so right now i’m a junior in high school and i just turned 16. i’m taking an honors level algebra 2 class right now and it is exceedingly easy. i really want to take ap calc next year as i would have a better chance of getting into my university of choice, umich. i was thinking i could test out of precalc and if i fail that, just take it over the summer. from some quick research, it seems that precal is just an extension of trig and some vectors. i already have good comp sci experience though. i’m taking ap comp sci, i know 5ish langauges, and i am working on developing an app using XML and java, so i’m not worried about getting cs experience haha
however, for umich, there are cs programs at lsa and eng. considering my gpa (3.8) and transcript (5 ap, 1 ib) i can probably get into lsa. but engineering school is really what i want. so is testing out of precalc and taking ap calc feasible?
Many schools do permit students to test out and move to calc. Speak to your school counselor and math department chair. Each school is different but at my son’s school you have to decide by the end of the school year and they have you test out no later than two weeks before the next school year begins. The school then requires the student to take what would be the equivalent of the course final and if a score of 90 or above is obtained they “test out.” This is a question your school needs to answer for you. If your school does not permit you to test out, they probably have no objection to your taking pre-calc over the summer so you can knock it out and take calc senior year.
i’m pretty sure my school does allow testing. my alg 2 teacher is the math department chair so i think i will speak to her about it closer to when testing out registration begins.
As long as you know your trigonometry, I would say you will do fine skipping Pre-Calc and just moving to AP Calc.
Pre-calculus may include many topics beyond just trigonometry and vectors (see [this list](Precalculus - Wikipedia)). If you want to test out, I would recommend studying this material during the spring semester and testing out at the end of the school year.