Colleges That Don't Require Algebra 2 To Get Into??

Parents Forum
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My D20 is going to get formally tested for Dyscalculia LD next month so we have it on record. She had to WF from Algebra 2 last year and this year is taking Computer Science as math elective but is also currently failing the course as well. Her HS is finally offering a new math course that will count as her math credit needed for graduation - Algebra, Functions, and Data Analysis which she will take next year - her senior year. She is also on an IEP. Grades in other classes are in the A/B range. She scored poorly on SAT diagnostic, but ACT diagnostic score was 22. She takes both the real SAT and ACT in the coming months.

We are looking at having her take an online College Algebra course over the summer to show that she is at least putting in the effort and planning to have her take the College Algebra CLEP exam to see if she can score at least 50.

Meanwhile, nearly every single (non-community college) college we are looking at seems to require Algebra 2 on HS transcript. We are in VA and while we have great schools they are all super competitive to get into.

Any (non-community college) Colleges That Don’t Require Algebra 2 To Get Into?? Specifically in VA, PA, NC, WV??

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Don’t forget to check math/statistics graduation requirements (and transfer requirements if starting at a community college and then transferring to a four year school). It may not do any good to get admitted to a college if the student will be unable to fulfill its graduation requirements.

VCU requires frosh applicants to have 3 years of high school math, “including algebra I and either geometry or algebra II”: https://www.vcu.edu/admissions/apply/freshman/#tabs-192388

VCU does have a quantitative literacy graduation requirement: http://bulletin.vcu.edu/undergraduate/undergraduate-study/core-curriculum/

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This post makes me so so sad. I have dyscalcula and was fortunate to go to college at a time when not being able to get through geometry or Algebra 2 was in no way an impediment to attending a great college, getting straight A’s there ( history and political science major) or going to a great law school where I graduated mag a cum laude. Any math higher than basic addiction subtraction multiplication and division is irrelevant to my ability to do my job which requires high level analysis and work in the highest courts in the country.

I thank goodness every day that my children were not burdened by a quality of mine that in my day was absolutely no burden and which was irrelevant to anything I wanted to do. My best wishes for your DD! May she take the pleasure that I do with how little math comes up in real life.

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In my state the public schools all offer a 2 year algebra 2 class that goes at a slower rate. Does your school offer anything like this? Maybe with a slower pace and a tutor she could get through? Although I see she is already a junior so this might not be an option.

Does your guidance counselor offer any suggestions? The only other thing I can think of is to somehow take Algebra 2 at your community college. I can also suggest talking to an admissions officer at a college she is interested in to see what they have to say. Maybe with her IEP there is some way around this. I hope so. We need to keep the box wide open for kids, not put a lid on it.

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@Empireapple Unfortunately, my daughter missed the boat on this…it is only next year (when she is a senior) that they are offering Algebra, Functions, and Data Analysis which is a course designed for students who have completed Algebra I and Geometry but need time to further develop algebraic and geometric concepts to ensure success in Algebra II. Also, unfortunately, we are in NOVA…in particular at a county/school with many over achievers taking all APs/Honors.

@ucbalumnus Thanks for heads up about VCU – it’s on our list to visit.

I also have a S20 (D20’s twin brother) – great at math…into Computer Science/CyberSecurity - polar opposites :wink: College visits are proving a challenge as they are at opposite spectrums.

D20 has a great guidance counselor, offering CTGL schools as options and getting her interested in CTE courses/Early Childhood Education Dual Enrollment which she completes this year. But her hands are tied to what math options are available to D20.

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Do not lose hope. For one of my kid’s, she struggled with math every single day of high school. It was such a nightmare that when she looked for colleges, the most important criteria was not requiring math to graduate. She went to college, aced the beginning stats course that was the lowest level possible, and was so shocked by her grade she gingerly signed up for calculus. Another success, and now she is a finance major. So things can change when you least expect it.

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@roycroftmom Thanks - that does give me hope! Out of curiosity, where did your daughter go?

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I hated math my entire life, and was terrible at it. I managed to graduate from HS, get in to a competitive college, and then get into a tough grad program with a conditional acceptance- I needed to get a C or better in a remedial math class which the university offered over the summer. It started with addition and subtraction and ended with calculus. I was terrified, since I’d already quit my job for grad school and if I couldn’t pass calculus, bye bye grad program.

it was a PROFOUNDLY liberating experience. The professor was fantastic and made me realize that when you are terrible at math, you end up in the track with the terrible math teacher. The inspiring and fun and phenomenal math teachers teach the kids who love math. I’d never had one of those.

The class was amazing, and I got an A on the final which was the first time I’d ever done well at anything numbers- related, and was the first time I didn’t have an anxiety attack during a math test, just because I was so well prepared that I knew I’d pass. (no trick questions- that’s also part of “remedial math” at the graduate school level- the point was to test our understanding of all the key concepts, not to play mind games).

I don’t believe that being math-phobic, or terrible at math, or even “My job doesn’t require math” is a successful mindset these days. Everything requires math- understanding the controversy over measles vaccines, figuring out if you should refinance your house, getting a raise at work and calculating if you should pay off your credit card debt or put it into your 401K, when to exercise your stock options at work, understanding if the deal you’re being offered for a used Honda with all the bells and whistles and an extended warranty is better than the deal for the new Toyota. Or if you need life insurance, or if it’s better to get a large tax refund in April or no refund but a bigger paycheck every month. Even former math-phobes like me need math every day.

