Another update: My son did not tell me that he has another AP Class/Exam(MicroEconomics). He needs to learn some 20% extra topics not covered in his course for this AP Exam.
I am not sure how to update Cal State Application with his self-study Calculus BC scenario. For UC apps, there’s a place where you can explain.
I am afraid if he doesn’t include AP Calculus BC, he will lose points as he’s applying for Engineering/STEM majors. This is true for Cal Poly Mechanical Engineering where his Mathematics will show 4 years instead of 5 years.
If he doesn’t have the 5 years of math, I agree that it seems he would lose some points in the Cal Poly admissions system. I don’t know how impactful it would be though. Not sure what the cutoff looks like for Mech E.
No possibility of getting into calculus AB or a calculus course at a nearby college instead of no math class? In retrospect, it seems like it was a mistake to choose AP chemistry over AP calculus, since the latter is more important for some of his intended majors.
Claiming to self study may not have much credibility to admission readers, since they will not know how successful the self study is (by AP score) until after admission decisions.
For CPSLO, not having the fifth year of math will likely be a significant loss of points, since the extra points for the math courses beyond the minimum are likely among the largest bonuses in its admission point system.
Is this a semester or year long course? Odd that it would not be able to cover everything – introductory microeconomics is usually a one semester college course or part of a one semester introductory economics course.
My son’s “AP Macroeconomics” class was a semester long. They were told up front that they would have to self study some material for the AP test that was not covered in class. (This is a required class for seniors, and taking the actual AP test is optional.) However the amount of self study material was small enough that my son did not even bother to cram any of the additional material and got a 4 on the test anyway. Some other students in the class did some basic pre-test cramming and took both the AP Macro and AP Micro tests and did fine. So I think they also covered some of Micro in that one semester. Anyway, I am not sure how much material is actually on these tests compared to the more time consuming AP classes / tests that my kid took.
If he is not taking the AP Calculus BC class, all he can do is list the planned AP exam which will not give him the 5th year of Math as noted by @ucbalumnus.
After you submit your application, you can’t make any changes. Contact your campus(es) directly with any updated information. In the past, Cal Poly SLO has not allowed any academic history updates but it is worth contacting them.
Also remember Cal Poly SLO does not use the CSU GPA from the application. They have their own GPA calculation.
As long as it was his choice, he cannot complain too much if it results in less desirable college admission results or college course progression. It is not like it is anywhere close to fatal to the goal of studying CS/E or ME in college, assuming that he has realistic safeties, so letting him make his choices and face the possible consequences gives him the learning experience.
That is a great point. It is counted as a math course at my son’s school but I do not know if that is universal for all HS in CA. @smbayguy you can look it up on the A-G list for your son’s high school to verify whether AP CS A counts as math at his school (look for the year in which he took it). University of California A-G Course List
Edited to add, your initial post just says “AP computer science” so I am not sure if it was CS A or CS P? At our kids’ HS at least, CS P is considered a science class (category D) rather than a math class (category C). But in any case, you can check the A-G list to see exactly what your son’s class counted towards.
I would also confirm with Cal Poly SLO, since they do not list any computer science classes as Advanced Math. Statistics for many years was also not considered an Advanced Math for their additional Math points, where now it is listed.
Advanced Math
Although not a requirement for the CSU, Cal Poly recommends applicants complete two years of advanced math courses such as trigonometry, pre-calculus, calculus or statistics for greater chances of admission.
Is there any information on how much the “two years of advanced math” recommendation is weighted, compared to the “5 years of area C math” recommendation?
I am not aware of any information regarding if the advanced Math is weighted any differently than the 3 years of required Math. Nothing is known about the MCA since the original information was posted in 2013 so in 10 years, I would imagine there have been some significant changes to the algorithm.
AP Chem does very little from an admission perspective, for the majors he has in mind. Please let him know that math rigor is very important and taking math every year is a good way to maximize his chances of getting into the engineering schools he is targeting. Perhaps ask him to pose this question to his counselor if he wants to hear this from a neutral person he trusts. Given that Pre-Calc is the most advanced math class he has taken in HS, I feel like he should get into an AP Calc class even if its online.
On another note, which AP Physics did he take? AP Physics 2 or AP Physics C - Mechanics?
Two years of advanced math added to the CSU minimum of three years (of algebra 1 and 2 and geometry) = five years of math. So they are different ways of saying the same thing.
Here is a reverse-engineered older version of the CPSLO MCA formula (from when SAT or ACT scores were used). It is not known what changes there may have been since then besides dropping SAT or ACT scores. But if the relative point values are similar to before, you can use it to get an idea of how significant extra advanced math courses are.
If AP CS A is officially a math class (area C) on the A-G list, it would definitely count towards “five years” of math, however @Gumbymom made a good point that it is not clear whether AP CS A would count as the “advanced math” described in the other line item on the Cal Poly web site. So the student might have 5 years of area C math, but not have two years of “advanced math”…?
From what I remember about the CSU application last year, it adds up the raw number of years of math (area C) and lists it in the app, not breaking it down by “advanced math” vs other math classes, although my memory could be wrong… The MCA formula that you just posted also includes the raw number of semesters of math, not breaking it down.
You can reverse engineer the math requirements from where HS math starts, Algebra. From there the sequence goes Geometry, Algebra II, Pre-Calculus, Calculus AB (or BC if your school lets you skip AB). You can infer that any student who does not have math at least as high as AB will not get maximum rigor points IF the MCA is the same as I outlined it way back in 2014.
The Cal State application adds up all the qualifying years of math. At my kid’s HS (and probably at other HS in CA), AP CS A qualifies as an additional year of area C math for the UCs and Cal States, and it would presumably increase the number of years of math to 5 in the Cal State app. Here is an excerpt of the official A-G list for my kids’ HS to show that it’s listed in area C:
5 years of qualifying math classes would get max rigor points in the old MCA calculator listed above, which doesn’t break out “advanced math” specifically.
What we don’t know is what Cal Poly considers to be “advanced math” for the suggested two years of advanced math listed. It’s possible that this category might include a class like AP CS A, or a data science class intended to be taken as an advanced math alternative… or maybe not… so @Gumbymom suggested contacting Cal Poly to find out how they would classify it.
The only way to know for sure is to call Cal Poly admissions. CS was never viewed as a math class in the past. They don’t mention it now either. They do include statistics.
The link that you posted literally says: “For the specific A-G areas in which your high school’s courses fall, please refer to the UC/CSU Approved A-G course list.” Therefore, if it is listed as a math class in the A-G course list, it is a math class (area C).
The question is whether it is “advanced math” according to Cal Poly, and in that case I agree that contacting Cal Poly is the way to find out.
Thanks to all who replied. My son took AP Computer Science A which as per the link shared by @tamagotchi is a Math course. It gives him 5 years of Math as per A-G matching.
Still in dark about his PIQs or even majors. I tried to register for Spring 2024 DVC Calculus BC course which is online(a few offline classes) and I got an error(Cannot Register or something). I might be trying way too early.
I may need to go down to DVC college and find out. Does anyone know how to find fully online Calculus BC class at a CA community college.
