<p>My S is looking into his choices for math his senior year. He plans on Mechanical or Aerospace Engineering at Bama. The AP calculus teacher is not a very good teacher and he knows a lot of top students who are not doing very well in her class. He has already said he does not want to take AP calc due to her. I have told him that teachers may change over the year. He wants to take Honors Intro to College Math. I’m encouraging him to continue with AP route and take AP Statistics.</p>
<p>Here is the description of the Intro Math class.
The ICM curriculum includes data analysis; applications of functions, matrices, and trigonometry; vectors, limits and their applications; and the mathematics of networks, social choice, and decision-making. Applications and modeling are included throughout the course of study. Appropriate technology, from manipulatives to calculators and application software, is used for instruction and assessment. </p>
<p>For those in engineering what do you think?</p>
<p>bandmom: Does he know where he wants to apply for college? Some of the colleges my kids applied to preferred Calc over Statistics and that wasn’t even for engineering majors. Would it be possible for your S to take a non AP Calc. course taught by a better teacher? Is the Honors Intro a course that is more for people who are not majoring in engineering or other math oriented disciplines? </p>
<p>He is planning on applying to UA. He is taking Pre-calculus now. He had a teacher that taught the subject well and he had a 95 for the first quarter. That teacher left and the new one is the same on for AP calc and he currently has a 70 for the second quarter. There is only Pre-calc and AP calc.<br>
The Honors Intro to College Math says it is part of the Computer Technologies Dept and focuses on the Engineering students. I worry that it is not an AP course so will it look bad that his schedule does not have the rigor that this semester has. </p>
<p>Definitely a hard decision. If the Honors Intro course is considered a difficult course and your son does well, that would be looked at favorably. Has he gone in for extra help with this pre-calc teacher? I’d encourage him to do that. It would probably help your son understand what this teacher considers important and what he/she focuses on.</p>
<p>Thanks @AlbionGirl ! I hadn’t thought about that. I’ll have him check with his GC to see if that would be doable. The only problem would be if one of the classes he needs is only offered at the end of the day then he wouldn’t be able to do it. I appreciate the idea. </p>
<p>If he goes the dual enrollment route, introductory statistics is often available as an online course, which helps a lot with scheduling. </p>
<p>If he does choose dual enrollment, be sure that the courses will transfer to UA. Introductory statistics courses taught by a college’s math department are known to have difficulty transferring to UA as ST 260.</p>
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He has already said he does not want to take AP calc due to her. I have told him that teachers may change over the year.</p>
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<p>That could happen, but generally it doesn’t unless this teacher leaves the school. AP teachers have received extra training so that they can teach those classes, so schools usually can’t just move any other math teacher into that position… </p>
<p>I would find out if those who aren’t doing well in that teacher’s class are weaker students or normally strong math students. </p>
<p>^ He says the students are normally top students and are not doing well. He is worried that if students that are stronger than he is are making B 's then what is he going to make.</p>
<p>Remember that by the time senior year grades come out, most admissions decisions will have been made. Most schools aren’t going to rescind admission because a student got a B or two during their last semester of high school. It’s also possible that he could get a B in the course and still do very well on the AP exam. </p>
<p>We are homeschoolers, so I am clueless as to how ps works. Could he take the course online? Could he take it online and not take math through the school at all?</p>
<p>There are lots of AP cal courses available online or he could even just self-study for the exam. Students do not have to take an AP course in order to take the AP exam. All you need to do is register and pay for the exam.</p>
<p>If he knows he wants to attend UA, he could take the CLEP exam for Calculus with Elementary Functions. The advantages of taking the CLEP exam instead of the AP exam are that one can take the test anytime during the year and that one knows their score immediately after the exam. CLEP exams are also a great way to earn foreign language credit.</p>
<p>^^ I second the remark on the foreign language credit via CLEP…at my strong urging this summer, DS took the CLEP for Spanish and scored high enough to get 14 credits…will give a big boost to his pile of incoming credit total.</p>
<p>Do some research to find out when your local colleges/sites offer CLEP testing - aim for around Feb/Mar to take foreign language tests (def before Spring break, as you will have learned all you can learn by then). The tests often book up fast, because test sites can only accommodate a small number of test takers at a time. Good luck!</p>
<p>For engineering, it’s really better to have some calculus under your belt, although there are kids who come in having had only precalc. My son had two years of advance Calc in high school (private school that didn’t offer APs), and he’s glad he had that foundation before he took Honors Calc I at Bama. Even strong math students are encouraged to start with Calc I in engineering. There are some really strong students who don’t, and they do just fine, but there was a lot of angst on the FB page by parents whose kids who aced AP Calc (and scored 5s on the exam) who were struggling in college calculus.</p>
<p>@Wirefox, your avatar made my day. My first fur-child was a wire, and I will love them always. :)</p>