Do I need calculus? No. But I needed it to enter an MBA program, and I couldn’t have had the career I’ve had without it. But getting “caught up” in math- and not fearing spreadsheets when I need to analyze and present at work has been critically important.

OP- do your kid a favor- and figure out who the very best math teacher/tutor is in your area, particularly one who specializes in teaching kids with LD’s. We live in a world which is run by the numbers, and even if you are in a career which involves zero numbers, it is hard to be financially literate, or medically knowledgeable for that matter without a lot of confidence in your computation skills.

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I’m in the same boat as most of the people who have responded. Always struggled terribly with math, and just managed to squeak through high school geometry. Maybe your D will have better luck with geometry if colleges require one or the other.

Like other posters, I managed to graduate college with my one required math class, known around campus as Math for Dumb_____, or Liberal Studies Math. The year after I finished that course, the college axed that class.

These days, I am a test prep tutor for the verbal sections of the test, and I work with a number of math tutors who echo the statement of @blossom . Find the best tutor you can to help your daughter with math. My colleagues universally say that the best thing they help a child do is realize that she CAN do math. Good tutors and good teachers can help almost anyone learn the basics they need to at least pass the class with a C.

It’s taken me over 30 years to realize that I had (and still have) the mindset that I am bad at math, that I did indeed have all the worst teachers because I was in classes with all the other worst students, and that I would have benefitted enormously from just one good teacher. I scraped through geometry with a C-, perhaps because that teacher was “ok”. I certainly didn’t find geometry as traumatizing as Algebra.

I don’t need math on a daily basis and have poor math skills, but I am lucky that my husband and children are all very competent with math. I do agree that in today’s world, decent math skills are more important than ever. Not a plug for my profession at all, but I firmly believe that private tutoring is money well spent, especially when it comes to core requirements that colleges expect competency in. Let your D know that there is hope for her out there.

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One good teacher… Linda, you and me both!

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Look into Lycoming, Elizabethtown, Guilford, Millersville, Bloomsburg, McDaniels, Elmira, Sweet Briar, Virginia Wesleyan?
Also check out the Richard Bland program.
In NYS, TC3 → SUNY would be another option.

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@blossom i agree with your posts almost 100% of the time, but I need to discuss this further:

I can do all those things. I, full disclosure, took math through calculus many decades ago, but I remember none of it. But none of that is necessary to do those things. That is all arithmetic.

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Understanding compound interest is easier if you understand exponential functions.

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You can understand the concept without being able to perform the math.

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Also, with the advent of easily available online calculators, the process can be demonstrated without knowing the math. I use fairly sophisticated computer processing machines every day–like my laptop and my phone–without being able to code.

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Also, a person who has dyscalculia may no more be able to solve exponential functions than a blind kid explain the color blue or a kid in a wheelchair swim (even if knowing your colors or swimming are basic and really important.)
So the discussion about the importance of math is kind of beside the point.

Colleges may have “math for citizenship” or “art&geometry” courses. Before you apply, check the catalog and/or contact the math Dept chair to ask how often the courses you’ve pinpointed as ‘suitable’ are offered.

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Right, and other posters have made the point that they, in a different time, did not have to take these courses, and negotiate the world just fine anyway.

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I could not have gotten my current job without an MBA, and could not get an MBA without passing calculus. I think it was used for two courses- maybe econ and operations research, but both were required courses and you couldn’t pass them without the calculus. The fact that my job doesn’t require anything more than basic multiplication, an understanding of fractions, and reasonable understanding of statistics (standard deviations, that sort of thing) AND that I have analysts and junior people who do the heavy number crunching for me… doesn’t change reality.

My point is not that everyone needs calculus. My point is that being math phobic- whether it’s geometry phobic, so you panic at the thought of pricing out new carpeting for your living room which has a bump out, or just multiplication phobic for everyday tasks- is likely going to take a lot of career paths which are NOT math intensive off the table.

My kids pediatrician did not use physics in her medical practice, but since she couldn’t get into med school without it, voila, she passed physics. My kid who went to MIT does not need to swim the length of the pool for HIS career… but since (at the time) a swim test was a requirement in order to graduate, he took the test. In my state, there are a bunch of semi hilarious requirements to get licensed for PT or Speech. You can fight the requirements (and won’t be successful) or you can just suck it up and pass those classes as an undergrad to get into the grad programs which lead to licensing.

Life is filled with these things. But math, as an entire discipline- is so ubiquitous in so many arenas of life now- that to write off a HS kid as not being good at math strikes me as a shame. I was terrible at math, but I’m happy that my phobia went away after passing calculus. Maybe the OP’s D can do more than just avoid colleges which require Algebra 2? And keep a bunch of professional options open down the line???

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A disability is not a phobia.

Students in a wheelchair at MIT weren’t forced to take the swim test.
When students have a disability, schools find an accomodation.

OP’s child is aiming for Early childhood education, I believe - an MBA is unlikely to be in the picture.

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Many of the folks who analyze Head Start programs, create universal pre-K initiatives, etc. started in the classroom as early childhood educators. I wouldn’t write someone off at age 17. Former nursery school teachers advise policy makers on budgets, metrics, longitudinal studies on the efficacy of different interventions. I recently met a fantastic Ed Policy professional who started her career in Early Childhood. There are experts in all sorts of human services who started as preschool teachers.

And there are adults with various math disabilities who have passed algebra 2. I have a few on my team right now.