I am currently taking regular geometry and it is a breeze. I’ve had a 99 all year basically doing no work. This is my schedule for next year.
AP eng lang
APUSH
APES
french 3 hon
regular or honors algebra 2
AP psych
honors personal finance
I really hate math although I am pretty good at it. I could get an A in honors if I tried. I just don’t know if I’ll have the time with the other classes I’m taking plus track and cross country lasts basically all year. Algebra 2 honors is basically algebra 2 just with more work at my school.
I would just take honors if I were you. However if you really hate math/science and aren’t applying to super prestigious colleges take honors if you want.
i want to go u miami (fl) , vanderbilt, or southern cal
If those are your target school, then take Honors.
Honors. It’s not that hard of a class at all. Just make sure to study by doing practice problems.
If you have a 99 in regular Geometry and feel ready for Honors, I recommend it! I’m currently in Honors Algebra 2, and it’s only hard if you don’t practice. If you’re worried about it not being for people who aren’t good at math, I am pretty bad at it, but have an A in it. As long as you practice, you have a great chance of succeeding!
Best of luck and have a good day!
For the colleges, honors will be expected. Also, you’ll need to take precalculus and one more math class.
Your grade in geometry is NOT an indicator of how you’ll do in Algebra II & Trig. The two courses are incredibly different. I’ve had otherwise A students struggle in Geometry, and kids who have never broken 90 in math before be my Geometry stars.
How did you do in Algebra I?? that’s the litmus test.
^ very good question.
That being said, you need to be able to handle honors math if you want to have the background top 50 universities/LACs expect to handle their coursework.
If you cannot, then it’s an indication you need to calibrate your reach list (and, consequently your matches and safeties).
Get a Princeton Review’s Best Colleges and select a dozen colleges you’ve never heard of that you like. Run the net price calculator on all of them (listed above + those you find). Bring the results to your parents and start a discussion on college costs. This will * really * help you next year.
i will not be able to take anything past pre cal as i am a sophomore right now in geometry. i am wondering if alg2 honors is absolutely necessary because i really dont want to take it
It probably won’t make or break your admissions, but Honors is definitely preferred. Additionally, there usually isn’t much of a difference between Honors and Standard classes in terms of difficulty, so there wouldn’t be a significant drawback to taking Honors, other than slightly more work. Honors also may provide you with a better foundation for your future math classes, such as Pre-Calculus and College Algebra. For what it is worth, though, the rest of your schedule is pretty rigorous for a junior. If you get rejected from or accepted to a college, your decision regarding which level of Algebra 2 to take is probably not what caused it.
I disagree with the above. The colleges listed expect honors or AP in most core classes, if available, and certainly in Math and English.
Furthermore, taking Algebra regular makes it almost impossible to score in the top 2-3% on standardized tests for Vanderbilt or USC.
So, your choice is
- take algebra2, change your list of reach colleges (and adjust your matches)
Or - suffer through algebra2 H to have a chance at your reach colleges.
I want to be clear in saying you honestly should be taking every opportunity available to take rigorous courses in high school if you plan on going to any university, especially the ones you listed, not just for the sake of admissions, but also to prepare you for future classes and standardized tests (like MYOS1634 said). This means taking Honors Algebra 2 if you have the chance. While I am skeptical of the idea that taking/not taking Algebra 2 Honors alone is THE thing that will grant you or deny you admissions in the context of an otherwise sufficiently challenging courseload, I am sure that it will at least raise some red flags in the eyes of the people who review your application if you choose to remain on the standard math track (please note I DEFINITELY don’t have the perspective of an admissions officer).
If you ask me, based on the little I know, I would say you have no business being in a standard-level math class. If I were an admissions officer, I would definitely question your decision to stay in regular math despite high As in previous standard classes and what I assume to be strong performance in advanced courses in other subjects. This would, in my opinion, not totally negate any course rigor you might have, but it would somewhat undermine your intentions to challenge yourself in high school.
Additionally, at my school, students who do not take Honors Algebra 2 are not permitted to take Pre-Calculus at all. Instead, they are placed in Advanced Topics (which is an accelerated review of very basic Algebra 1, Geometry, and Algebra 2 topics), Math for College Readiness (remedial math) or, at best, Analysis of Functions/Trigonometry (which is an honors-level class composed of half Algebra 2 review and some trig; only the standard students with very strong grades are allowed to take this because it’s intended for students who didn’t do so well in Algebra 2 Honors). As you would imagine, this could potentially put students at a disadvantage in adapting to extremely fast-paced college-level math classes. Some students at my high school who took standard Algebra 2 obtained an override from guidance in order to take Dual Enrollment College Algebra and DE Stats, and they struggled greatly with the classes. Additionally, I’m sure someone else upthread mentioned this, but if you can’t be sure that you can handle Honors level math, then how can you be sure that you can handle university-level math?
And on a side note, I’ve taken Honors Algebra 2 and it really didn’t have much homework and it was probably my easiest class all year (albeit among several AP and DE classes). At my school, the only differences from regular a that it may go over a specific kind of problem
in four or five days that it may take a week or more to cover in regular. Tests are also weighted heavily, and homework and quizzes are a less significant part of the overall grade. Also, the accelerated pace allows for anow extra unit on trig that helps prepare for advanced math courses like Pre-calculus. Don’t be afraid to take it out of fear of being swamped with work.
I made a 100 in algebra 1 honors, but I took it 7th, 8th, and 9th grade getting a 74, 83, and 100 respectively.
Are you saying you took Algebra 1a in 7th, Algebra 1b in 8th THEN took Algebra1 again but honors in 9th grade for a 100?
No, I took algebra 1 honors all years, but a B (85) was required to move up to geometry.
So are you saying you needed to retake Algebra 1 twice in order to be allowed to go to Geometry at all, or just to take Geometry Honors? If it’s the former, then perhaps Algebra 2 Honors will be more of a challenge than I expected. Even so, it is significantly harder to move up from a standard class in progress than it is to drop down if you can’t handle Honors, so I would start off with Honors if I were you. Also, this is somewhat unrelated to the current discussion, but you really need to start getting involved in your extracurricular activities and your standardized tests; junior year will be here before you know it.