocr/docs/crdc-college-and-career-readiness-snapshot.pdf (page 23 indicates the set of high schools used).
In 2009, https://nces.ed.gov/fastfacts/display.asp?id=97 indicates the percentage of high school graduates who actually took the following:
16% calculus
35% precalculus/trigonometry
30% biology, chemistry, and physics
One key category you didn’t list is less densely populated areas, such as rural and small town communities. For example, the study at http://jrre.vmhost.psu.edu/wp-content/uploads/2014/02/26-1.pdf found the same ~16% of students take calculus that you listed, but the AP calculus offerings had a notable divide based on population density. Among high schools in cities and large towns, ~84% of students attended schools that offered calculus AB, and ~44% that offered BC. But among high schools in rural areas and small towns, a much lower 58% of students attended schools that offered AB, and only 17% BC.
Re: http://jrre.vmhost.psu.edu/wp-content/uploads/2014/02/26-1.pdf
This paper also says that 28% of students were in rural schools. Based on the above percentages, that means that 77% overall were in high schools that offered AB, and 36% overall were in high schools that offered BC.
However, this paper used a random sample of high school students in public and private high schools; it does not mention whether continuation/reform schools or school in juvenile halls are included.
It does not matter how you discuss the statistics. The bottom line is that not all HS’s offer either AP calculus class and colleges know this. Being nitpicky serves no purpose here.
OP- Whatever you do be sure to get mastery in the subject material. Do not worry about being the most advanced when it comes time for college. btw- a “passing” grade for the AP exams is a 3- the discussion about UW-Madison did not mention those students who likely benefited from starting with its first semester class. The point is that whatever preparation you get in HS there is still plenty of opportunity to pursue math at a top tier college.
OP- keep in mind your attitude towards math. Only push for more if it is one of your passions and you want as much as you can get. Otherwise let the system place you where they do.
In my grade I would say around 80 students are on the +2 track, that’s why I thought i will be at a disadvantage when I’m only on the +1 track, but I guess if my GC says that maybe it won’t hurt me…
You need to do what works best for you regardless of what the others do. In the long run that is all that counts. Being stressed by trying to keep up with others will not help you do your best. If you were to know the paths of the top people in their fields you would find many bumps along the way, many who were not always in the topmost tier. You will also find that those who were in the top, most accelerated, classes in HS do not always go as far as others do. Relax about it and enjoy your HS years.